VZCZCXRO0844
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0159 0250655
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250655Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7751
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4667
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1920
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1541
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 3635
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 2268
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 0536
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000159 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/PD (JBOOKBINDER), EAP/MLS, DRL, 
DRL/PHD, INR/EAP 
NSC FOR EPHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EAID SOCI ID
SUBJECT: PROMOTING TOLERANCE AMONG INDONESIAN YOUTH 
 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  A USG-funded Democracy Small Grant project 
was launched January 24 near Jakarta.  The aim of the 
project--which provides training to Muslim and Christian 
students--is to promote tolerance and ethical standards in 
journalistic writing.  One of Indonesia's most respected 
senior journalists and DepPol/C addressed the mix of budding 
journalists on the importance of effective, responsible 
journalism.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) AN IMPORTANT GRANT:  Mission continues its efforts to 
promote positive interfaith relations in Indonesia.  Noted 
senior journalist Aristedes Katoppo and DepPol/C spoke at the 
January 24 opening class of a Democracy Small Grant project 
funded by EAP/PD focused on training high school students on 
how to report the news in a way that promotes tolerance and 
understanding in society.  The project was designed by the 
Institute for the Free Flow of Information (ISAI), an 
Indonesian non-governmental organization which had played a 
crucial role in the democracy movement of the late 1990's and 
which continues to play an important role in promoting 
tolerance today. 
 
¶3.  (U) FOCUS IS TOLERANCE, ETHICS:  The course is carefully 
constructed.  Designed to train bright young students in 
sound journalistic ethics while teaching them about 
tolerance, the course was conceived in light of past 
sectarian conflicts in Poso, Ambon and other places in 
Indonesia which were fueled, in part, by hate-mongering or 
poorly sourced media reporting.  Training for the roughly 20 
students will be held over the next few months at a mountain 
resort training center near Jakarta.  Courses will be taught 
by highly respected Indonesian journalists. 
 
¶4.  (U) THEY'RE ENTHUSED:  The students are excited about the 
course.  During the January 24 ceremony, Katoppo and the 
DepPol/C held a long discussion with them about the important 
role they can play as journalists in reporting with 
sensitivity on ethnic and religious groups, and communal 
relations in general.  They underscored how good journalism 
can contribute to social cohesion through responsible and 
thoughtful reporting, and how inaccurate reporting fueled by 
rumors, etc., can lead to serious communal conflict.  The 
students expressed strong, enthusiastic support for the 
objectives of the course. 
 
¶5.  (U) A REAL MIX:  Indonesia is a diverse country and the 
student mix reflected that.  They were chosen for their merit 
among eight Muslim boarding schools and Christian high 
schools, and included persons from a wide range of ethnic and 
economic backgrounds as well.  Their questions on how to 
report the news in an ethical way demonstrated that they 
fully appreciated the purpose of the course.   One young man 
attending a south Jakarta Muslim boarding school told us that 
he has already made one student film on the everyday 
struggles of young persons and hoped one day to become an 
actor, screenwriter and filmmaker.  He added that the course 
was important to him in preparing him for these aspirations. 
 
¶6.  (U) GOOD FOR MEDIA, SOCIETY:  The course is demanding. 
Students will be expected to produce articles for publication 
in their school newspapers based on what they learned in the 
class and the best writers will be given awards at the end of 
the project.  Leveraging other education-related projects 
that Mission is engaged in, the course can serve as a good 
role model for teaching students across Indonesia on models 
of positive citizenship.  The course hopefully will produce 
journalists who in the future--to the great benefit of 
Indonesian media and society--will become responsible, 
talented  professionals. 
HUME