The Jakarta Post

Letter: Article on Tibet riots

Tue, 03/25/2008 12:43 PM

I am writing in regard to your headline in your paper dated March 17 titled "80 dead in Tibet riots, security tightened".

Is this figure being verified by any third independent organization? By reading your article, I came to realize that it is provided by the Tibetan government in exile.

If that is the case, how much can we believe in it? At the same time, I do not believe the Chinese government's figure of 10 dead. I think the actual number will come out much later.

However, your paper decided to print the flashy unverified figure in the headline.

What is the basic difference between the bloggers and the journalists? I think the latter, with their professional skill, should have fact-checked on everything they put into print and run the paper with social responsibility in mind. Otherwise, there is no difference between the two and the newspaper industry might as well die.

"Repeat a lie a thousand times and it becomes the truth." This quote is from the propaganda minister of the Third Reich. His method worked and we had a horrific chapter in our recent history. We should not let such a thing happen again and the media should not be like a parrot repeating whatever they hear without any thought to determine the truth or accuracy.