Peace journalism in Aceh still at the forefront: Media

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Peace journalism in covering the conflict in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam will remain the center of attention for local media, although it may be less attractive to readers.

Local media are committed to promoting peace journalism, since they would be able to contribute toward ending or minimizing the impact of war through this practice.

Deputy managing editor of Koran Tempo daily Daru Priyambodo admitted on Thursday that peace journalism -- which suggested stopping the war and the adverse impact of the war -- was not sellable to readers.

For example, he said readers were more interested in knowing how Saddam Hussein conducted guerrilla warfare or how war machines were used to kill enemies and other similar things during the Iraq war, than humanitarian issues.

Daru said the cruelty of war must be reported not only to fulfill the readers' demands, but also to fulfill the media's task to report facts.

"We have to report the events and the battles. It's the reality that we must face," he said.

Koran Tempo had consistently encouraged all parties involved in the conflict in Aceh to leave war as a last resort. It has also given sufficient room to apply peace journalism.

As the war continues, the ordinary Acehnese have emerged as the true casualties of the war and as such, Koran Tempo has decided to focus on the damaging impacts of war, especially on Acehnese civilians, Daru said.

"The message is now loud and clear that the war has brought losses to all and it should never happen again," he said.

Almost 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the conflict in Aceh first broke out in the 1970s.

The Indonesian government took decisive steps on May 19 to launch a massive military operation to quell the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists after the two sides failed to fully implement the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, signed on Dec. 9, 2002.

Civilians have suffered most from the operation, as was evident in the hundreds of schools burned down by unidentified arsonists. It is estimated that 456 schools were razed, while thousands of people have been displaced in the three-week war.

The military operation is expected to last the next six months.

By definition, peace journalism is a new approach in news coverage that results in the creation of a report which promotes peace.

The basic requirement in peace journalism is to avoid exaggerating the number of casualties since it will only fuel retaliation from the conflicting parties.

Journalists are required to understand the broad picture of the conflict and open access to locations and ordinary people who are directly affected by the conflict.

The journalists should not hesitate to communicate and support peace initiatives.

Deputy managing editor of Kompas daily Taufik H. Mihardja shared Daru's view that local media was attentive about practicing peace journalism in covering the conflict.

Kompas, he said, did not only "sell" the war by disclosing the realities of the war, including the number of casualties and the frequency of battles, but also attempted to provide alternative solutions for policymakers to resolve the conflict in Aceh peacefully, and as quickly as possible, through covering the humanitarian aspects of the war.

"The principle behind Kompas' coverage is that war has to be the last resort," he said.