Once upon a time for a young reporter

Once upon a time for a young reporter

Binny Buchori, Activist, Jakarta

It was April 1983, I had just resigned from my job as a junior
editor in a publishing company and was looking for a new job.
Danny Yatim, an old friend from university, told me that his
sister, Debra, had just joined an English newspaper, The Jakarta
Post, that was going to be published very soon and that the paper
may need some staff, maybe a librarian.

Danny asked me to give him my CV. I did, explaining in the CV
that I had some library experience. A few days later Debra called
me and informed me that I could have a walk-in interview, and she
said I could apply for the position of reporter since the library
post was already filled.

So, one afternoon I went to The Jakarta Post, its office
located in such a very simple building that you could easily miss
it. Debra met me, and told me to wait for the managing editor,
Amir Daud. After quite a while, Pak Amir called me.

He looked at me carefully, put his reading glasses down and
fired off a string of questions: "Are you sure you want to be a
journalist? Do you realize that you will have very little time of
your own? This is after 6 p.m., and do you see Debra over there?
She is still typing? Are you ready for this kind of life?"

I looked into his eyes, and replied: "I've always dreamed of
working in the media, but I do not know how and where to start. I
will need guidance, but I am willing to work hard and learn."

He smiled and asked me to translate an opinion article from
Kompas and a news piece into English. Pak Amir asked me to come
again the following morning for an interview with the publisher,
Mohammad Chudori. Pak Chudori asked some questions about my
student life and the topics of my thesis.

Then and there, my career as a journalist started.

It was not easy -- there were long hours, little guidance and
many uncertainties. There were anxious days when we knew there
were not enough ads coming in, and there were hours spent
subediting the news from the telex.

But it was also a very precious moment in my life. It is the
work at the Post that led me to encounter the world, political
life, and most of all, taught me never to give up, to be
persistent in my work.

Now, 20 years later, my relationship with the Post has
changed. Every morning I look at the paper very proudly and feel
relieved that we have a newspaper that consciously broadcasts
alternative views on such issues as politics, the economy, human
rights and gender. It is a paper that is giving a voice to the
voiceless with the belief they should be heard.

(The writer is is Executive Secretary, International NGO Forum
on Indonesian Development (INFID)