Ambon journalists become jacks-of-all-trades

Ambon journalists become jacks-of-all-trades

Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

Journalists of struggling media publications have never had the
luxury of sticking to just reporting, yet they will do anything
in their power to reach their public to survive.

Print journalists in Ambon, for instance, dash between
reporting, amateur accounting, supervising the unloading of their
orders of paper and film plates at the nearby port before rushing
back to prepare the next edition.

Then at the last minute of their long working day they may
find out that the paper cannot be published the next morning due
to various difficulties, technical or otherwise, at the printing
office.

To maintain independence, every publication should separate
its newsroom from the business room -- but its ability to only
keep a relatively small number of workers on staff leads managers
here to encourage journalists to seek advertisements as well, to
keep operational costs low and hopefully have wages ready on
time. They get a commission of 10 percent for each advertisement
-- a much better practice than taking bribes -- which journalists
say is as common as anywhere in the country, but then again, some
two dozen businesses, including a dozen radio stations and
tabloids, are competing for the very few commercials and
advertising opportunities that are out there.

In light of a recently improving situation following the
devastating conflict here, advertisements are numerous only on
special occasions -- when someone wants to congratulate a new
official, or when Idul Fitri, Christmas or New Year's Day rolls
around. Condolences are also an important source of revenue.

Journalists in Maluku also need to remember that readers are
fed up with their earlier fiery "war journalism", which led to a
number of media being faced with threats of closure by the
authorities, and warnings from the National Press Council against
inflaming the conflict that pitted Christians against Muslims.

To be relevant to their audience, journalists have to
translate into their daily work the general sense that people of
either side want to get along, if not yet able to make explicit
peace, but to rebuild their lives in their homeland -- which
means inevitably living together in a society with diverse
ethnicities and religions. It is this awareness apart from a few
training sessions on "peace journalism" by experienced
journalists in conflict situations, which has changed much of the
face of reporting here.

Said one reader: "There was a time when we just couldn't look
at the papers anymore." Reports were not only considered
inflaming; those of "Christian" and "Muslim" media contradicted
each other, even if they were part of one media group.

"We tried so hard to be neutral," said the chief editor of
Siwalima, Martin Langoday, whose daily was known as a
particularly outspoken Christian newspaper. "But then as the
conflict wore on it became more and more difficult to get the
other (Muslim) side to comment. They wouldn't speak to us, and we
were also pressured by our readers."

The same difficulties were echoed by those in the Muslim
papers, such as the Ambon Express, which is part of the Jawa Pos
media group. Sources would insist that journalists not print the
number of casualties, or that the figures should be reduced,
because neither side wanted to be seen as the one with the
greater loss.

Strangely enough, Jakarta-based Christian and Muslim media
gave the impression that there was a competition going on as to
which side was the real victim in the Maluku war.

The identification of papers according to their religion here
is unprecedented and saddening, and these businesses are still
striving to shed that image.

At least the Ambon Express has a few Christian reporters.
Siwalima has only recently managed to get one Muslim reporter on
its staff after three years of conflict, Langoday said.

The magazine on journalism, Pantau, said last September that
shedding religious identities for newspapers would likely be more
complex, particularly for those related with the management of
the nationwide media group, Jawa Pos. Its newspapers in Maluku
are Suara Maluku, which became Christian, and the new newspaper
born out of the conflict, the Islamic Ambon Express. Editors said
it was a painful separation that also involved suspected
religious and ethnic bias within the group -- Muslim staff from a
sister newspaper in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Fajar joined Suara
Maluku -- while owners denied allegations that they were
profiting from the conflict.

Despite reaching a circulation peak of over 8,000 at the
height of the war, compared to going back to barely 3,000 now,
managing editor of Suara Maluku daily, Oktovianus Pinontoan, said
the costs were much higher.

Journalists said they were spending up to Rp 20,000 a day on
traveling costs for taking speedboats and motorcycle taxis, as it
was then impossible for anyone going through predominantly Muslim
or Christian areas to use land transportation, which was under Rp
2,000 a day. Many subscribers would not get their papers because
of distribution problems. Worse, Muslim subscribers left papers
which had become Christian.

Quality was questionable as staff had to rush home by 5 p.m.

"It was only after the second year that I realized I was
writing the same reports day after day," said Ricky Rumaruson,
one of the journalists who began their careers at the time of the
conflict. There was virtually no time for reflection or
discussion with editors, given that the only need was to publish
or perish -- literally.

A peace movement here, Baku Bae, and the Alliance of
Independent Journalists, set up the Maluku Media Center on a
border area between Muslim and Christian quarters in Ambon, which
helped provide a place where journalists could meet and trade
information, reduced occupational hazards.

With the risks to everyone's lives largely gone, it's a much
better time for the media here.

But a few exasperated managers have taken on the operational
costs and are digging deep into their own pockets, while thinking
that they just might have to give up. Recently, the Koraninfo
daily stopped publishing, pending a decision from the owner who
has yet to figure out what to do with it. The staff of Suara
Maluku are also seeking the decision of Jawa Pos CEO Dahlan
Iskan, who has hinted at that publication's severe financial
difficulties.

If money is the only concern, a big opportunity lies ahead
with the 2004 election. But despite a few potential offers,
Koraninfo chief editor Yunita Tiakoly said, "I just can't imagine
handing over the paper to a political party." The Koraninfo daily
has been building up a reputation of being neutral, recruiting
both Muslim and Christian reporters since it was set up over a
year ago.

Far south of Ambon in the district of the Kei Kecil islands, a
lot of people ignore newspapers because they show up so
irregularly given the dependence on printing presses and
transportation in Ambon. The state-run RRI radio station is the
only reliable source of news and entertainment, in view of the
poor television reception.

Villagers said they keep their radios on all day, and bring
them for company while working in the fields. "We're closely
watching the news of the (upcoming) regent election," said one
man in Elaar Lumngoran, the site of what residents described was
a massacre in April 1999. "Then we'll know for sure about when
we'll get our promised (compensation) funds."