Media center at National Games struggles with updates<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Palembang<\/p>\n
Reporting on the ongoing National Games (PON) has been a trial
\nfor some journalists, due to substandard facilities and slow-to-
\nrespond officials.<\/p>\n
There is a media center with staff that are supposed to help
\njournalists, but unfortunately it doesn't function as it should.<\/p>\n
The three-story center in Jakabaring is located about six
\nkilometers west of the city center.<\/p>\n
The media center looks impressive, as it is equipped with some
\n170 computers and telephones.<\/p>\n
Some 200 officials are on standby to assist with data access,
\ntimetables and the like.<\/p>\n
\"The center was built especially for PON,\" Zulkardi, the
\nspokesman of the organizing committee said.<\/p>\n
According to him, Agum Gumelar, chairman of the Indonesian
\nNational Sports Committee (KONI) praised the center as being
\nbetter than the one in Vietnam for the SEA Games.<\/p>\n
However, the center seems overwhelmed by its task,
\nparticularly when it comes to updating match results.<\/p>\n
As of 10:00 p.m on Wednesday, for example, the results of a
\nsoccer competition that had been underway since Monday could not
\nbe found at PON's official website: www.pon-online.org.<\/p>\n
Internet updates on Wednesday were even more sluggish, as the
\nresults of the day's competitions were not posted until late.<\/p>\n
With his deadline fast approaching, a frustrated journalist
\nfrom a national newspaper grumbled: \"We may not publish the
\nnewspaper as no results are available.\"<\/p>\n
The internet connection was down for several hours also,
\ndisrupting communication between journalists and their colleagues
\nback in the newsroom.<\/p>\n
In fact, media center officials were so slow to respond that
\njournalists decided to join forces to share their own data.<\/p>\n
\"The media center has not made my work any easier,\" one of
\nthem said. \"It's like an internet kiosk, where we just use the
\ncomputer and the internet, but we can't access the information we
\nneed.\"<\/p>\n
\"Officials need to act quickly if they want PON to be
\nremembered as a successful event,\" he added.<\/p>\n
It might be a good idea if officials recap match results,
\nprint them, make copies of them and -- as is the usual practice
\nfor sports event -- ensure that they are easily accessible.<\/p>\n
Many venues are not equipped with computers. Hopes of match
\nreports being sent via e-mail from Sriwijaya Sports complex seem
\nslim.<\/p>\n
About half-an-hour's drive from the main media center, the
\ncomplex, which hosts volleyball, basketball and swimming events,
\nhas no media facilities.<\/p>\n
When asked about the issue, Zulkardi said the organizing
\ncommittee would try to improve the media center.<\/p>\n
\"We admit that one of our problems is that we lack
\nprofessional staff. Besides, the infrastructure in Palembang is
\nnot as good as that of Java. But, we will try to make optimum use
\nof what we have, to make this PON successful,\" Zulkardi said.<\/p>\n
He said that the media center had been trying to update
\nresults via radio communication and fax.<\/p>\n
He added the committee had approached PT Telkom, in the hope
\nthat the center's internet connection would be more stable after
\nWednesday's disconnection incident.<\/p>",
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