Press resists choice of 'embedded or dead'

JP/6/MAIMUN

Time to opt out of 'embedded' journalism

Maimun Chief Editor 'Beudoh' Weekly Banda Aceh

Only tears and prayers accompanied Jamaludin, 30, the cameraman of state television station TVRI, on his journey home to his Creator. Discovered about a month ago on the banks of the Lamnyong River, Banda Aceh, only a few meters away from our office of the Beudoh (Awaken) tabloid, the traces of torture on his body left a chilling message, particularly for fellow journalists.

News of his death came while journalists were barely coping with new restrictions on covering the war in Aceh through the censorship measure of Presidential Decree No. 43/2003.

Journalists now assigned to Aceh have become quite familiar with the mental terror perpetrated against them, particularly when attending regular press conferences held by the military administration.

Then, there is the bureaucratic procedure involved in obtaining press cards issued by the martial law authorities, an act that indirectly contradicts Article 4 of Law No. 40/1999 on press freedom -- though indeed the authorities would cite their legal rights based on the 1959 law on martial law.

Those covering Aceh are also continuously challenged with accusations on being partial to either warring party, while they might have intended to side with humanitarian concerns.

One example is how Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members reportedly chased a reporter of the private television station TV7 just because GAM was not happy with what they called pro-Indonesian Military (TNI) coverage. For the same reason, the cameraman of another private television station Metro TV, among those embedded with the TNI, became target practice.

The warring parties know full well that the key to victory depends not only on the weapons but also on public opinion -- which is why in Aceh journalism is restrained and interfered with and reporters and editors are harassed and intimidated in a bid to control public views.

Press members in Aceh also face the daily challenge from their editors who demand "exclusive" reports, while they must also save their skins. Hence the option of being "embedded" with the TNI, although journalists are noncombatants.

Embedded journalism is a new phenomenon in Aceh. With dozens of journalists embedded with the TNI, the result has been the stigmatizing of journalists opting to be "embedded" with GAM, as in the case of American journalist William Nessen. Restrictions were tightened on the press following the knowledge that he was in a GAM hideout.

So far, embedded journalism has shown us what we sacrifice in a bid to gain "exclusive" reports. Under mutually beneficial conditions we may gain such reports, while the military acquires many opportunities to control public opinion -- not to mention what becomes of the perspective of victims themselves, the civilians trapped in the war.

It is thus urgent to decide whether embedded journalism should remain an option in covering the Aceh war.

There must at least be an effort to find a way to ensure that journalists can maintain a role toward peacemaking in Aceh.

Another obstacle to the press trying to do its job has been the term "nationalism". The martial law administration in Aceh regularly preaches "nationalism" to journalists assigned in the province.

If the military seeks the cooperation of the media in defending the integrity of the unitary state, it is enough for the TNI to let journalists do just what they are supposed to do. We cannot be forced to make the choice of "be embedded or dead." The endeavor to produce objective, balanced and valid reports is above everything else.