'Post' wins top honores in labor issues journalism competition

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/27/2008 1:33 PM  |  National

The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat and Dian Kuswandini took first and third place respectively Wednesday in a reporting competition on labor issues co-organized by the Association of Independent Journalists (AJI).

Fransisca Susanti, a freelancer, won second prize with her article "On Sadness in Victoria Park", which illustrated Indonesian migrant workers' woes. It was posted on the online news site pantau.co.id.

Ridwan's article, titled "Job creation falls short of expectations despite bigger budget", received first prize for its "comprehensive data and perfect description of labor conditions in Indonesia", as Imam Wahyudi, one of the judges, said.

Dian's article on the struggle of transvestite workers was honored for providing an "interesting" angle to labor issues in the country, said Imam.

Sponsored by the AJI, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the first ever journalistic competition on labor issues was held to increase awareness of journalists and the public on such issues.

Judges short-listed 101 stories from print, online, TV and radio reports.

Monique Rijkers from 68H radio in Jakarta, Sulistiono of Radio Idola in Semarang and Andy Lala from Trijaya FM in Jakarta won first, second and third place respectively in the radio category.

For the TV category, Bhayu Sugarda of Astro Awani, Widyaningsih of SCTV and Nima Grafina Sirait of DAAI TV won the first, second and third prize respectively.

The winners received awards and cash prizes and their reports were published in a book titled Laborers Media Reports, which was launched after the announcement.

Ridwan dedicated his award to all laborers, especially those working in the media, saying they had inspired his article.

James A. Davis, country program director of the ACILS, was pleased with the competition.

"To have this competition for Indonesian journalists is especially magnificent. It is encouraging the public to care more about the fate of laborers," he said.

He said Labor Unions in America were often regarded as lazy and only interested in fighting for less work and higher wages.

"But it is part of a democratic institution. We fight for dignity in the workplace. We get involved in public discussions and care about policies made by the people running for office," he said.

AJI Secretary General Abdul Manan hoped more journalists would join the competition in the future and write more about their own fate in the workforce.

"I think it's time we put forward the issue of labor in the media because our conditions are not much better than workers in other industries," he said. (anw)

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