Have a Conscience Journalism by Community Members

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9. Have a Conscience

All journalists, including editors and news directors, must have strong moral guidelines and ethics, along with a sense of personal responsibility. Independent journalists can exercise their conscience and not be subject to external pressure. If a journalist is certain about the truth of a story, but is afraid to publish it because they worry they will lose their job, then they are not truly independent.

10. Journalism by Community Members

This final element represents the newest element, and has appeared alongside the development of information technology, especially the internet. Citizens are no longer passive recipients of media but are becoming creators of it, too. Citizens can open blogs, for example, and have the right to write and share news stories. It is important to remember that they must also tell the truth and not manipulate the news. 33 Module 3: Facts, Opinions, and the Three Stages of News Coverage Aim of training 1. Participants understand the basics of journalism and news reporting. 2. Participants can differentiate between opinion and fact in news. 3. Participants can identify and put into practice the three stages of reporting – initial research, field observation, and interviewing. Topics 1. The basics of journalism 2. The difference between opinion and fact 3. How to report on a news story. Method 1. Presentation 2. Sharing experiences between participants 3. Practice of new skills research, observation, interviewing 4. Presentation of results 5. Discussion. Materials and equipment 1. PowerPoint presentations 2. Large sheets of paper 3. Small pieces of coloured cardboard 4. Markers 5. LCD projector 6. Laptop 7. Internet connection 8. Newspapers from the last week. Time needed 60 minutes. 34 Facilitation process 1. Facilitator begins by discussing the differences between facts and opinions, and shows a number of examples. 5 minutes 2. Facilitator asks the participants to share their thoughts on facts and opinions. 5 minutes 3. Facilitator presents the three stages of reporting – initial research, field observation, and interviews. 10 minutes 4. Facilitator asks participants to do some initial research using newspapers and the internet on a certain issue. For example, the quality of education in the local area. 10 minutes 5. Facilitator asks participants to observe what is going on around them in the room, and to write about what they see. Facilitator asks a few participants to present their results. 15 minutes 6. Discussion and question-and-answer session. 15 minutes Reading materials Understanding fact and opinion Every day, we come into contact with many different facts and opinions. It is especially easy in this information age to become confused over the accuracy of information, and opinions are frequently put forward as facts. To explore the difference between fact and opinion, have a look at the following sentences: 1. Ms Imin is poor, but she is just one of West Nusa Tenggara’s 1,031,600 poor one- quarter of the province’s total population of four million. 2. Her house is a picture of poverty, measuring just eight by four metres. 3. “If it rains, we have to sleep sitting up – we cannot roll out mattresses because the roof leaks,” Ms Imin says. 4. Quantitative data does not align with t he reality of Ms Musniah’s life, a resident of Datar village, West Lombok, or with Ms Raidah’s life, who lives in Karang Bucu village, also in West Lombok. 5. The fate faced by Ms Imin, Ms Musniah, Ms Raidah, and many others must force the government to act and overcome structural poverty faced by rural people in West Nusa Tenggara. 6. It is not enough to just make arguments based on numbers, as this does not solve the problems people are facing. Sentences 1, 2 and 3 are facts, while sentences 4, 5 and 6 are opinions. 35 Opinion sentences can be split into two kinds: individual opinions, and general opinions. For example: 1. According to experts, Indonesia’s population will grow to 300 million by 2010. individual opinion 2. Smoking will negatively affect not just your life, but the lives of those close to you. general opinion So, what can we conclude about facts and opinions? How do tabloid newspapers mix fact and opinion? “The fate of this old widow was really so sad. While cooking instant noodles at home, she fell, accidentally nudging the pot on the stove and causing boiling water to pour all over her body.” Pos Kota [City News], Jakarta, 27 July 2004 The first sentence is the journalist’s own opinion. It is only in the second sentence that he begins to write using facts. The same can be said for the following piece from Meteor on 1 August 2008: “A group corruption scandal now involves all members of Parliament’s Commission IX 1994-2004, and it is quite concerning. Members of Parliament are literally scrawled all over with indications of corruption. Their acts are unclean, their bodies are unclean – they even paid for women with the money. It is time for them to take a bath and wash away their sins.” In this paragraph, the journalist becomes the judge. In fact, he should not include his opinion at all in an article like this. His job is to write facts, not op-eds. Mixing of fact and opinion can be found anywhere in a newspaper – in the headline, in the lead, or in the body of an article. This article explores the way one of Jakarta’s most popular tabloid newspapers – Lampu Hijau Green Light – confuses fact and opinion. Lampu Hijau ’s headlines often use a combination of fact and the editor’s opinion. Many headlines also blur the facts with opinions. Here are a few examples: - Don’t Hang Out Alone in the Field at Mega Kuningan – Girl Invited to Drink with Men, Gets Drunk, Raped by Five Labourers Lampu Hijau, 4 August 2008 - Four Years of Work but Tangled in Debt, Neighbourhood Government Staffmember Becomes a Burgler Lampu Hijau, 3 August 2008 - His Only Capital was His Long Hair, He Dated a Domestic Helper, She Wanted to End Things… He Raped Her Instead Lampu Hijau, 12 August 2008 36 Lampu Hijau ’s leads are often written as generalisations, and without supporting data or relevant evidence. Sometimes, they even present the journalist’s opinion as though it was the opinion of the subject himherself. Here are some examples: - That man really didn’t have any capital. Except for his long hair. He thought that with his long hair, his girlfriend – a domestic worker – would be happy. Turns out it wasn’t that simple. She got tired of having to pay for their food every time they went on a date, and wanted to break up with him. In fact, she had already got a new boyfriend. But the long-haired man was angry. So he raped her Lampu Hijau, 9 August 2008 - DS, a 25-year-old from Sasak village in Bogor, has got an interesting nickname: King of Hearts. How did he do it? He slept with a 10-year- old girl. Let’s call her Melati. Ironically, t he girl was his own cousin. Melati’s parents must have been disappointed – they reported him to the police. Lampu Hijau, 8 August 2008 The body of articles in Lampu Hijau are not much better. They continue to mix fact with opinion, generalise, and even s witch the word ‘some’ for ‘all’. Have a look at this example paragraph: - And maybe, Raden Ihlas Radesa 34, became addicted to the microphone. So that he ended up looking for ‘microphones’ [penises] owned by his students. Funnily enough, even though this case was examined by the police, Ihlas Radesa was never detained. Lampu Hijau, 1 August 2008 The following paragraph illustrates how the newspaper blurred the motif of the perpetrator and generalised about the case: - This reckless act happened because DS had been watching pornographic films. His desire overtook his brain and thoughts, and he didn’t know what to do. In the midst of his confusion, he saw Melati leave her house. Dirty thoughts immediately sprang to mind. Lampu Hijau, 1 August 2008 In general, Lampu Hijau uses syntax that is based on opinions. Many words and phrases they use blur what actually happened: “maybe”, “it seems”, “indeed”, “it looks like”, “it appears”, “presumably”, and so on. Conjecture is also common in Lampu Hijau, with phrase s like “Why not?”, “What else could be done?” and “Between belief and disbelief” used frequently. Below are a few more examples of how Lampu Hijau mixes fact with opinion: - Este not her real name will never forget last Sunday. This 19-year-old girl was made to drink until she was drunk. Five men then had sex with her in the field at 37 Mega Kuningan, Setiabudi, South Jakarta. Este’s body was limp, and she was left all alone, just like that, by the men who used her. Lampu Hijau, 4 August 2008 - It’s all over for the perverted traditional healer, Darsipan 45, a resident of Kasmaran. Darsipan was caught by the police while he slept comfortably at his home. He was reported to the police for sexual assault. Lampu Hijau, 24 August 2008 - It could be said that even though he was clever at massaging swollen muscles, he never looked after his own. The proof was that when this masseuse needed it, he wasn’t picky about who it was – a regular customer of his, a wrinkled old woman. He raped her even though she was already a corpse. Yes, he smothered her head in a bag until she was dead. Then he raped her. Hahh? Lampu Hijau, 5 August 2008 38 Module 4: Field Observation Aim of training 1. Participants are able to carry out field observation that results in strong and information-rich reporting. 2. Participants are able to use the results of their observation to strengthen news stories. 3. Participants are able to evaluate the quality of other participants’ reporting. Topics 1. How to carry out field observation to produce credible and interesting news. 2. Field observation that uses all of the five senses, and takes notice of things that might influence a story or provide good background detail. Method 1. Presentation 2. Field observation at a public location, such as a health centre, school, or market 3. Presentation of observation results 4. Discussion. Materials and equipment 1. Audio recorder or mobile phone with recording capability 2. Notebook and pens 3. Camera 4. LCD projector 5. Laptop. Time needed 120 minutes. Facilitation process 1. Facilitator talks about the basics of field observation, and oversees an experience-sharing session between participants. 15 minutes 39 2. Facilitator explains the practical elements of the observation that will be done by the participants: the object of observation, where, and when. 5 minutes 3. Participants undertake their observation at a chosen location, and prepare their notes. 60 minutes 4. Participants present what they observed in the field. 20 minutes

5. Discussion and QA. 20 minutes