Once upon a time for a young reporter<\/p>\n
Binny Buchori, Activist, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was April 1983, I had just resigned from my job as a junior
\neditor in a publishing company and was looking for a new job.
\nDanny Yatim, an old friend from university, told me that his
\nsister, Debra, had just joined an English newspaper, The Jakarta
\nPost, that was going to be published very soon and that the paper
\nmay need some staff, maybe a librarian.<\/p>\n
Danny asked me to give him my CV. I did, explaining in the CV
\nthat I had some library experience. A few days later Debra called
\nme and informed me that I could have a walk-in interview, and she
\nsaid I could apply for the position of reporter since the library
\npost was already filled.<\/p>\n
So, one afternoon I went to The Jakarta Post, its office
\nlocated in such a very simple building that you could easily miss
\nit. Debra met me, and told me to wait for the managing editor,
\nAmir Daud. After quite a while, Pak Amir called me.<\/p>\n
He looked at me carefully, put his reading glasses down and
\nfired off a string of questions: "Are you sure you want to be a
\njournalist? Do you realize that you will have very little time of
\nyour own? This is after 6 p.m., and do you see Debra over there?
\nShe is still typing? Are you ready for this kind of life?"<\/p>\n
I looked into his eyes, and replied: "I've always dreamed of
\nworking in the media, but I do not know how and where to start. I
\nwill need guidance, but I am willing to work hard and learn."<\/p>\n
He smiled and asked me to translate an opinion article from
\nKompas and a news piece into English. Pak Amir asked me to come
\nagain the following morning for an interview with the publisher,
\nMohammad Chudori. Pak Chudori asked some questions about my
\nstudent life and the topics of my thesis.<\/p>\n
Then and there, my career as a journalist started.<\/p>\n
It was not easy -- there were long hours, little guidance and
\nmany uncertainties. There were anxious days when we knew there
\nwere not enough ads coming in, and there were hours spent
\nsubediting the news from the telex.<\/p>\n
But it was also a very precious moment in my life. It is the
\nwork at the Post that led me to encounter the world, political
\nlife, and most of all, taught me never to give up, to be
\npersistent in my work.<\/p>\n
Now, 20 years later, my relationship with the Post has
\nchanged. Every morning I look at the paper very proudly and feel
\nrelieved that we have a newspaper that consciously broadcasts
\nalternative views on such issues as politics, the economy, human
\nrights and gender. It is a paper that is giving a voice to the
\nvoiceless with the belief they should be heard.<\/p>\n
(The writer is is Executive Secretary, International NGO Forum
\non Indonesian Development (INFID)<\/p>",
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