Sarwono wants better environmental reporting

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja yesterday called on Southeast Asian journalists to strengthen their reporting about the environment by going beyond simply looking at cases.

Journalists should have sufficient knowledge on the subject to make in-depth new reports that will provoke people's action on environmental problems, he told a workshop on environmental reporting for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) journalists.

"Do not cover only the cases of environment, but include also conceptual and strategic matters," he said.

Twenty journalists from ASEAN countries are taking part in the 10-day workshop which was organized by ASEAN News Exchange. Hosted by Antara News Agency, it is sponsored by the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information. Speakers include experts from UNESCO, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and the ASEAN Secretariat.

In his opening speech, Sarwono stressed the importance of the quality of environmental news writing, which, when combined with legal action, would have the power to make people act decisively when dealing with environmental problems.

"The press should not be satisfied with the amount of reporting. They should give attention to quality, because the environment is a very complex issue," he said.

He noted that journalists often leave out important information, hiding the complexity of issues and the various efforts that need to be undertaken by non-governmental organizations, the community and private sectors in repairing environmental damage.

Imbalanced news without further analysis would only make people pessimistic and loose faith in the future, he said, citing as an example the way the press reported the forest fires in Indonesia. "It is therefore important for the press to give more space to positive news".

He noted that foreign reports about Indonesia had not been entirely fair.

The outside world only stopped attacking Indonesian about the way it manages its tropical rain forests after the government launched an offensive abroad to explain its position and invited experts and the foreign media over to see for themselves, the minister said.

Sarwono said that in-depth reports would help the government prioritize which actions to take, because "journalism can give an atmosphere of compliance, a strong message to everybody."

People's understanding of the environment should be built up by knowledge written in media, since the common people could not be expected to join conferences or special studies about these issues, he said. (03)