Senior broadcaster involves listeners in current issues

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)