Press told to address potential social unrest

Press told to address potential social unrest

JAKARTA (JP): Instead of waiting for violent outbreaks,
potential conflict simmering beneath the nation's ethnic and
cultural foundations should be addressed by the media, senior
journalists and a sociologist agreed on Tuesday.

They agreed that over the past three decades, the media had
swept all potential problems under the carpet, never opening
public spheres for discourse over the issues.

At a discussion held by the Institute for the Studies on Free
Flow of Information (ISAI), a common view was also shared among
panelists that the media were in part to blame -- along with a
corrupt government -- for the spate of unrest in past years.

Speakers were sociologist Tamrin Amal Tamagola of the
University of Indonesia, assistant to the deputy editor of
Muslim-oriented Ummat magazine Hamid Basyaib, Hidup's editor
Sihol Siagian and chief editor of The Jakarta Post Susanto
Pudjomartono.

The topic was on the mass media and their coverage of societal
conflict, or conflict stemming from differences of ethnicity,
religion, race and societal groups (SARA).

"We have fallen short of putting all the issues into
perspective, that we are ethnically plural -- a vast potential
for conflict," Susanto asserted.

"Intentionally or not, we tend not to cover such potential
conflict... when ABRI says (a conflict) is over, we tend to
follow," he added, referring to the Armed Forces.

Many demographic changes have been left uncovered all these
years, he conceded.

One consequence of the lack of public discourse was the scale
of recent conflicts and people's reactions, such as calls for a
holy war following reports of unrest in Maluku province.

Speakers also referred to riots that occurred in West
Kalimantan, Jakarta, East Nusa Tenggara and unrest across Java in
previous years.

Hamid of Ummat admitted that while it was hard for journalists
of his magazine to be emotionally detached from the conflicts in
Ambon, they managed to cover both sides.

Sihol of the Catholic-oriented Hidup magazine also
acknowledged similar circumstances. "But we are of the view that
the unrest was political...," he said.

Tamagola reminded the media not to give in to the "ongoing
battle" within themselves to write reports based on a certain
editorial framing grounded on baseless prejudices. (aan)