It is too late, Sir

By Sori Siregar

When the tension in East Timor escalated, the News Director summoned us to a meeting.

"See, what did I tell you? The tension is growing intolerably in East Timor. Many innocent people have died and the lives of many journalists threatened. What if we had sent Pramono to the troubled province? All of us would be sleepless for risking his life. If something unwanted had happened to him his wife would hate us. Fortunately, I made the right decision by not sending him to the area".

The News Director looked at each of us, hoping for a comment or a reaction. When he realized the reporter he was talking about was not in the room, he raised his voice: "Where is he?"

No one answered. We only looked at each other. There was a long silence before Judin coughed and gave his opinion.

"Pramono is a good reporter. It was him who asked to be dispatched to Timor Leste. He was very eager to make a first-rate coverage of everything happening there. It is his long-time obsession to be a war correspondent. He is very energetic and fond of adventure".

The News Director laughed and shook his head.

"He is very young, 25. He married his wife only a year ago. That's why the management didn't want to send him. It is too dangerous for a young inexperienced reporter like him to do the job."

Before the News Director could continue his speech, Larasati raised her hand.

"Excuse me, Sir. Was it the management or the owner of this company who turned down the idea of sending Pramono to East Timor?"

"What difference does it make?"

"I see the difference, Sir," Larasati insisted. "The management is a team of managers while the owner is an individual."

"As it is, decisions made by the management must first be approved by the owner. And the decision of the Owner will automatically be the decision of the management."

I thought the meeting should have ended when he gave this last statement. No more fruitful results would come after that normative answer. But Fachri, who had been uneasy since the beginning of the meeting, saw the necessity of a debate to reflect the dissatisfaction of reporters with the policy of the company.

"I respect the owner's attention to us. I hold his care in high esteem. I understand why he wants us to be safe in carrying out our duty. But he also should understand that any kind of job has its own risks. If a reporter is injured, killing or goes missing that's a risk of the job. No one will blame anyone. Once a person chooses a job, he or she has implicitly accepted the risks. No doubt about it."

The News Director burst into laughter. He shook his head repeatedly then lowered his voice.

"I don't deny that. I agree 100 percent. I hail the idealistic attitude. But as a worker, whatever job you do, if you can minimize the risks, why should you put yourself in serious danger? That's the idea we adopt here."

I was fed up with his answers. I tried hard to control myself and not leave the meeting. The same feeling seemed to overwhelm the others. The meeting, wound up five minutes later, had been only a gathering for the News Director to confirm his victory over us.

The News Director is the only manager in our office who has close contact with the Owner. He knows the Owner's nature. In order to be always in the good graces of the boss, he knows how to play safe. All employees in this newspaper are aware of that.

When Pramono showed up after two days of illness I told him about the meeting. He only smiled and said nothing. And when Larasati said he was lucky not to go, due to the unfair treatment by prointegration militias of journalists, particularly domestic reporters, Pramono gave no comment.

Two days later he told me an interesting story. After the News Director rejected his idea of going to East Timor, he went to see the Owner directly. He spoke of his disappointment with the News Director's objection. The Owner nodded repeatedly.

"I appreciate his decision," the Owner said. "Sending someone to the territory will cost a lot of money. We can't afford it. Besides, going there in the present growing tension will be a high risk trip. Is it so important to you to go there?"

"It is not for me, but someone should go to get first-hand coverage."

"If that is the matter, why don't you find someone from other media and ask him to send a special report to us under a pseudonym. A short, exclusive report once a day. Apart from that we can quote the story about Bumi Lorosae from other sources, news agencies and TV stations."

Pramono was stunned when the owner of the company stated the amount of remuneration allocated for these short and exclusive reports. It was peanuts even for a newcomer. What shocked Pramono even more was the Owner's opinion that there was nothing special about East Timor. Everything has been arranged and the territory would still be an integral part of the Republic after the self- determination ballot.

Who arranged what? Where did he get this cheap speculation? When Pramono took his leave, his head was filled with a big question mark. Is it his stinginess that makes him so creative in making a pretext? Does he have a special link to a reliable source to make him so sure that Timor Leste would stay under our grip? Doesn't he know the importance of a first-hand report? As an owner of a newspaper, no matter how small its circulation, how can he degrade a journalist with such a pittance of payment?

Pramono reminded me that this was the risk of a retail trader becoming a newspaper publisher. Strenuous efforts had to be made to change his attitude. Otherwise, our newspaper would remain at a mediocre level.

When the retail trader sent for Pramono following the announcement of the ballot results, everyone in the newsroom looked at one another.

"There must be a new surprise," said Parlindungan. Everyone laughed happily.

In no more than five minutes Pramono was back.

"Good news?" Larasati asked him.

Pramono smiled meaningfully.

"What's the use of going to East Timor if the proindependence group has won. We have been slapped in the face by the result. I was right not to send you there just to hail their victory. I don't want to spend a single cent for that. I would rather assign you to India to make a coverage of the general election there," Pramono repeated what the Owner told him.

"And what did you say?" asked Larasati again.

"It is too late, Sir."