Maverick Indonesia

Click of The Week #32: Merry Magdalena

  Reading through Merry Magdalena’s blog, is like looking at the world through a new pair of eyes. With “Sexual revolution” written as heading on her blog page, it hit me that all Merry’s writings are calculated to send a strong message, especially to female readers. She is so heavily into gender issues that her blog serves as a wake up call for females to stop self pity about their looks but to maximize their potential instead.

“If you are a poor and ignorant female, then you are the most unfortunate human being in this world. Why? Because you become the most vulnerable prey for all the predators in this jungle of life !” Merry wrote in the posting “Females, Poverty and Ignorance”.

(more…)

KoranInternet, new on-line news portal

The battle for Indonesian news in cyberspace has hotted up with news portal KoranInternet joining into the fray to compete with others such as detik.com, KCM and others. KoranInternet fired its first salvo last Thursday, on 15 November, by placing colored advertisements about a quarter of page in Kompas announcing their launch.

KoranInternet appear to target mainly businessmen, young executives and government officials. The content covers mainly Financial & Business news and political issues locally as well as globally. There is also a special .com on the right hand side of the webpage reserved for Kwik Kian Gie the former Coordinating Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry under the Megawati administration.

Kwik, who used to be a newspaper columnist before becoming a minister, returns to his role of critic with his opinion and analysis on current issues on policies or politics that affect the economy of the country.Presented in an open discussion style, Kwik’s critical opinions in this column has already attracted many comments from readers.

The main page of KoranInternet has a simple-clean layout, making it easier for readers to read without the distraction of pop usp or moving feature which we usually find on other news web page, detik.com being the main culprit. Even the two advertising banners that appear when you first enter to the site did not overlap with the news page. I guess koraninternet has thought better than to irritate readers who are looking for news rather than advertisements.

We welcome KoranInternet and wish them all the best in the road ahead. If all goes well with this news portal we should probably be seeing them add more coverage. Personally, I’d like to see them cover more culture topic as Indonesia is so culturally rich.

By : Dian Kartikasari

Click Of The Week #26: Samiaji Bintang

Samiaji Bintang is a journalist who is a contributor to the “Pantau” foundation of Aceh. Pantau started its life as a magazine published by the Institute for the Study of the Flow of Information (Institut Studi Arus Informasi – ISAI). Due to funding difficulties, the Institute decided to close the magazine in 2003. In August 2003, the people involved in the magazine decided to create the “Pantau” foundation. The magazine was published again with a politico-cultural focus. Alas, financial difficulties once again forced the magazine to close. Pantau is now an online news site that still focuses on the social, political, and cultural issues that affect Aceh.

What struck me about Pantau is that unlike many other media in the country, their articles are presented in a compelling, story-telling style supported with deep research and a complete knowledge of the Aceh culture. This style, this knowledge is reflected in Samiaji Bintang’s blog.

What I noticed when I first read his blog was the lack of accusations. Samiaji does not write to demonize Indonesia or its Armed Forces, or to champion the cause the Free Aceh Movement, the Indonesian Government or any other political elite vying for power in the province. Samiaji writes to tell stories about the people of Aceh. His post “Coffee plantations, guerillas, and militia”, for instance, is an especially interesting piece about how coffee farmers had no choice but to involve themselves in the armed struggle for, or against, the Free Aceh Movement. Another post titled “Seven Javanese coolies in the land of the Rentjong” deftly reveals the harsh social realities of post-tsunami Aceh, especially for the thousands of migrant workers that arrived to try to make a living out of rebuilding the devastated province.

His posts are long without being tedious. His stories are compelling because he actually know the people and does not write as an outsider looking in. His blog is a pleasure to read and leaves you feeling enlightened, although often depressed, afterward.
All in an, a most excellent blog. A must read for anyone who care, or want to care, about Aceh.

Maverick On CSL Program

A week ago, we completed our first media handling skills training workshops for non-profit organizations under Maverick’s 2007-2008 Corporate Social Leadership Program.

The program is Maverick’s way of giving back to society and has two components. The first is a 10-month course on how do do their own PR for two selected organizations. The second is a series of one-day media training workshops for 12 NGOs. All the training is provided free as we believe that we can use our expertise and experience in communications to affect society positively, even if the impact is a small one.

Starting last week, we will hold media training workshops for two NGOs once a month for two NGOs for those getting media handling skills training and a session every month for the next 10 months for the two NGOs in our capacity building program.

The first media training workshop was conducted by Maverick Partner Lita Soenardi and involved the Jaringan Nasional Pendukung Usaha Kecil Menengah (JNP) UKM and Yayasan PITA. JNP UKM is a network of the SME supporters who are focused on the issues of small and medium enterprises with the emphasis on deploying regulatory impact assessments in regions to ensure favorable business climate. Yayasan PITA is a nascent organization supported by young activists who focus on helping youngsters infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.

Even though the training was held during fasting period and almost all of the participants were fasting, it was really a lively experience as found out how difficult it could be to deliver your messages and control an interview situation when you are faced by aggressive reporters (role played by maverick associates).

The Mavericks also learned a lot about small businesses and the issues related to HIV/AIDS. We were most impressed with their spirit and drive for the betterment of others. Such dedicated and idealism is heartening to see among the younger members of our society. Hopefully, with enhanced media handling skills they will be able to more effectively deliver their messages through the media and conscript more people to their causes.

There’s no party that has no end. But we believe that the relationship among us will always be in a tight knot. We look forward to hear and to see more on the growing of both JNP UKM and Yayasan PITA. Group of young and talented generation who are not only dedicated to what they have started, but most, having the spirit to serve the community for better place and better environment.

Finally some words for our participants:

1. Buat Mas Agus dan Mbak Risma, maintain that infectious enthusiasm to spirit to serve those 40 millions SMEs in Indonesia. Maverick was proud to be able to assist you today, we hope that JNP UKM would remain a constant partner for SMEs and continue advocating for economic reform and development in Indonesia.
2. PITA guys! You are all are fun to be with! As you learnt from us, we also learnt from you. You blew us away with your dedication, commitment and youthful exhuberence. We hope other youngsters learn from you and stay away from drugs and habits leading to infection by the HIV/AIDS virus. Healthy life, healthy generation, and healthy nation! Don’t forget to make anything complicated sound simple; anything simple sound important.

Jakarta And Blogging

A new post on Enda Nasution’s blog mentioned that according to Businessweek.com, Jakarta is on par with cities like Beijing, Mumbai, and Philadelphia as one of the top 30 cities in the world for blog postings and comments activities. So I went to the website — and it’s true! It’s sad, however, that we still lost out to Singapore, but I agree with one of the comments on Enda’s blog: This is mostly due to the unavailability of cheap internet connection, even in Jakarta.

This little information is interesting, especially in the face of the current controversy about the proposed amendments to Press Law No. 40 (1999). Could it be that the prospect of a less-than-independent mass media little by little drives away consumers from the mainstream Press to the more independently written blogs? Or is this simply because a growing number of audiences feel that the mainstream media no longer sufficiently fulfills their need of information?

In any case this proves that blogs, online message boards, and mailing lists represent a growing trend of direct opinion forming and delivery, as more people take their cue from what they read in this media which is uncontrolled (or shall we say unrestrained) by conventional yokes, formulate their own opinions, then post it again in the same media, further influencing others at a rate that television and newspapers never even dreamt of. Something to think about, right?

Vigil for BBC Reporter, Alan Johnston

Yesterday evening, The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) held a vigil for Alan Johsnton, their correspondence who was abducted in the Gaza Strip. People lighted candles to express their support to Alan and also to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Alan Johnston, who has worked with the BBC since 1991, was kidnapped in Gaza City on March 12. Until today, nobody knows his status as there has been no public statement from his captors. No one can even be sure that the detained journalist is still alive.

People from all over the world have signed a petition calling for his release. Lucy Williamson, the BBC representative, who organized the vigil, got so emotional when speaking about Johsnton, while the Chairman of Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI) Heru Hendratmoko expressed his sympathy to Johsnton and his family. He said that a journalist only wants to report freely of what’s happening in each corner of the world. Thus, it’s such a shame if in doing the task, a journalist has to risk his/her life. It is just not right.

Journalist isn’t a threat to anyone.

Even though I don’t know Johnston personally, I have a high respect on him. Not everyone has the courage to venture into Gaza Strip considering the risk, but Johston was so dedicated in doing his job and fight those challenges – the right to report freely without fear or intimidation a.k.a press freedom.
Let’s pray for Alan Johston. Wherever he is… May his dedication to his profession keeps him strong and alive. Our heart goes for Johnston and his family.

International Labor Day Commemoration in Jakarta: “Journalist says NO to bribery, increase wage”

Hundreds of people from different organizations and labor unions joined a one-day-strike in front of presidential palace in Jakarta over wage issues. Maverick was invited by our journalist friend to capture the moment. Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (Independent Journalist Alliance) – AJI collaborated with Aliansi Buruh Menggugat enthusiastically expressed their stand- points with regard to labor issues.

Head of AJI Jakarta Jajang Jamaluddin says, “Lots of people have expressed their disappointment over Indonesian journalists’ professionalism. Some people see journalists as people who are easily bribed and give positive publicity in return”.

This is a sad phenomenon. AJI sees that the standard of salary of Indonesian journalists is very low. It’s only one-quarter of those fellow journalists’ salary in Malaysia and Thailand. “Because of the low salary, while there are so many basic needs to be fulfilled, saying NO to bribery is not an easy task”, Jajang says.

Therefore, AJI encourage the media organizations to raise the salary of their employees to avoid bribery. “Some journalists think that it’s acceptable to receive ‘envelope’ (money, red) from the news source. In fact, this has strong influence on journalist’s independency”, Coordinator of Labor Union AJI Jakarta Winuranto Adhi says.

Acccording to the survey conducted by AJI in 2006, the minimum wage for a journalist in Jakarta should be of Rp3.1 million. Of course the number should be adjustable in line with the inflation rate. “We can make it happens through solidarity, fight for it and by forming a union”, Winuranto adds.

Winuranto also mentions that there are lots of media organizations that suppressing its employees to form a labor union. The organizations/corporations are afraid that the employees might criticize the management and/or able to fight for their rights. AJI picks Bambang Wisudo case as an example. Bambang Wisudo was the secretary of Perkumpulan Karyawan Kompas (PKK) and the fact that he got sacked was very much reflected the union busting in the media. Wisudo was mutated to Ambon – while Syahnan Rangkuti (Head of PKK) was mutated to Padang – after PKK succeeded to persuade the management to give away 20% of employees’ shares devident.

On that sunny afternoon, Jajang told me and my colleague – Hanny - that AJI would keep encouraging Indonesian journalists to improve their skills, professionalism and to follow the code of ethics in journalism (see our previous post on journo’s code of ethics here).

“Say NO to bribery, increase the wage!”, he says at the end of the interview.

Closing of Komputer Aktif and Snap Magazine

After PC Magazine Indonesia from Femina Group, another IT magazine: Komputer Aktif is confirmed to be closed by the end of this month. Komputer Aktif is one of the magazines that published by Gramedia Majalah group.

Through the release, the chief editor Antyo Rentjoko (well known as Paman Tyo on national blogosphere) said that this happen due to the contract between Gramedia Majalah and VNU Business Publication is over.

This bi-weekly magazine was ‘born’ in May 10, 2001, and become very well known as an ‘easy to read manual’ for computer and gadget.

For me it’s very unfortunate that Komputer Aktif is closed, since the magazine is very concern about blogging activity in Indonesia. Through its ‘Situs Terbaik’ acknowledgment, Komputer Aktif give their respect for several category; including the best blog.

Beside Komputer Aktif, Gramedia Majalah also decided not to continuing to published their photographer segmented magazine: Snap. Up until now, there’s no clear explanation why Gramedia decided not to published the magazine.

Snap magazine first published on December 2005.