Sarwono wants better environmental reporting
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)