Kalla says media should foster peace in Indonesia

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 01/22/2007 3:31 PM

Wasti Atmodjo and Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Jimbaran, Bali

The media can have a great impact on people's lives, promoting either peace or unrest, said Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the opening of the first Global Peace Forum in Jimbaran, Bali.

""Indonesia is undergoing a number of conflicts -- ethnic, religious or social conflicts such as the ones in Poso (Sulawesi), Ambon (Maluku) and Aceh, and we (the government) have tried hard to solve them peacefully and harmoniously,"" he said.

""We can be in a better position if the media is performing in the right way.""

Kalla said the conflicts stemmed from political, social and economic injustice. In covering the tensions, he said, the media should be smart and fair.

""If the media presents bad news or bad things, people believe those bad things. Every word written or broadcast in the media will certainly affect people's minds and behavior and will create perceptions in the community and society,"" he added.

""The media and broadcasters play a significant role in the conditions for either war or peace.""

The Vice President pointed to the recent, rapid spread of the video of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's execution as one example of how new technology speeds information to consumers. Hi-tech communications sometimes delivers first-hand information faster than the news media can.

The purpose of the forum, jointly organized by UNESCO and the Indonesian government, is to rally support for a global network to enable people around the world to know each other, fostering dialogue among different cultures.

The three-day meeting is expected to yield not just nonbinding recommendations but concrete plans.

The forum brings together more than 100 participants, including leading thinkers, top media and broadcast practitioners, researchers and other distinguished invitees from 34 countries. Among the no-shows, however, were computer moguls Bill Gates of Microsoft and Steve Jobs of Apple, along with Jordan's Queen Raina Al-Abdullah.

Abdul Waheed Khan, assistant director general for communication and information at UNESCO, said the forum would confront one of the major challenges to world peace: a lack of understanding. ""Mutual understanding can only be achieved through a continuous exchange of information and knowledge and through the free flow of ideas, words and images,"" he said.

""We fall very short of knowing well who we are in this diverse world.""

The conventional print and electronic media are not structured to narrow or eliminate this gap, he added.

""New and imaginative approaches must be contemplated to fill in the gaps and to go beyond where we are today,"" he said.

The media plays a major role in setting social, economic and political agendas at all levels of society.

There are huge disparities in information accessibility between developed and under-developed countries, however. Internet usage in North America is at 70 percent, while it is 50 percent in Australia and Oceania and 40 percent in Europe. It is much lower in the rest of the world: Africa and Asia stand at 15 percent or less. Overall, only 15 percent of the world's 6.5 billion people use the Internet.

The Bali forum is intended to bring countries together to explore establishing what is being called the Power of Peace Network, a multi-media, multi-platform network to support locally-produced content. The proposed network would be shared globally through radio, television, the Internet, cell phones and emerging forms of communication.

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