Not-so-stellar example of journalism
Some PR hotshot :) once said that the foreign correspondents in Indonesia are supposed to be the sharpest of the lot. Maybe yes. Although I can't stand some of them with their cockyness (personal banget hehe), exaggerated writing style, lack of knowledge (sok tahu, bow) and always putting on negative angles on every single piece about Indonesia. Islam? Baaad. Indonesian in general? Baaaaad. And you know I'm no blind nationalist nor religious.
Anyway, three days ago, I read an article in the International Herald Tribune called Cinéma vérité: Portrait of Indonesian polygamy. It was written by Jane Perlez, a New York Times journalist who has been writing several articles about Indonesia, including a report on mining giant Freeport and another one about bloated and undistributed Acehnese aid. Several months ago, the report on Freeport sparked debate in my office cause the bosses wondered why the hell the reporters couldn't come up with the so-called investigative reports. Some of my colleagues were upset cause, among other reasons, they said there was nothing new in the report, the issue had been going around for years, and it was 'sexy' again just because New York Times wrote about it.
I have no opinion about the report and Perlez. But this particular polygamy article irritates the hell out of me ever since I read it. Because it's full of exaggeration, inaccurate, and Perlez was gullible by swallowing all the claims from the filmmaker, who happened to be Perlez' only source. Well, there is that Javanese princess but she was only quoted once and was insignificant.
Let's take a look at the lead paragraph: Nia Dinata is, without much doubt, Indonesia's most talented new filmmaker: Packed screenings of her latest movie on polygamy at Cannes attest to that.
OK, the first sentence is debatable. But the thing with the country (including the media) is, it easily catapults somebody into stardom when most often than not, s/he is not that talented. As the result, the country turns into a land of mediocrity, inhabited by mediocre people who think they're already that good thanks to media hype. Again, it's debatable, but by writing that sentence, without even checked with other people first, Perlez has jumped into the bandwagon of gullible and starstruck local journalists while she's supposed to be the sharpest of the lot.
And the second sentence showed how Ms. Perlez didn't bother to do a little bit of factchecking. Or was she at Cannes? Cause Berbagi Suami (Love to Share) wasn't even screened there. It was there for the film market session. And any filmmaker in the world can enter session. All they have to do is be there with their films and find interested buyers.
From the article, I also doubt that Ms. Perlez has even seen the movie. Or maybe she did, but just the first part out of three stories in the movie. But I don't know, it's just my impression.
The rest of the article, all in all, is full of exaggeration and single source claims, and showed the typical point of view of westerners in seeing a Muslim country. Yeah, sure, it's a country that is still hobbled by corruption and other vices, but come on. The article gives impression that we're really backward people. Which we are. But so are Americans.
Enough already. For review on Berbagi Suami, check out Variety.
Anyway, three days ago, I read an article in the International Herald Tribune called Cinéma vérité: Portrait of Indonesian polygamy. It was written by Jane Perlez, a New York Times journalist who has been writing several articles about Indonesia, including a report on mining giant Freeport and another one about bloated and undistributed Acehnese aid. Several months ago, the report on Freeport sparked debate in my office cause the bosses wondered why the hell the reporters couldn't come up with the so-called investigative reports. Some of my colleagues were upset cause, among other reasons, they said there was nothing new in the report, the issue had been going around for years, and it was 'sexy' again just because New York Times wrote about it.
I have no opinion about the report and Perlez. But this particular polygamy article irritates the hell out of me ever since I read it. Because it's full of exaggeration, inaccurate, and Perlez was gullible by swallowing all the claims from the filmmaker, who happened to be Perlez' only source. Well, there is that Javanese princess but she was only quoted once and was insignificant.
Let's take a look at the lead paragraph: Nia Dinata is, without much doubt, Indonesia's most talented new filmmaker: Packed screenings of her latest movie on polygamy at Cannes attest to that.
OK, the first sentence is debatable. But the thing with the country (including the media) is, it easily catapults somebody into stardom when most often than not, s/he is not that talented. As the result, the country turns into a land of mediocrity, inhabited by mediocre people who think they're already that good thanks to media hype. Again, it's debatable, but by writing that sentence, without even checked with other people first, Perlez has jumped into the bandwagon of gullible and starstruck local journalists while she's supposed to be the sharpest of the lot.
And the second sentence showed how Ms. Perlez didn't bother to do a little bit of factchecking. Or was she at Cannes? Cause Berbagi Suami (Love to Share) wasn't even screened there. It was there for the film market session. And any filmmaker in the world can enter session. All they have to do is be there with their films and find interested buyers.
From the article, I also doubt that Ms. Perlez has even seen the movie. Or maybe she did, but just the first part out of three stories in the movie. But I don't know, it's just my impression.
The rest of the article, all in all, is full of exaggeration and single source claims, and showed the typical point of view of westerners in seeing a Muslim country. Yeah, sure, it's a country that is still hobbled by corruption and other vices, but come on. The article gives impression that we're really backward people. Which we are. But so are Americans.
Enough already. For review on Berbagi Suami, check out Variety.