Foreign media warned to watch it on coverage<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has called on the foreign
\npress to do the capital and its inhabitants a favor by being more
\ncareful in reporting on the situation in Indonesia, especially
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Speaking in English in front of the 50 participants of the 2nd
\nAsian-German Editors' Forum on Monday evening, the governor
\nnoticed that foreign news coverage on what was happening
\nin Jakarta generally appeared to be negative and sensationalist.<\/p>\n
\"Please take a look and directly witness the real situation in
\nIndonesia, particularly Jakarta, in order to be able to make
\ncoverage clearer, more objective and more rational,\" the governor
\ntold the participants at a dinner he hosted at the City Hall.<\/p>\n
\"And after that, we hope that you can inform international
\nsociety so that the widespread tarnished image of the country and
\nits people can be neutralized,\" Sutiyoso was quoted by Antara as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
When asked on Tuesday to further explain his remarks, the
\ngovernor said foreign media coverage of the real situation in the
\ncapital was badly needed to inform people overseas that Jakarta
\nwas not as bad as they thought.<\/p>\n
\"I just asked them not to cover only the bad sides of
\nJakarta,\" he told journalists during his routine visit to a slum
\narea in Kebon Melati in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He took the view that improper reports were mainly due to the
\nstrong needs of the foreign press to mix their opinions with the
\nfacts in reports.<\/p>\n
\"Without being able to understand the local situation
\nproperly, they will only cause misperceptions,\" Sutiyoso added.<\/p>\n
The capital's latest situation -- which is certainly not
\nperfect -- was not as bad as the foreign press have indicated, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso admitted that \"such an impression emerges because of
\nthe foreign journalists' lack of understanding of the situation
\nhere.\"<\/p>\n
The bad images in the reports have then affected the flow of
\ncapital investment and the number of tourists in to the country,
\nSutiyoso said.<\/p>\n
Understanding<\/p>\n
He therefore called on foreign journalists to sharpen their
\nunderstanding of the local situation since Indonesia is a great
\ncountry and a complex one.<\/p>\n
It needed to be understood that Indonesia is a vast land of
\nabout 17,000 islands inhabited by scores of ethnic groups and
\nraces, as well as having many languages and over 400 local
\ndialects, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Each of these ethnic groups is represented in Jakarta, making
\nJakarta a true melting pot of Indonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
With an area of only 650 square kilometers, and 200,000 new-
\ncomers entering Jakarta annually, the average density of the some
\n10 million population is 14,000 people per square kilometer.<\/p>\n
\"This density plus the crippling economic situation creates a
\nsignificant social gap,\" he added. (bsr\/ylt)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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