| Subject: IPS: East
Timor's Journalists Start To Rebuild Media EAST
TIMOR: Journalists Rebuild Media As Well
By Sonny Inbaraj
DILI, Nov 22 (IPS) - Metha Guterres could not hide his joy
when he saw three printing presses being unloaded, early last week, from shipping
containers in East Timor's main Dili port.
In a country where almost 70 percent of the physical
infrastructure had been destroyed by pro-Indonesia militias, these printing machines are a
ray of hope for the revival of a newspaper in the first new state of the 21st century.
''My colleagues and me can now get to work setting up a
print- shop,'' said the news editor and production chief of the former 'Suara Timor Timur'
('Voice of East Timor') daily, who was helping to load the printingmachines, donated by
the Australia-based Timor Aid, on to a three-tonne truck.
''The militias might have destroyed East Timor but they
haven't killed our spirit. We'll publish the first free and fair East Timorese newspaper
in the new millennium,'' said Guterres as the printing machines attracted curious
on-lookers among the Australian troops in the multinational armed force, guarding the
port.
Journalists in 'Suara Timor Timur', East Timor's only daily
newspaper, have been used to threats. But things started to get really serious in March.
On March 26, about 20 members of the Indonesia-supported
militia group Mahidi stormed into the newspaper's office, in downtown Dili, and threatened
to burn down the building as punishment for the newspaper's ''antagonistic''reporting.
Although the paper gave space to both pro-Indonesia and
pro- independence voices, militia members accused the daily's staff of stirring conflict.
On April 17, four truck loads of militia members attacked
and destroyed the newspaper office. They smashed up computers, printing machines, archival
cabinets, windows and doors, accusing the paper of being a voice for anti-Indonesia
voices.
When pro-Indonesia militias went on an orgy of killing and
destruction in Dili and elsewhere in East Timor after the announcement on Sept 4 of the
outcome of a UN-held ballot on the future of the territory, the building of 'Suara Timor
Timur' was burnt.
The outcome of the Aug 30 poll favoured separation from
Indonesia by an overwhelming 78.5 percent, against 21.5 per cent opting to remain with
Indonesia but with broad autonomy.
''I feel very sad whenever I see my old newspaper office.
It was a part of me and now it's completely destroyed,'' said Guterres as the truck with
the printing machines made its way to a warehouse.
But like everything else here that must be rebuilt,
teviving a printing press as a prelude to starting a newspaper in East Timor is no easy
task.
Explained Guterres: ''Newsprint stocks have all been
destroyed, coupled with the fact that supply from the Indonesian city of Surabaya is no
longer available because of the diplomatic strain in relationships between East Timor and
Indonesia.''
''Alternative supplies from Darwin (500 kilometres away)
are too expensive and freight costs from northern Australia are exorbitant,'' he added.
Guterres also said the power supply in Dili is still too
low to run printing machines and the presses risked being damaged if they were operated
under present circumstances.
But the need to inform and report in East Timor still
remains urgent.
''There is a news vacuum here and rumours thrive because
there are no newspapers,'' said Virgilio da Silva of 'Talitakum' -- an underground
pro-independence news magazine.
''Gossip through the grapevine can be damaging to nation-
building,'' he stressed.
East Timorese journalists, said da Silva, only returned
back to Dili early this month after fleeing the militias.
''The bulk of journalists, either with 'Suara Timor Timur'
or the various student publications, were targetted by the militias. Many fled to Kupang
West Timor's capital), Jakarta or Bali. Those that stayed back with their families, in
Dili, fled to the hills in Dare,'' said da Silva.
In early September, da Silva was feared killed by the
militias after he went missing.
''I hid in the mountains and survived by eating leaves and
roots. I reminded myself everyday that I had to stay alive to continue my work as a
journalist,'' he said.
But journalism in a new East Timor, in transition, calls
for a shift in traditional practices.
''Practices instituted by the Indonesian regime will have
to be broken. Local mainstream journalists cannot expose corruption if they have been used
to accepting freebies and envelopes from interested parties,'' said Hugo da Costa, former
managing editor of 'Suara Timor Timur'.
''It is a universal media rule that the media remain
independent. There can be no compromise in East Timor,'' added da Costa.
He explained: ''In the quest to report on the truth and
inform the public in free and fair manner -- amidst the presence of the UN, multilateral
lending agencies, corporate 'carpet-baggers' and the burgeoning East Timorese leadership
-- local reporters cannot be beholden to any party, individual or government.''
''Problems will abound in East Timor with the large flow of
international aid money and there is a compulsion on local journalists to report on them
without fear or favour,'' added da Costa.
A session to initiate face-to-face consultations with
mainstream and activist journalists is planned next month in Dili.
''Journalism in East Timor, now, in the absence of
oppression and repression calls for a new way of looking at things and a new way of
writing. But because it is more difficult to do, our journalists need better
training,''said Guterres.
''In the course of building a democratic society, we must
be honest, fair, accurate and not swing madly at the bad guys (the captured militias),''
he pointed out. (END/IPS/ap-cr-hd/si/js/99)
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