RI should allow more Australian reporters

JAKARTA (JP): Participants of a meeting between senior Australian and Indonesian editors yesterday agreed that one of the ways to improve positive coverage here is to allow more correspondents in.

Several Australian editors said that having more correspondents in Indonesia would be helpful not only in disseminating information in Australia but would also reduce their journalists' inclination to spotlight trouble spots in East Timor and Irian Jaya.

Gregory Hywood of the Australian Financial Review said that the presence of more journalists here would help shift the focus of news about Indonesia away from the two territories to coverage of other aspects of life here.

Bilateral relations between the two countries have often been strained by Australian press reports which portrayed Jakarta's policies in East Timor and Irian Jaya in a negative light.

Ian McIntosh of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation pointed out that the media is able to contribute to efforts to enhance bilateral ties.

Foreign correspondents who are to be posted here have to get a license from the Ministry of Information.

Until very recently, there was only one correspondent representing the Australian media here. There are now eight.

"There's too much at stake (for the two countries) to shut the media out," McIntosh said.

Gathering

Yesterday's gathering of senior editors from the Australian and Indonesian media was the second organized by the Australia Indonesia Institute (AII). The first meeting was held in Sydney last year.

Fourteen editors from Australian print and electronic media attended the meeting. On the Indonesian side, such notables as Jakob Oetama of Kompas daily and former ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian attended the meeting.

Also present was Richard Woolcott, the chairman of AII and former Australian ambassador to Jakarta.

While ignorance and cultural differences were perceived as the reason behind some misunderstandings between the two countries, the editors acknowledged that, by the very nature of the media industry, it is bad news that attracts attention.

"Friction creates interest," Hywood said.

Another participant pointed out that even if 10 articles were written about positive developments here, people would still more likely remember the one "bad" news article.

"Bad news is news," remarked the editor.

Earlier in the day, Richard Woolcott, on behalf of the AII, presented 53 photographs to the Antara national news agency.

The photographs depict Australia's role in the fight for Indonesian independence during the late 1940s. (mds)