Maverick Indonesia

Click Of The Week #27: Ika Maya Susanti

Like many other journalists Ika Maya Susanti began blogging because she was frustrated that the paper she worked for did not want to publish much of her writing on its website. She felt she had something to say and wanted people to read it. So she started her blog called Kisah, Berita dan Cerita. Ika writes about technology, health, finance, beauty, career and other subjects that catch her fancy.

She also runs some competitions on writing, photography and film making in her blog and through them get to know who are the enthusiasts in each field. She also has great photos on her blog and through her embedded Flickr account. Her blog has many comments even though her Technorati Authority is 18 and Ranking is 461,934. Nevertheless she’s attracted 55,628 readers since she started blogging on September 2006.

Ika was born on 15 October 1981 in Jakarta and worked at Harian Tribun Batam as a reporter.

MDGs award for journalists

UN Ambassador for the Asia Pacific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Erna Witoelar on Wednesday (19/9) presented an award to several Indonesian journalists from the print and electronic media for their contribution to the promotion of the MDGs programs in Indonesia.

Erna said that all these media had received international recognition as the best advocates of the MDGs program on top of Italy, which ranked second. The following is the list of the media:

1. Suara Pembaruan
2. Kompas
3. Koran Tempo
4. Media Indonesia
5. Seputar Indonesia
6. Metro TV
7. TPI
8. RCTI
9. ANTV
10. SCTV
11. TransTV
12. JakTV
13. Radio Trijaya
14. KBR 68H
15. detik.com

We are truly proud of their achievements and would like to extend our congratulations to them. Let’s support the Indonesian press!

98.7 Gen FM

Another new radio station in Jakarta, 98.7 Gen FM, was launched at Planet Hollywood on Monday (10/9). The radio plays 70% of easy listening and upbeat Indonesian hit songs. I’ve already tuned in to 98.7 Gen FM and discovered that it plays Indonesian latest songs, with very little interruption from the announcer so that listeners could enjoy the music.

Well, I think 98.7 Gen FM could be considered as a competitors for the top radios like Prambors and I Radio. It seems that 98.7 Gen FM is trying to help Indonesian songs become master in their own castle.

Lets support press freedom!

Following protests and complaints from journalists about the proposed amendments to Press Law No. 40 (1999) the Parliament’s Commission I and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh met on Monday and reassured journalists that their freedoms would not be compromised. They also announced that they would consult journalists before proceeding further in the passage of the amendment.

The Press Board member Bambang Harimurti said objections to the amendment after anonymous sources in the Information Ministry sent a copy of the draft amendment to the board, which has yet to decide on its course of action where this is concerned. Another Board member, Leo Batubara, and Indonesian Broadcast Commission Vice Chairman Fetty Fajriati together with the Independent Journalist’s Alliance and the Indonesian Television Journalists Association rejected the amendment, saying that it would only have the effect of pulling the Indonesian media back to the suppressive Old and New Order days.