Peace journalism in Aceh still at the forefront: Media

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.