Taming Western media on E. Timor

By Al Busyra Basnur

This is the first of two articles on the link between the Western media and East Timor.

JAKARTA (JP): When Dom Duarte de Braganca of Portugal visited East Timor last November, he admitted that the situation in East Timor was absolutely different from the reports that had been reaching Portugal. He also said he was very much impressed by the achievements of the province in socioeconomic development, so much that he promised to convey to the Portuguese authorities the real situation in East Timor. Of course, it would indeed be interesting to know what reports about Indonesia Dom Duarte had referred to and the impact of the true information on East Timor that he would give to the Portuguese authorities.

That was not the only good opinion expressed by foreigners about development and the true facts in East Timor. Many other independent foreign observers or government officials who have visited East Timor expressed similarly good impressions of the situation in the Indonesia's youngest province. Among others, three Kenyan journalists (Imanuel Oyiba Wili, Lilian Nduja Githccingo and Bascrah Blasto), who on completing their visit to East Timor last August commented that they had not seen anything bad in East Timor such as Ramos Horta widely claimed overseas. In the meantime, Lt. Gen. Silvio of Italy who visited East Timor last month said that the negative image of East Timor abroad was absolutely a result of unfair foreign journalist's reports.

Since Jose Ramos Horta, a leading Fretelin activist, received the controversial 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, demonstrations, rallies and forums protesting East Timor's integration organized by NGOs and academicians in various countries have greatly increased. Their objective is clear: to gain support from the international community in their efforts to embarrass Indonesia for alleged human rights abuses in East Timor and the repressive ways in which Indonesian authorities govern the province.

The increase of anti-Indonesian rallies and demonstrations in other countries has been not only in reference to the moves of East Timor dissidents themselves or Portuguese diplomatic maneuvers and the activities of certain NGOs, but also to the role of the Western press, print and electronic media. For a long time the Western media have distorted, exaggerated and mispresented the facts about the Indonesian government with regard to the issue of East Timor's integration, human rights and democratization. This has misled the international public and given them a false picture of the situation in Indonesia, particularly East Timor.

It is what might be called a news fantasy of the East Timor issue. Unfortunately, the fantasy has cost Indonesia much both materially and morally, especially the people of East Timor who would like to concentrate on social and economic development. No less than Dom Duarte de Branca of Portugal, in his visit to Indonesia, frankly admitted that many reports published by foreign media did not match the conditions he had observed in East Timor. During the dinner tendered in his honor by Ambassador F.X. Lopes da Crus at the Jakarta Hilton Hotel, Dom Duarte told me that most foreign media up to now seem to be only interested in publishing news on East Timor if there is a problem. They rarely publish anything on the success of the development efforts in the province.

Actually, Indonesia has not been the only "victim" and "target" of inaccurate reporting by the Western press. Several other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America are also experiencing similar problems and embarrassment. The late prime minister of India Indira Gandhi once said that the Western press was only interested in publishing bad news occurring in developing countries, not success. Former president Carlos Andres Perez of Venezuela blamed the Western press for shattering the national identity of his country. Meanwhile, Abbas Sykes, former Tunisian ambassador to UNESCO, said that he did not like Western journalists entering his country. Several other countries in Africa, in fact, banned foreign (Western) press offices because they threatened national unity.

For decades, the Western media were also criticized widely because they were apparently interested only in protecting and promoting the interests of their owners and the companies that advertised with them.

In the case of Indonesia and its relation with the Western media, it is a reality that the Portuguese government, the East Timorese dissidents and many other anti-Indonesia groups use the Western media to defame Indonesia by publishing and airing groundless information on East Timor's integration, human rights, democratization and the labor situation in Indonesia.

News of East Timor published by the Western media, could be put in three categories: First, fair publication, where the news on East Timor aired or printed in the Western media is fair, wise and objective, based on the facts and on what really occurs in East Timor. This kind of news is seldom published in the Western media.

Second, news that is neither complete nor comprehensive and thus misleads readers on the East Timor issue. Why should it be published in this way? There are two possible reasons, namely lack of editorial space or the editor intended it to be that way.

Third, news that is clearly meant to gain support from readers or audiences to prevail on the Indonesian government to change its policy on East Timor. The facts and data of such news are manipulated in order to mislead readers and audiences on East Timor and Indonesia in general.

Most Western media also tend to use the wrong terminology, referring to "invasion" and "occupation" in describing Indonesia's presence in East Timor. In response, all our representative offices (embassies and consulates) abroad have endeavored to correct and inform the editors concerned accordingly on the correct terminology. But, such inaccuracy often still persists in the Western media.

Al Busyra Basnur, is an international observer and an alumnus of University of the Santo Thomas (UST), Manila, Philippines. He is working for Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The views expressed in this article are personal.