Radio station offers round the clock riot news

Radio station offers round the clock riot news

JAKARTA (JP): "Be prepared. Men... wake up and be vigilant.
You'd better awaken your neighbors and guard your area against
the possibility of looting," a broadcaster from the privately run
Sonora Radio announced.

The broadcaster made the announcement on Thursday night
following complaints by Jakartans who phoned the station to
inform him that the looting spree which hit the capital had
spread to residential areas.

Besides calling on listeners to safeguard their houses, the
radio also announced important phone numbers for the police and
military in case their services were required to combat looters.

The announcement was part of a 24-hour public service
program laid on by Sonora Radio to provide up to date information
on the spread of the unrest.

The program received an enthusiastic response from listeners
because it provided them with information on the very latest
developments and advice on where to seek assistance. It also gave
then a forum in which to voice their anger and fears.

Among those phoning in was a woman who remarked that on her
way home from a hospital she had seen "our beloved Jakarta in
ruins." A man from a Ciputat housing complex in Tangerang
appealed for more help from security officers because he said
none were present during the ransack of the Hero supermarket and
Makro wholesale store on Jl. Ciputat Raya.

Iwan, a resident of Taman Asri housing complex in Ciledug,
Tangerang, said the 24-hour program had been very informative.

"By listening to information provided by other listeners on
the movement of looters, we were able to prepare ourselves too,"
he said.

"Even though the information provided by other listeners was
at times a bit frightening, I was compelled to tune in to it," he
said.

The program had positive results, he said, because based on
the information provided, he and his neighbors, equipped with
knives and other sharp implements, stood watch until dawn.

Sugiri, a resident of Kresek Indah housing complex in West
Jakarta, also said the 24-hour program was very informative.

"I have been tuning into Radio Sonora when traveling by car so
that I can get an idea of which roads are safe to take and which
ones are clogged up with traffic or unsafe due to rioting," he
said.

After announcing the cancellation of a marriage reception
scheduled for Saturday at the mosque in Pondok Indah, one of the
radio broadcasters invited other listeners to send in similar
messages.

"We'll do it for free, but please send us some food," he said
in a jovial but earnest manner. "We'd welcome corn, noodles or
anything. We've been surviving on coffee, we can't go anywhere
and we have no gas to cook."

"Yes, we have to fight against fatigue. We depend a lot on
instant noodles because all the food sellers have gone home,"
Wimpy, one of the station's executives, said.

He explained that the program had been authorized by the
Jakarta office of the Ministry of Information and the information
section of the Jakarta Military Command to broadcast the 24-hour
program from Thursday to Sunday. Normally, the station goes of
the air mostly after midnight.

It was not an easy job to run the program because besides
continuously broadcasting, the crew at times had to negotiate
with angry mobs threatening to set the studio building ablaze, he
said.

"The program is in line with our motto: Information and
Entertainment Radio," he said, adding that listeners had need of
up to the minute information on the emergency situation.

Wimpy, a member of the radio station's secretariat, said the
program used 19 broadcasters and operators who worked in shift.

"About 60 percent of last night's program consisted of
information provided by the public, with the remaining 40 percent
coming from our own crew," he said. It was a bit unusual because
on ordinary days, information from the public made up only 10
percent of the program, he added.

He believed that most information supplied by the public
throughout the night was accurate because it had been submitted
by the station's loyal listeners.

"None of the information turned out to be false. We could
detect its accuracy from the sound of callers voices."

People used the phone-in as an outlet for pent-up emotions.
Some callers phoned in tears. "We trust them because it's a bit
difficult to perpetrate a hoax by crying," Wimpy said.
(pan/anr/hhr)