Book promotes what Indonesian media misses

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 09/04/2008 6:39 PM | National

Author Christovita Wiloto launched his latest work Behind Indonesia's Headlines, in Jakarta on Thursday. The book aims to show the public what the local media has failed to cover.

At the book's launch, Christovita argued that Indonesian news headlines seldom reflected what actually happened in reality, making the public less informed about what conerned them.

"About 70 percent of local headline news do not reflect reality," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

The writer used the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) case as an example, saying that most news publications only quoted individuals involved in the case, but almost never explained what the case was really about.

"The core explanation as to why the BLBI case matters has never been explained to the readers," he said.

Apart from the incomplete and incomprehensive reporting, he said that local media failed to promote "good news" about Indonesia that could have been in the interest of international readers.

He then mentioned how most of the local media skipped the discovery of "The Lost Paradise" in Papua in 2006, where dozens of new species of animals and plants were found.

In his new book, Christovita aims to the public eyes to some of the events and facts that the general media often neglect. The book has been registered in the Indonesian Museum of Records as a book with the most commentaries. (and)

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