Sabam Siagian, Kuala Lumpur
I would like to draw your attention at this stage that we media professionals could also offer a significant contribution to this total war against poverty. A good and inspiring example is the work done by a retired Newsweek editor, Bernard Kirsher, in the rural areas of Cambodia.
In the early 1980s he launched an effective program for children in the villages to provide digital training and the teaching of the English language. He has managed to persuade big companies to donate their discarded computers and ship them to Cambodia. He also has recruited volunteers to work as training instructors and teachers.
Kirsher's program focussing on digital education and English language reminds us that in our effort to enhance the living standard of poor people in our societies -- we should also prepare them and equip them to cope with the wave of globalization that sooner or later (most probably sooner) will engulf our respective societies. The talk now is about bridging ""the digital divide"", replacing the ""North -- South"" gap as a sexy discussion theme.
Obtaining digital skills would enable a person to have access to information sources which will provide him or her with new opportunities for progress.
After proposing some suggestions as to what the media could and should do in this awesome task to eradicate poverty, we also should look at our internal set up whether we are indeed ready and alert to tackle this crucial job.
Of course, the commitment should be there, in the editorial rooms, in the first place. If not the chief editor, then at least one or two senior editors, should constantly be involved in planning, assignments allocation, supervision and intelligence gathering related to the various aspects of poverty eradication and combating corruption.
A newspaper or a TV station should not involve itself only sporadically but continuously as long as a significant part of our society is still trapped below the poverty line.
A newspaper or a TV station should have a number of reporters and desk editors who are familiar with issues of poverty, efforts to eradicate it and are informed on the significance of their efforts in the framework of the country's development plans.
To present these issues with an attractive writing style is an important requirement. We should not bore our readers and audience with stories presented with the writing style of a Ph.D. candidate.
Media commitment to poverty eradication and combating corruption should be concretely visible in a newspaper's or TV station's budget structure. There should be adequate funds allocated for operational costs to cover stories related to poverty eradication and combating corruption.
The Nobel Prize Laureate, Amartya Sen in his famous book Development as Freedom (Oxford University Press, 1999) has pointed out that ""no substantial famine has ever occurred in a country with a relatively free press."" In an article he contributed to the 2004 World Press Freedom Day, he stated: ""(press freedom)...has an important protective function in giving voice to the neglected and the disadvantaged, which can greatly contribute to human security. The rulers of a country are often insulated, in their own lives, from the misery of common people.""
That poignant quote should be a constant reminder to us, media professionals, that we should never slacken our efforts to give voice and face to the voice -- less and face-less, that is, people that are marginalized in our society.
Press freedom rarely occurs as a wholesome and perfect phenomena. Naturally, we have to strive constantly to improve the conditions of press freedom in our respective countries. Nevertheless, an imperfect condition of press freedom should not be a convenient excuse for the media not to carry out its task of promoting poverty eradication and combating corruption practices.
Since 1998, after the abrupt resignation of President Soeharto and the blossoming of Reformasi, the reformation movement, Indonesia has enjoyed a considerable degree of press freedom.
Of course, it is not yet perfect and wholesome. Some government agencies and influential business executives are still attempting to strangle certain publications by applying clever legalistic technicalities.
However, given the ample leeway at the current stage of press freedom in Indonesia, one should raise some blunt questions: Has the Indonesian media as a whole maximized its resources, which are quite considerable, in carrying out the noble mission of poverty eradication and combating corruption? Is the Indonesian media tackling this mission with a sufficient degree of aggressiveness? The honest answer is: ""No"", or to soften it somewhat ""Not yet"".
The Indonesian media has yet to get its act together and put poverty eradication and combating corruption practices as top items in its editorial agenda. She should organize herself in such a way as suggested before in order to become an aggressive and effective force.
Fashioning out a common strategy while carefully nurturing the available resources in order to sustain a prolonged campaign should be the joint platform adopted by the Indonesian media in carrying out her task of promoting poverty eradication and combating corruption.
Some of you among the audience have read Jeffrey Sach's book The End of Poverty with the subtitle How we can make it happen in our life time (Penguin Books 2005).
Just listen to the opening sentences of the introduction:
""This book is about ending poverty in our time. It is not a forecast. I am not predicting what will happen, only explaining what can happen"".
Sachs visited Jakarta sometime last year. I was fortunate enough to meet him. His personality radiated a strong but attractive sense of confidence that the goal he had set for himself was attainable. That unobtrusive sense of self-confidence is reflected in the opening sentences of the introduction of The End of Poverty.
Further down that introduction is the following quote:
""Am I an optimist? Optimism and pessimism are beside the point. The key is not to predict what will happen, but to help shape the future. The task is a collective one -- for you as well as for me"".
We are not alone and can not do the job only by ourselves in completing this awesome task.
However, to become an effective partner in this war against poverty, we in the media, above all, should sustain our sense of commitment, without any interruption.
The writer was Chief Editor of The Jakarta Post for 8 consecutive years after its inception in April 1983. In 1991 he was posted by the Government of Indonesia as Ambassador to Australia and served in that capacity for 4 years. The above article was originally a keynote address made at the Forum on May 3 in Kuala Lumpur to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
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