Ethnic minorities hardly visible in the Dutch media

Anita Rachman, Anta Kusuma & Jackson Simanjuntak

*A training assignment for RNTC

Place where Van Gogh was killed/Photo from Wikipedia

WHEN a Moslem extremist gunned down the Dutch film director, Theo van Gogh, in November 2004, media in the Netherlands then turned to look for knowledge and perspective about Islam, Sharmila Badloe, coordinator of the Media Prof Network with Mira Media, said.

“Most of the media [here] only have the ‘white’ perspective, they don’t know about Islam. But then they think [to write a comprehensive story on the murder] they need to know about it,” she said.

To promote the importance of involving professionals from various ethnic backgrounds in the mainstream media is the core work and objective of Mira Media established since 1986.

Mira media has committed to bring diversity and pluralism in the media organizations in the Netherlands. Because even in a modern country like the Netherlands, pushing media companies to employ qualified ethnic media professionals is not easy.

“Intelligence does not have something to do with discrimination. You can have a high IQ, but you can be still very narrow-minded. Discrimination, it’s something you cannot totally get rid of”

Sharmila estimated the number of media professionals from non-western background in the Netherlands media is very tiny, “less than five percents,” she cited.

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Local ‘WikiLeaks’ to escape big media censorship

ANITA RACHMAN

Seeking a media outlet free of the chains of corporate ownership, a group of journalists is planning to develop a Web site that will carry stories conventional news organizations dare not touch.

Wahyu Dhyatmika, chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), said he hoped the site could provide an alternative outlet for journalists to post sensitive documents or evidence deemed too “dangerous” to be published in their own media.

“In short, it would be similar to WikiLeaks,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday, referring to the Sweden-based organization that publishes sensitive material and protects the anonymity of its sources. “We hope that in the future, all Indonesian journalists can engage and really benefit from this Web site and that will eventually strengthen our independent journalism.”

The Web site, which AJI Jakarta plans to launch in early August to coincide with its anniversary, is supported by the group’s chapters in Denpasar, Semarang, Surabaya, Malang and Pekanbaru.

Wahyu and 17 other AJI members recently completed a three-week course at the Radio Netherlands Training Center on how new media can support independent journalism.

He said that although Indonesia’s media had enjoyed 12 years of relative freedom since President Suharto stepped down on May 21, 1998, it did not mean that the threat was gone.

AJI Jakarta sees editorial interference by media owners as the new threat to press freedom. In a discussion the group organized in March, media analyst Ignatius Haryanto said “media conglomerate owners have become a threat because they now exercise the control that the government had in the old days.”

Potential threat to independent journalism?/Anton Muhajir

The media industry grew exponentially after 1998 when the government gave up its tight control through press permits and content reviews. There are now more than 2,000 radio stations, 1,000 print publications (magazines, tabloids and newspapers), 115 television stations and a growing number of online news portals. However, about 10 prominent business groups control the majority.

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Big Brother & my views on independent journalism

/a bit late post!

Hey ya, it’s a bit late post, because I DID celebrate the World Press Freedom Day in Amsterdam on May 3, 2010, yeah like two weeks ago? It was amazing! I think journalists around the world (well, most of them) are actually having one similar question: is the press under pressure?

To “listen” to my views and @WahyuDhyatmika’s about press freedom in Indonesia, you can click here, it’s our Radio Nederland’s interview (yes, you can hear my voice )

/my article

Being open and telling people what we think is right is not easy sometimes. Especially when you are a journalist. I remember once, there was a prominent journalist telling me to erase an update I posted on my Facebook account that “seemed to besmirch one of presidential candidates, and thus it makes you sound bias.” Avoiding further conflicts and a never- ending debate, I deleted my status update.

That small incident makes me start to wonder, whether new media can really give alternatives in the communication issues, including journalism and its independency. From then on, I  have this little skepticism inside me.

Journalists today basically do not need a big company to print their fact-based stories. The great inventions of computer and internet will help them spread the words to the world, in a faster and cheaper way. In a certain personally-managed website, journalists can post any news they have.

But, one question lingers on my mind. In a country such as Indonesia, when the government (although they seem to be very democratic) tries to put some control, including the media through their regulations and laws, could journalists actually publish any fact-based stories they have without risking themselves of losing jobs or be put behind bars?

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