Senior broadcaster involves listeners in current issues

JAKARTA (JP): You may know their voices well, but you don't really know who they are. Most radio broadcasters are indeed a mystery to their fans because, unlike TV presenters, their faces are hidden from listeners.

Even though they are not as popular as their colleagues in television, radio broadcasters are indeed not less important. And it is not easy to be a good one. A nice voice helps a lot, but without broad knowledge and wide horizons, this is nothing. The skill of interviewing people is especially required for hosts of talk shows, which can be heard every weekday morning on many radio stations.

"We must fully understand the issue, we must be keen and have the ability to ask the right questions and dig out information from the sources," said Zain Marasabessy, a veteran broadcaster.

Even though he has been in the business for 25 years, his name might be unknown to many young people. Zain, 56, is host of Delta Morning Show, one of the most popular programs at Delta (99.5FM), a radio station whose target audience is people over 35 years old.

Zain, who reads a lot to help him keep up with current issues, is on the air everyday, from Monday to Friday, in the morning after the 6 o'clock news until 10 a.m.

"Some people think that we know better than them, which might not be true ... Well, I feel proud but I am also afraid that the good image around me would be torn apart if I say something wrong," he said. "As human beings, we can make mistakes."

During the show, he reads excerpts of selected items of certain newspapers, comments on hot issues and interviews experts to discuss them thoroughly. Now and then old songs -- Delta calls itself a "favorite oldies" station -- are heard. Listeners are also invited to call in, just to say hello, or to join the talk show.

"There is a big response from the audience if the topic deals with topics of public interest, like corruption, the increase of road tolls, or narcotics. Political issues receives less response," he said.

According to Zain, the radio receives about 30 callers every morning, four of which have never called before.

Not all of them, however, get the chance to express their ideas in the talk show. Zain explained that a reporter is assigned to screen the calls and then call them back if the callers are considered appropriate for the show.

"We do not mean to censor their opinion. No. But it is just a matter of limited time and we have to make sure that they understand the issue," Zain said.

Like other radio stations in this reform era, Delta now enjoys more editorial freedom.

"In the past, we would not criticize the government openly. But now we can even mention names, like (Armed Forces Commander) Wiranto or (President) Habibie, for example when we talked about their policy to impose martial law in East Timor," Zain said.

He related that before president Soeharto stepped down, when he wanted to criticize the government he would use words like "certain parties", or "certain people".

Zain was born in 1943 in Ambon. He went to the School of Law and Social Sciences at the University of Indonesia, majoring in social sciences. In 1965 and 1966, he joined the mass student demonstrations against the government. He later dropped out.

He had worked as a public relations officer at a private company and as a junior high school teacher for years before he decided to become a broadcaster.

"You see, a teacher, a PR officer and a broadcaster have something in common: all have a lot to do with communication," said Zain, who married a former student and now has four children and one grandchild.

In 1971, when private radio stations started to multiply, with a few friends, Zain established Kora99. But the radio station survived for only three years. From 1974 to 1980 he worked at Agustina, a radio station in North Jakarta which targets a lower income audience. He quit because he felt that there was little room for him to develop, and then worked in the public relations sector again. He was there for two years and later joined Bahana.

In 1994 he was transferred to Delta. Bahana and Delta are two of the eight radio stations under the management of Masima Corporation.

Unlike Agustina, Delta and Bahama target higher income brackets.

"It is easier to communicate with people from the middle class because they are more critical and logical. When you talk to those from the other group, even though you could give them a 'lecture', it is difficult to convey the information if they are already oriented with certain ideas," said Zain, who is also a dai (Muslim preacher).

Delta has had this talk show program since 1993. At that time it was hosted by Nuim Khayat, a former Radio Australia broadcaster. But he received warnings from the Directorate General of Radio, Television and Film at the Ministry of Information, which said he was too critical. Nuim decided to return to Australia and Zain was asked to replace him.

In 1995, Delta received a warning from the information ministry because of Zain's interview with soothsayer Permadi about the succession issue. "Permadi wondered why people were so angry about what he said, when they did not protest (Minister of Information) Harmoko, who actively campaigned for Golkar long before the election," Zain said.

He received another warning, this time from the police, when he quoted a newspaper about a riot in Irian Jaya that allegedly involved a policewoman, who was an Irian Jaya native.

"I had tried to contact the police, but to no avail. I said then that if the report was true, the police had to clarify this," he said.

Things have improved a lot. Zain now does not have to worry about warnings from the police or the government.

"Now that we have more freedom, the media can be more ambitious and broadcasters can be more expressive," he said.

But one thing still bothers him: the government's ruling on the obligation of private stations to relay the news from state radio RRI three times a day. "The stipulation must be revoked," he said. (sim)