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Dear Sir or Madam
That Indonesia is enveloped in a profound social crisis is undeniable. It is right for the BBC to report on it. Regrettably, an interview during this morning's broadcast of the World Today (East Asia, February 20) not only trivialized the complexity of Indonesia's problems, but also thoroughly misrepresented reality through a two-dimensional portrayal of its society.
Rather than genuinely challenge both himself and his listeners to appreciate the depth of Indonesia's ailment, your presenter merely bounced prefabricated questions off a middle class urban family to create the impression that, 'like the Eastern Europeans', many Indonesians wistfully recall the 'good old days' under Soeharto. Your presenter gave the impression that these views are representative of wider society. But his interview did not include, for instance, the family members of perhaps millions of alleged communists massacred in 1965-66 and never accounted for, ex-political prisoners, nor members of marginalized groups from outlying regions forced from their lands by mass transmigration programmes and attendant environmental devastation. Such persons may have given both a more accurate view of the Soeharto era and also offered a more considered and critical profile of the current period. None of these concerns were seriously addressed, nor was there any recognition that the social problems now manifest in the urban areas of the country, bemoaned by the interviewees, are the product of that period of Soeharto's corrupt, non-transparent government.
Real journalism should raise profound questions and provoke the listener to think seriously about the important issues our world faces. It should not consist of neat packages to be easily digested with breakfast. The BBC is beholden to provide a more accurate, balanced and critical picture of global events than what it broadcast this morning. On Indonesia, it would do well to begin by questioning how that country can be expected to build a true democracy while millions of victims of the Soeharto regime remain unaccounted for, and the chief perpetrator of this crime against humanity sits in quiet retirement.
Regards
Nick Cheesman
Editor, article 2
Asian Legal Resource Centre/ Asian Human Rights Commission
Posted on 2003-02-20
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