Radio station set to enlighten listeners<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The downfall of former president Soeharto has
\nhad a tremendous effect on many people. One person who felt an
\nimmediate effect was Nor Pud Binarto, a former student activist
\nwho found himself unemployed during the Soeharto administration
\nbecause of his critical stands.<\/p>\n
\"On May 21, 1998, at 11 a.m., only an hour after Soeharto
\nresigned, I got a call from a friend asking me to manage a radio
\nstation,\" Binarto said.<\/p>\n
\"So, as Soeharto stepped down, I stepped up.\"<\/p>\n
Radio is not something new for Binarto, 37. He worked at
\nPrambors, Pro2, Trijaya and 5asec before he got the
\noffer to manage Safari. But his career was hampered by
\nrestrictions on freedom of expression.<\/p>\n
Today, his voice is heard on Porto Folio, a talk show that is
\naired by JakartaNewsFM (97.4FM) from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.<\/p>\n
\"Radio is a medium of enlightenment,\" he said. \"It is a medium
\nto promote democracy and human rights.\"<\/p>\n
On Friday morning he asked listeners: \"Should (President B.J.)
\nHabibie be impeached because of his alleged involvement in the
\nBank Bali scandal?\"<\/p>\n
That thundering question received a response from enthusiastic
\nlisteners. \"I am only an ordinary person,\" a caller said, \"but in
\nmy opinion, he should be impeached.\"<\/p>\n
Earlier, Binarto invited the audience to comment on the
\nhearing of former Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli at the House of
\nRepresentatives on Thursday.<\/p>\n
As soon as your call was answered, you were on the air. There
\nwas no censorship, but Binarto would end the call if the
\nconversation was dull. He also criticized those whose ideas he
\nconsidered unreasonable or unclear. But he is not overly firm. He
\nis relaxed and discusses the serious matters in a light manner.<\/p>\n
Binarto was born in Yogyakarta and went to Kolose De Brito
\nhigh school there. From 1980 to 1983 he studied cinematography in
\nKoln, Germany. Returning to Indonesia, he went to Parahyangan
\nCatholic University and the Bandung Institute of Technology. He
\ndid not finish his studies at the institute, but graduated from
\nParahyangan in 1989 with a degree in communications sciences.<\/p>\n
His mother is a dentist and his father a professor of social
\nsciences. \"I think my (family) environment has greatly influenced
\nmy way of thinking,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Still single, Binarto spends most of his time at his office on
\nJl. Alam Elok in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. \"I am married to my
\nideas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Below is an excerpt of The Jakarta Post interview with
\nBinarto:<\/p>\n
Question: You said that radio is a medium of enlightenment. Could you
\nelaborate?<\/p>\n
Answer: In 1984, when I was still at Prambors, I met Bapak Yusuf
\nRonodipuro, the first director of RRI (Radio Republik Indonesia).
\nHe told me that history shows that radio is the medium of
\npolitical expression. Before independence, radio greatly
\ninfluenced the cognitive process of our political figures. It was
\nthe underground instrument of sociopolitical enlightenment.<\/p>\n
So, radio also has had a social responsibility throughout
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
In 1991, urban society started to hear about talk shows. I
\njoined Trijaya and managed the Jakarta Round Up talk show. I used
\nthe intellectual approach to meet the needs of our listeners.<\/p>\n
But in 1994 the show was banned because I was considered to be
\ntoo critical. Well, I was told that it was because of changes in
\nmanagement.<\/p>\n
Politically, I made radio a medium to promote human rights and
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
I joined Pro2 in 1996, where I hosted Selamat Pagi Jakarta,
\nbut this only lasted nine months. Later I became the general
\nmanager of 5asec. Early in 1998, however, I was kicked out.<\/p>\n
From then until May 1998, I was jobless.<\/p>\n
Soeharto stepped down on May 21 at 10 a.m., and an hour later
\nat 11 a.m. I got a call. I was offered a job managing Safari. The
\nradio station was facing hard times; they had the equipment, but
\nno money.<\/p>\n
So, you see, as Soeharto stepped down, I stepped up.<\/p>\n
Q: What did you do with the radio station?<\/p>\n
A: I experimented with several friends, former political
\nprisoners who were in jail during the New Order era: Ahmad
\nTaufik, Fadrul Rachman, Tri Agus and Andi Saputra. We discussed
\nmany hot issues on our talk show, reported on demonstrations,
\netc.<\/p>\n
For the first four months we were not paid.<\/p>\n
Ours was community radio; it was the listeners who paid us.
\nThey sent money to our bank account. We got Rp 2 million a week
\nand a lot of rice. A three-by-four meter room was filled with
\nrice and we distributed it to the needy.<\/p>\n
Q: Far Eastern Economic Review wrote about us in September 1998.
\nWe were also in Tempo when it reappeared in October.<\/p>\n
A: But in October 1998, Safari management dismissed us. They said
\nthat they had to do it because we could not make a profit, but we
\nknow that in fact they were intimidated by the military.<\/p>\n
Later, I made a proposal to prodemocracy individuals,
\nespecially economists, to make radio a medium of enlightenment. I
\nalso established the Alliance of Independent Radio to counter the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Private Commercial Radio Stations,
\nwhich was chaired by Tutut (Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti
\nHardiyati Rukmana).<\/p>\n
Our project proposal received a good response from many
\nindividuals. Sorry, I cannot mention names. They took over the
\nmanagement of Safari and we set up NewsFM.<\/p>\n
The new radio station went on the air in April. There are now
\n30 people working for NewsFM. All of them are young people, about
\n24 years old. This radio station is for them. I will leave later,
\nmaybe after one year.<\/p>\n
We have a 24-hour news radio concept. Everything is news, no
\nmusic. So far we are on the air for 22 hours, from 5 a.m. to 3
\na.m. About 11 hours are filled with news and talk shows with an
\nintellectual approach.<\/p>\n
Our biggest problem here is the process of democratization. We
\nare trying to deal with it through the radio.<\/p>\n
There are several experts who have become our regular hosts --
\nin print media you call them columnists. They include Prajoto, a
\nlawyer who specializes in banking issues, political observer JB
\nKristiadi from the Center for Strategic and International
\nStudies, sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola from the University of
\nIndonesia and human rights lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta. Every
\nThursday on Kesaksian (Witness), a member of the Commission for
\nMissing Persons and Victims of Violence interviews a victim of
\nviolence. Dono (Wahyu Sardono, a top comedian and a graduate of
\nthe University of Indonesia's School of Political Science) has a
\nsatirical show every Sunday. Economist Sri Mulyani is expected to
\njoin us starting on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Q: What has the public's response been?<\/p>\n
A: Maybe the majority of society still reject us, but a certain
\nlayer of society accepts us. We will keep on working on it. We
\nhave to be optimistic.<\/p>\n
Q: CNN in the first two years did not get any ads at all, but now
\nit plays an important role in the political world.<\/p>\n
A: Radio is playing a big role in promoting democracy. How do you
\nsee democracy in Indonesia?<\/p>\n
There are two main problems. First, the fact that the New
\nOrder government is still in power as represented by Habibie.<\/p>\n
Second, we have a military government. In a democratic
\ncountry, there should not be a dual function of the military.<\/p>\n
So, we must reject Habibie and the military.<\/p>\n
Q: Is that why you brought up the issue of the need to impeach
\nHabibie on your talk show this morning?<\/p>\n
A: In the Bank Bali scandal, it is clear that Habibie has lied to
\nthe public. That is reason for impeachment. And a no-confidence
\nvote should be held by the legislature.<\/p>\n
Q: Aren't you afraid that one day your program or radio station
\nwill be banned?<\/p>\n
A: I remember Goenawan Mohamad (a former editor of Tempo
\nmagazine) saying that he was like the pilot of an airplane which
\nwas being hijacked...<\/p>\n
But I don't think we will be banned; the government would be
\nin big trouble if they banned us.<\/p>\n
I don't only work here. We have the Alliance of Independent
\nRadio, the Alliance of Campus Radio and the Alliance of Rural
\nRadio.<\/p>\n
These rural radio stations are especially important because so
\nfar these areas have been dominated by (state radio) RRI. We are
\ncurrently working with some prodemocracy figures like Aristedes
\nKatopo, and I heard that USAID agreed to help us.<\/p>\n
As for campus radio, I think the problem in our student
\nmovement is that they do not have the media for their political
\nplatform. There is the print media, but that is not effective.
\nJudging from our reading habits, radio is more effective. There
\nis a lot of space on the AM band.<\/p>\n
Q: Don't we have any campus radio stations here?<\/p>\n
A: No. The foundation of Trisakti University sold its radio
\nstation, MS3, to a private company. ARH, which was established by
\nformer student activists of the 1966 generation, is not managed
\nby people from campuses. Both radio stations fail to express the
\nstudents' voice.<\/p>\n
We have discussed the idea of setting up a students' radio
\nstation with a number of universities and they agreed with us.<\/p>\n
Q: When will you realize these ideas?<\/p>\n
A: We will discuss them at the congress of the Alliance of
\nIndependent Radio next October.<\/p>",
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