Young journalists get RI experience

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A group of Australian university students is in Jakarta for the six-week Journalism Professional Practicum (JPP) program, which is designed to give them a greater insight into the realities of contemporary Indonesia.

"I want to get the cutting-edge, interesting stories that are of rare experience for young journalists in Australia," Charlotte Wheatly, 20, said at the program's opening on Monday.

Wheatly, who is working toward her undergraduate degree in journalism at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), said this was a great opportunity to understand more about Indonesia.

She was one of 26 students attending the opening of the JPP, organized by Atma Jaya University and the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS), at Atma Jaya University in South Jakarta.

The students will attend a two-week course on Indonesian language and culture, followed by a month-long internship at one of several media outlets, including Antara newswire, Tempo English magazine, The Jakarta Post, TVRI, Metro TV and Voice of Indonesia.

Australian Ambassador to Jakarta Bill Farmer said he expected the program to bring mutual benefits for both countries.

"Through this extremely interesting and important program, you will gain a lot about the reality that more Australians need to know about," Farmer told the students.

He said a recent public opinion poll in Australia found there were a substantial number of Australians who did not have "a clear view" of Indonesia.

"We have a mixed history with Indonesia, which comes naturally with being neighbors," Farmer said.

Some Australians, he added, might limit their perception of Indonesia to "suicide bombers, radical Islam and death row".

Professor David Reeve, the deputy of ACICIS, hoped similar programs could be carried out regularly in the future.

"We had our first Journalism Professional Practicum in Indonesia in 2001, but we had to wait this long (to do a second one) because of security reasons. I hope that this program is the sign of things to happen in the future," Reeve said.

JPP project officer Louise Williams took unpaid leave from her regular job to concentrate on the program.

She said, "I think that it is really important to develop Australian journalists who know about the culture of Indonesia."

Williams is a senior Australian journalist with considerable experience in the Asia-Pacific region and has received various accolades, including the Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Annabel Boyer, 26, a graduate student, said she was eager to get an inside look at the political scene in Indonesia.

"Writing about other cultures is always a challenging and rewarding thing. I'm interested in finding out about what Indonesians are really like," Boyer said.

Several of the students acknowledged they were unlikely to get rich working as journalists.

"But I'm not in it for the money," said Wheatly. "It's the thirst to find out more and understand new things. It's the passion." (lva)