Asia-Pacific Regional Press Freedom Seminar

Country Report - Timor Lorosa'e

Journalism and the struggle for East Timorese independence have been inseparable since before Indonesia invaded my country in 1975.

For many outside East Timor, the reporting of the killing of five foreign journalists at Balibo in October, 1975, was the first time they had heard of East Timor.

Those reporters had travelled to Balibo to find the truth, a story that had been denied by official sources in Indonesia - that the Indonesian military was training East Timorese in combat and illegally crossing onto foreign soil.

They got the story, but paid a price too dear. That was a fate that would befall too many over the next 25 years.

Reporters doing their job helped keep the idea of freedom bright during the dark years that followed.

Indeed, it could be argued that the filming of the massacre in the Santa Cruz cemetery in November, 1991, and its later broadcast around the world was the turning point for international opinion on East Timor.

Indonesia knew what it was doing when it banned foreign journalists from working in East Timor. But even so, East Timorese, Indonesian and other reporters kept up the struggle.

Under Indonesian rule, there were two streams of journalism: official and unofficial.

In Timor, the newspaper Suara Timor Timur and official broadcaster Radio Republic of Indonesia were produced in Dili.

In the months before Suharto resigned in May, 1998, Gil Alves started Novus newspaper and some students from the Universitas Timor Timur began publishing the Timor Pos. Today, these people are working in the two main dailies: The Timor Post and Suara Timor Lorosa'e.

Some RRI and TVRI reporters are also now working for Radio UNTAET and TVTL.

There were many unofficial publications too. In 1988, East Timorese students in Bali began publishing a Portuguese language periodical called Neon Metin (which is Tetum for Strong will for independence).

In the 1990s the same group established the Indonesian and Tetum language versions of the paper called Larigutu (in Indonesian) and Lorico Lian (which means Voice of the lorikeet - also slang for the voice of youth).

As word spread of the subversive effort, East Timorese students studying at universities around Java got hold of copies, reproduced them and passed them from hand to hand.

Eventually, they spread through the student network as far as Portugal.

These were the main clandestine publications for the East Timorese studying in Indonesia, but in some cities, like Yogyakarta, students got the same idea and began publishing their own papers.

In that city the paper was called Kay Rala Lian (Voice from the forests - a reference to the freedom fighters).

In Malang, East Java, Martir (Martyr) and U&R (Unity and Resistance) were produced.

In Jakarta, students produced a monthly bulletin called Funu (Struggle), and in Jember they published Tuba (Standing Fast).

Learning from their activist Indonesian colleagues, the East Timorese also used official student publications to campaign for independence although the message was less obvious.

The most well-known publication during that time was the Talit@kum weekly which is one of the 19 print publications being produced today in the new East Timor.

Within East Timor under Indonesian control students were also publishing.

Liberta (Towards Freedom) and Unidade (Unity) were published monthly in Dili.

The student council also used their official publication, Solidaritas (Solidarity), to campaign subtly for independence.

My own journalism career was in some ways a reflection of the recent history of East Timorese publishing. My first article was published in an official bulletin, Kmanek (Elegant), but much of my work was for clandestine papers like Larigutu and Talit@kum.

In 1999, many students decided to return to East Timor in the lead-up to the August 30 ballot to campaign for independence.

They brought with them their journalism skills and their publications.

Some of them became involved in radio. But because Indonesia was still in control, they were pirate broadcasters, moving transmitters and locations every night to ensure they could continue broadcasting.

During the campaign, there was a forceful reminder for journalists that advocates of free speech can pay a heavy price. Radio journalist Bernardino Guterres, in Dili to vote, was killed four days before the ballot. On August 26, 1999, he was shot dead by Indonesian police during a violent afternoon that marked the last day of campaigning by the pro-integrationists.

In the lead-up to the vote, the National Council for Timorese Resistance also asked the students to produce a paper, Vox Populi, every second day during the campaign. Students and journalists from different publications joined together to produce the paper, a cooperative venture that expanded on the experience of those who had earlier joined together to produce Talit@kum.

Six of the planned seven Vox Populi editions were produced. The seventh, ready to go to press on August 26th, never made it to the print shop because of the violence that afternoon.

After the announcement that East Timor had overwhelmingly voted for independence, no papers were produced. Radio Timor Kmanek broadcast until the end of September 4, the day the result was announced, and UNAMET Radio broadcast for a while from the compound.

There was no media in East Timor, but reporters were busy.

My country was front page news everywhere that month, with journalists confined to the UN compound by the extreme violence outside using satellite phones to ensure their stories of the horror reached news outlets around the world.

After stability returned to East Timor, journalists started wondering how to work.

There were no offices, no desks, no tape recorders, no chairs, no transmitters and no printing press. It took a while, but the media returned to East Timor with Radio UNTAET, and newspapers began publishing in 2000.

Already, in less that two years, some publications have folded, but at the moment we have a diverse print media of 19 publications: two daily newspapers, three weeklies, one fortnightly magazine, six community weekly papers and seven fortnightly community publications.

UNTAET also produces in four languages a biweekly paper called Tais Timor.

In addition, there are seven community radio stations and the UN broadcasters, Radio UNTAET and TVTL.

As a new nation emerging from a quarter of a century of state-controlled media, the problems confronting journalism in East Timor are wide-ranging.

For some journalists, a major problem is moving from being part of the struggle for independence to the more traditional role of observer and reporter that is usual in the open democratic society the East Timorese are aiming for.

Before the ballot, reporters were on the same side as the activists like Jose Ramos Horta and Xanana Gusmao. Indeed, for some, there was little difference between their activism and their journalism.

But in an independent East Timor, Ramos Horta is the Foreign Affairs Minister and Xanana may become the president. Journalists are finding themselves on the opposite side of the fence reporting on their activities.

East Timorese journalists have a great understanding of the power of the press. Their own clandestine experience and the impossibility of publishing opinions contrary to the official Indonesian line convinced them of the need for free speech and an empowered media.

They have formed an association, the Timor Lorosa'e Journalists Association, and developed a 16-point code of ethics to guide their work.

But the transition from activist writing to making ethical journalism a daily routine does not automatically follow the announcement of a code and will take time, as well as the education and training which is taking place.

All the basic problems exist: the power goes out at least once a day for hours on end and no-one knows when or whether it will come back on. After the 1999 devastation, there were no computers, no phones, no fax machines. There weren't even any desks or chairs or reference books. Let alone a printing press.

We needed equipment, technicians, consumables like ink and paper, phone lines, tape recorders, batteries, internet access and knowledge.

With a lot of help from international donors, the capacity to produce news now exists in East Timor.

But reporting events for a newspaper is not the same as writing an article for a clandestine student newsheet. Who is qualified to speak on a particular issue? How many sides to the story do we need to get? How do we report it if a man who was a hero of the independence struggle proves to be inadequate as a minister of state?

Court reporting, parliamentary reporting, covering road accidents, development projects, the economy, even sport - all these are new to us.

Then there are the things you don't expect.

Indonesia closed the doors on East Timor after it invaded in 1975. Tourists were allowed back in 1989, but not journalists. As the Indonesian press was silent on the state of East Timor and the East Timorese were also muzzled it was largely left to foreign reporters entering the country as tourists to report on the situation facing ordinary people. The East Timorese became used to these tourists turning out to be journalists. But today, in some remote parts of the nation, when an East Timorese reporter says 'I am a journalist', some still say 'What? Journalists used to be white.'

The problems also go beyond journalism. Levels of literacy are still low in some parts of East Timor and reading is a chore for many of those who are able to do it. Circulation of newspapers, which are mainly produced in Dili, is a new idea and proving difficult. Readership levels are low and there are significant language barriers. As well, many people are living in poverty and buying a newspaper is an unaffordable luxury.

After its inaugural congress in January this year TLJA has identified priority areas. They are:

• Education and training for journalists.
   
• Improving standards of journalism.
   
• Civic education on issues related to the media such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of information, and
   
• Establishing solidarity among journalists in East Timor and networks with colleagues in the Asia Pacific region.

Journalists' organisations like PINA and SEAPA have been steadfast in their support of East Timor's journalists.

East Timor's Constituent Assembly will be drawing up the new constitution over the next three months. TLJA will have a major focus on a public education and lobbying effort to ensure freedom of speech, other rights related to ensuring the media remains independent and that people have a right to information are enshrined in the Constitution.

These rights are fundamental to a true democracy.

As well, TLJA is hoping to organise the first multifaceted journalism training course in East Timor so the nation can begin training reporters at home rather than sending them overseas. The course, which we aim to base at the university, will help build the institution of journalism in East Timor and aid reporters to understand that their craft has a long and proud history throughout the world and that the struggle to maintain its principles can never be given up to other aims.

Another pressing problem is the future of Radio UNTAET and television. There is little experience of public broadcasting in East Timor, and a danger that the UN's public information arm could become the government's propaganda machine.

There are issues for journalists beyond reporting. We know that information promotes understanding and that our skills can be used in the nation-building process.

There are plusses here. For example, relations between Indonesia and East Timor have been strained, but an event hosted by TLJA earlier this year shows how barriers can be broken by sharing informaton.

A group of Indonesian reporters, mainly from West Timor, travelled to East Timor to see for themselves the situation. As a result of the visit, their reporting changed because they had observed the facts and talked to people as they wished.

That shift resulted in an increase in the return of East Timorese refugees, and it helped to build trust between the two nations.

Of course there is a danger that unless they are vigilant, journalists seeking to promote understanding for the good of all could be co-opted by the government of the day for its own purposes. We can learn from our Indonesian colleagues here.

Many difficulties lie ahead for journalism in East Timor, but we have emerged from the struggle for our nation with the concepts of our profession intact. With help from our friends and colleagues in the Asia Pacific region, I believe that in time East Timor's reporters will achieve the free and independent media they desire.

Virgilio da Silva Guterres
President, Timor Lorosa'e Journalists Association

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