Trust needed both in journalism and love""

Dozens of students of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) in Cawang, East Jakarta nodded and smiled when they were told recently that there was a striking similarity between journalism and love between two people.

During a seminar titled: Access to the Global World, held in the first week of May, The Jakarta Post Chief Editor Endy Bayuni said that developing both journalism and love required a certain degree of trust.

""Love will be short-lived if there is no trust. It's similar to business in the mass media,"" Endy told participants.

To gain public trust, he said the mass media should work hard, reporting the truth and adhering to the law and ethics as well as exercising wisdom.

He said some top magazines and newspapers in the country had gained public trust after demonstrating their credibility and working hard for many years.

One of the students, Abednego from UKI's Social and Political Science Faculty, questioned the accuracy of the truth as reported by the mass media.

By upholding the law and ethics and maintaining independence, Endy said the mass media could get close to the truth and serve the public's interests, instead of following the interests of certain parties or groups.

He said people were becoming bored with the current political news and turning to entertainment news.

""The mass media has failed to engage people's interest. Probably, we don't know what people's needs are,"" he said.

Another speaker in the seminar, the Post's chief executive officer Daniel Rembeth explained how to manage a newspaper as a company.

After the seminar, many students showed interest in joining a training in journalism which was conducted in the third week of May.

The students were taught by the newspaper's senior editors how to write articles for the mass media.

--The Jakarta Post