Kudos to the 'Post'

Kudos to the 'Post'

In recent months the media have come under attack from various
quarters for the irresponsible manner in which they have
portrayed events. It is not my place to argue for or against the
various claims, nor to proffer my own views as to the important
role in society of the media and their power to help or hinder a
country's social, moral and economic development.

This letter, in its unsolicited form, is to express my
appreciation to the staff of The Jakarta Post who, for the four
years that I have been in Indonesia, have provided me with news,
information and views concerning events in Indonesia and the rest
of the world.

Although limited in pages, compared to the New York Times or
Sunday Times, it has been more than sufficient to enable me to
keep abreast of developments both here and overseas without
taking up my whole day ploughing through unnecessarily padded
and opinionated reportage. I have not always agreed with the
comments and views published, which on occasion I have considered
controversial, at times inflammatory and once in a while
downright libelous. But the newspaper is not aimed to just please
me and I therefore respect its need to publish thought-provoking
material.

I have found the balance, subject matter and presentation of
the articles to be most professional. I suppose if I were to
single out any particular contributor to the Post for merit it
would be Mr. Zatni Arbi for his weekly features on computer
software and hardware. Not only have I found his articles to be
extremely informative, but I consider them to have been written
to a consistently high standard.

It is with considerable regret that my current assignment in
Indonesia is due to end. Apart from the Indonesian people and way
of life which I have come to love, I shall sorely miss The
Jakarta Post.

I.T. GORDON-PULLAR

Carita, West Java