Discussion held on access to information

JAKARTA (JP): An expert commiserated with journalists in the developing world who complained about poor governmental respect for people's right to information, but said on Tuesday that the situation also existed in countries such as the United States.

Webster K. Nolan, director of the East-West Center's media program, said during a discussion on freedom of information at the Press Council here on Tuesday that American journalists were also facing the bitter fact that it was difficult for them to access information from the bureaucracy.

Journalists' efforts to get information from the bureaucracy were sometimes "costly", he said without elaboration.

The discussion was also attended by Abdul Razak, the permanent secretary of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists; foreign envoys; lecturers; representatives from the television and print media; representative from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and also Lukas Luwarso, the chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists.

Nolan later told The Jakarta Post that he welcomed the recent mushrooming of new media here, saying the development would facilitate the campaign to open people's access to information.

He said, however, that journalistic professionalism must be maintained, adding that journalists should not side with parties in their news reporting.

He also cited the affair between U.S. President Bill Clinton and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which had been blown out of proportion by the press -- this, in turn, eroded the public's trust in the media.

"The public doesn't like the press to focus on the bad side of a case while negating the possibly positive side," he explained.

He noted that some damage-control measures had been launched by the press, including holding discussions with communities and demonstrating how the media worked. (01)