INDONESIA: Media asked to promote tolerance

President SBY calls media 'society's conscience' and 'agents of change' in opening speech at Global Inter-Media Dialogue

Jakarta Post
Sunday, September 3, 2006

By Tony Hotland

Bali --- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the international media Saturday to play a mediating role in conflicts rather than fanning animosity.

"You are society's conscience, you are the agents of change and we count on you to help the human race by promoting freedom of speech, spreading tolerance and advancing peace and understanding," he said in his opening remarks at the Global Inter-Media Dialogue here.

The forum is co-sponsored by the governments of Indonesia and Norway and has brought in around 70 media people from 44 countries. It was organized in response to the controversy over European editorial cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad.

The row over the cartoons prompted media people from around the world to talk about the need for the media to promote peace and tolerance in view of religious and cultural sensitivities.

Yudhoyono said the media had to walk a thin line between supporting free speech and taking part in discrimination.

"Addressing cultural sensitivities does not mean you are compromising free speech," he said, citing the American media in the 1960s, which employed self-censorship in the portrayal of race riots and later race relations. This did not reduce press freedom but did help ease the violence.

Yudhoyono said many Muslims felt they were not being portrayed fairly by the international media and had complained of double standards.

"When non-Muslims are killed in the line of fire, they say, Western news coverage is more significant than when Muslims are killed routinely in Palestine, Iraq and now Lebanon," he said.

As the leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation, Yudhoyono said the Muslim community worldwide was not asking for special treatment but for the respect given to other religious groups.

He said the media should encourage people to move beyond their image of Islam through learning about one another and discussing any differences or similarities.

"In times of hostility, it is always critical to narrow the perception gap, avoid misunderstandings and maintain communication through accurate information. No one can do this better than the media."

Speaking on the same occasion, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said it was important to discuss the extent to which the media should take into account sensitivities that are not protected by the law yet deeply held.

"Freedom of expression can never be exercised in isolation from its context. Awareness of other people's sensitivities and of their right to be treated with respect should be part of all normal, civilized behavior," he said.

Any inter-media dialog, said Store, should provide media practitioners with a broader range of background information, ideas and interpretations to manage fundamental differences.

The international forum, titled "Freedom of Expression and Diversity: The Media in a Multicultural World", is expected to be held on a regular basis. Store said his government would be pleased to host the next one.

Journalists question absence of Israel in Global Inter-Media Dialogue

By Endy M. Bayuni and Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni

Bali --- Journalists taking part in the Global Inter-Media Dialogue Saturday criticized host Indonesia for the absence of an Israeli journalist who had earlier been invited to the forum, raising questions about Indonesia's commitment to freedom of the press, the theme of the one-day gathering.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda in a press conference, however, denied that Indonesia had refused a visa to Yossi Sarid, a well known Israeli columnist and former education minister.

"We had hoped that Norway would have come up with a constructive way out," Hassan said, referring the issue to his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store at the podium.

Store explained that Norway had asked Sarid to travel on a Norwegian-issued travel document, rather than an Israeli passport, and the latter declined the offer.

"We respect his decision," he said, stressing that his absence in Bali had been most regretful.

The one-day forum saw the participation of more than 70 journalists from around the world. One of the main themes of the discussion was the role of the free media in promoting greater tolerance around the world. The Indonesian and Norwegian governments sponsored the event, which was opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

As if underlining his commitment to a free press, Yudhoyono in his keynote address said he owed his position to the freedom of the media in the country which opened up with the democratization process that began in 1998.

Mike Chinoy, a former CNN journalist now with the Los Angeles-based Pacific Council on International Policy, said in the forum that he saw two dynamics working at the same time on Indonesia's commitment to democracy and freedom of expression.

A Foreign Ministry official said Indonesia cannot put a visa on an Israeli passport given that it does not recognize the state of Israel. Many Israelis who visited Indonesia in the past came on other travel documents.

Hassan admitted that the presence of an Israeli journalist in Bali could potentially take the focus of attention away from the main topic of the dialog.

But Store said that had Sarid decided to take up the Norwegian offer, he would still be recognized as an Israeli participant in Bali.

Hassan was also questioned at the press conference about the government's policy of restricting foreign journalists from visiting Papua.

He said the government was opening up the area to foreign journalists on a selective basis, noting that the security and political situation was improving there, now that the region had conducted local elections.

Date Posted: 9/3/2006