Bill Kovach: Journalist for democracy

Bill Kovach: Journalist for democracy

Bambang M, Contributor, Yogyakarta

For seasoned journalist Bill Kovach -- dubbed as "the conscience
of U.S. journalism" -- journalism is not only a profession, it's
a sacred mission.

"I want to help the majority of people that cannot voice their
own interests," he said. That's why, perhaps, he has persistently
held on to the correct principles of journalism.

As he was growing up, Kovach, now 72, witnessed the injustices
that the people around him, such as the African-Americans and
immigrants like his own family, were subjected to. He is
convinced that these injustices will disappear if journalists
expose them in their news reports.

Kovach, who now resides in Chevy Chase, the United States, was
born to Albanian immigrant parents.

The veteran journalist recently became the center of attention
in discussions held by newspeople in a number of Indonesian
cities.

With colleague Tom Rosenstiel, he wrote The Element of
Journalism: What newspeople should know and the public should
expect, in 2001.

To some, this book is considered a holy book for journalists
in these modern times where democracy, corruption, human rights,
violence, credibility and many other sophisticated terms are
often used and practiced in the daily lives of journalists --
surpassing the vintage words like conscience, affection, peace
and sense.

Roy Peter Clark of The Poynter Institute has said that this
book is "the most important book on journalism and democracy in
the past fifty years."

The book has been translated into Indonesia and ten other
languages. It also won the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard
University.

In conjunction with its launching, Pantau magazine, in
cooperation with the United States Embassy in Indonesia and the
Institute for the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), invited Kovach
to come to Indonesia.

The husband of Lynne Stamm, and father of four and grandfather
of six, agreed to a long tour covering Medan, Surabaya,
Yogyakarta, Jakarta and Bali -- where he took time to drop by in
local newspaper offices and held discussions with journalists on
democracy and the work of journalists.

"Kovach is one of the world's foremost thinkers on journalism
today," said Pantau's chief editor Andreas Harsono, who
accompanied Kovach during his visit to Indonesia, when giving a
few introductory words during a recent discussion in Kedai Kebun,
Yogyakarta.

The former Washington bureau chief of the New York Times won
the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for his dedication. To many
younger journalists, he has become the role model of a true
journalist who persistently upholds his credibility and idealism.

"I've spent most of my life promoting journalism of a better
quality and ensuring that democracy will survive and will not
buckle under the government's pressure or economic power," Kovach
stated.

A founder of the Committee of Concerned Journalists (CCJ), an
institution working to promote better U.S. journalism, Kovach is
well known for his warmth. He's also the curator of the Nieman
Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Kovach is of the opinion that the main goal of journalism is
to provide information to the public so that they can lead a free
life and take care of themselves.

It is at this juncture that journalism assumes great
significance to a democratic life, which is built upon the
assumption that the public can take care of themselves, not on
the notion that they must be taken care of by a centralistic
political power.

"Journalism and democracy go hand in hand," said Kovach, who
served on the panel of judges for the Pulitzer Prize from 1987 to
1990.

In every discussion he always stresses that in the absence of
journalism, public opinion will be stunted and, as a result, the
public will fail to take care of themselves.

"The book contains not only normative rules but also provides
concrete examples. This is the advantage of the book," said Lukas
Ispandrio, a communications lecturer from Atma Jaya University,
Yogyakarta.

Back in 1997, 25 noted American journalists gathered at the
Harvard Faculty Club, Cambridge. They were concerned about what
they saw as the poor quality of news products in their country.

These people then set up the CCJ and agreed to conduct a
survey among journalists and the public to find out what
journalism was really all about. The result of this survey, which
shed light on the universal principles of journalism, led to the
writing of The Elements of Journalism by Kovach and Rosenstiel,
who had previously jointly written Warp Speed: America in the Age
of Mixed Media.

Journalism, according to Kovach, is the most important
occupation in the world. In the hands of journalists that are
knowledgeable about and respect the interests of the public,
journalism can encourage people to become involved in the
government affairs of their countries.

"I hope journalists all over the world can unite to save
democracy on this planet," said Kovach, who was awarded an
honorary doctorate from Colby College.

Kovach strongly adheres to the principles of journalism,
giving the example that if any of his children committed a crime,
he would himself write about if in the same way that he would
write about other people.

"I have told all my children that they may do anything as long
as they are ready to read something about it in the newspaper. I
believe this is the best regulation of life," said Kovach.