Freedom Forum holds workshop on environment

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty four Indonesian journalists received training on effective reporting on environmental issues from the Freedom Forum, a New York-based organization concerned with promoting freedom of the press worldwide.

The one-day workshop, held at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute, concentrated on common issues confronting environment journalists and how to make their reporting more effective.

Addressing the participants were three experts from California. They were Scott Thurm, a senior environmental reporter of the San Jose Mercury News, Rusell Clemings, a science writer for the Fresno Bee, and Diana Stover Tillinghast, a professor of journalism and mass communication at San Jose State University.

They made suggestions for professionals engaged in environment journalism and discussed constraints, methods, ways of dealing with editors and sources, ethics, and the role of government.

Jakob Oetama, acting director of the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) and chief editor of Kompas daily opened the workshop.

Asian Director of the foundation John Schildslovsky said the organization will sponsor two similar workshops on different topics for journalists here in the near future.

The Freedom Forum traces its roots to 1935, when newspaper publisher Frank Gannet Newspaper founded the Frank E. Gannet Newspaper Foundation.

The Arlington, Virginia (U.S.) based foundation is a forum for the national and international exchange of information and ideas promoting free press, free speech, free spirit.

The foundation's main operating programs are the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University in New York, an institute for the advanced study of mass communication and technological change and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

With assets of more than $725 million, the Freedom Forum is America's largest foundation dedicated to media and First Amendment issues.

Other activities include journalism education and professional programs, support for minority journalism students and education; free-press initiatives in Eastern and Central Europe; and exchanges, internships and fellowships in Asia, Latin America and other regions around the world. (prs)