Fair play

Fair play

The current economic situation has forced a rise in production
costs, and those affected include The Jakarta Post. Since this
newspaper's announcement on March 15 that it would downsize to
eight pages, I feared the worst, expecting eight pagers every
day. But advertising support has enabled the Post to actually do
better than that so far.

Perhaps, I should state why this newspaper will have my
continued backing. The reason is simple: it has been due to the
editorial board's praiseworthy sense of fair play. The Jakarta
Post is an independent publication. It is not simply an extension
of the Ministry of Information, nor is its mission primarily to
take an adversarial approach, which some media members are often
quite proud of.

An adversarial position assumes that those in authority should
constantly be upbraided, and stories play up the defects of
government officials. Controversy is highlighted, perhaps because
controversy sells. The Post takes a middle road, and doesn't
engage in vendettas. I believe that despite sniping by critics,
some governments can still get policies right.

Regarding global affairs, the Post is again fair, being
neither pro-U.S., pro-Britain, pro-Japan, pro-Iran or any other
nation you can think of. Conversely, neither does it consistently
censure any country on earth. As for Indonesia itself, the Post's
editors regularly publish criticism of this country or its
government from both foreign and domestic sources.

The letters column is truly reader-friendly. Letters have
included: political commentary, consumer complaints, touristic
travails, gripes about Indonesia by foreigners, the economic
recession, poetry contributions, complaints about other letter
writers, readers' debates, anecdotes, and words of wisdom.
Whether ambassador or amateur scribbler, readers get equal
treatment by the editors -- they get their say.

Cynics will remark, "But The Jakarta Post prints every single
letter!" I know for a fact that this is untrue. I once wrote
about Prince Charles, but my letter was left unpublished. Perhaps
the editors thought it might unduly offend admires of the prince,
or even the British embassy itself.

Through my work, I have access to many publications -- both
foreign and local. One well-known global newspaper seems to tout
its viewpoint as if it were the ultimate authority about every
country on earth. Little space is given over for readers to
respond. When letters do get printed, they seem selected only to
reinforce that newspaper's editorial opinions.

The editorial approach of Time and Newsweek, to name two
rivals, is much better. They will, being good sports, publish
letters from readers debating their magazines' conclusions.
Letters beginning with "Shame on you, Time!" or a simple reply
stating "Newsweek stands corrected" have appeared in the past.
Now that is real fairness.

To its great credit, The Jakarta Post has printed such
admissions of errors. This newspaper also knows what fair play is
all about.

FARID BASKORO

Jakarta