UNDERSTANDING THE NEW MEDIA Alwi Dahlan Jakarta A true understanding of the new medias role in social movements

is missing because reports are mostly onesided and look only from the perspective of the activists. However, the new media is actually a verbal weapon of action used by both sides to achieve their own respective goals. It does not have to conform to any ethical standard and may use questionable practices, for example the manipulation of facts and data, deception or hacking, to achieve a victory over the adversary. This is only natural in any conflicting situation between a protest movement and the authorities, in which the main and loyalty of the total population is being contested. As with any other product of technology, the new media is basically neutral. It is not developed specifically just for protest movements in order they can overthrow governments in power, or vise versa. Both sides may, and do, use it for their own specific needs at a given time. Any government, authoritarian or democratic, would intuitively apply any available means to safeguard national security, including the regime in power. It may start with information gathering by monitoring dissidents media, followed by stronger actions. At the begging of the Arab Spring, the Tunisian Internet Agency assigned 2,000 online police officers to enforce censorship by massively blocking media websites, in addition to curbing the distribution of videos and photos. With the change of regime following the victory of the revolution, censorship was lifted. Obviously, a clear explanation or analysis for the failure or success of the new median in relation to such a political movement should take the government
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factor into account. The revolution is directed at the government in power. For insurgents, media technology is only an instrument they use to achieve a goal. The position of technology or media is neutral in the fight between the parties in conflict. Although the way the media is used by insurgents is important, actually it is the reaction of the government in power that plays a determining role. The challenges faced by an authoritarian government to make the best use of the new media, including controlling its content, are overwhelming. The growth of the new media is fast, more complex in organization, form and production. Control can no longer be had by just erasing banned keywords, like the old-time censorship of photographic or provocative matters. The case of China best illustrates the complex problem faced by such a country in managing the new media environment. On one hand, the government needs to facilitate the fast growth of its Internet industry (including the new media) to meet the rising market, the demand for better living, education and necessity to stimulate the overall economic. To safeguard political stability, however, there is a contradictory need to manage and prevent the potentially negatives impacts of the flood of information brought in by the Internet, which may include potential discontent among younger generations, conflict between the national ideology and wider global awareness, dissatisfaction with the lagging progress in the rural area when compared to the material living exposed by the media and wide diversity of its population (which in China also comprises the Uighur Muslim ethnic group that was involved in the 2009 Urumqi riots). In addition, the size and reach of the new media is such that the government has to be very careful in handling it. Faced with that kind of challenge, China has several options to control the

content and influence the impact of new media. Based in its ideology and revolutionary experience, however, the instinctive temptation was in favor of a harsh or forceful action. Hence, when an ethnic conflict involving a Muslim ethnic group erupted in Urumqi, Xinjiang, in July 2009, China immediately imposed a total communication blackout lasting for six months. Some information did seep out of Xinjiang due to a computer-savvy young generation of Internet users, but not for long. The censor removed all of the comments on Xinjiang in various websites within a few hours. This method of censorship is still enforced across the country today, and even expends to include the filtering of cell phone text messages. In addition, the authorities apply some of the insurgents strategies: constructing original Internet sites (such as microblogs) to develop community best social networks that are not against the government, run by paid net commentators. The control the new media is becoming more difficult with the increasing sophistications of activists in their application of media technology, frequently with the involvement of foreign experts, sympathizers, even foreign powers. New media communications have become more complex, with more anticensorship and anonymity services springing up to circumvent censors, not necessarily due to political or ideological purposes but for business and industrial security needs. On the other hand, such actions may not necessarily stop the censors, who feel challenge to escalate a more complicated cyber war. The political uses a new media as a form of public information are not limited to freedom of speech. Its been shown that new media have been used successfully in certain revolutions, real revolutions that come from clashes between the population and their authoritarian regimes, but in
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other cases the new media have been used more for public relations or political communications purposes, to paint the revolution as more authentic or genuine, even when it was not. In other words, some of the credits, that are supposedly for revolution that have been won by the new media, may only be a form of the uses of the old mass media. The new median offer certain advantages for political communication, compared to the old mass media. By virtue of its interactive characteristics, for example, one type of new media could follow and get involved with the dynamics of real time politics, 24/7. And offer a virtual public space where politicians and public could interact. There are also other types of new media, to fulfill different types of interactions useful for various players in the arena of political communication. Yet, it is not the only forum for political maneuvers: public political communication also uses the new media in combination with old mass media. Note, however, that a new media has a built-in disadvantage in political communication-the problem of identification of participants or the political source of media content, particularly if the media is used for discussing groups, interactive debates and the like. The stated source, for instance, may be misleading. This explain why the issue of media content and censorship has become serious and complicated, involving new technologies, counter actions and cyber warfare. Without an awareness of such developments, countries may be influenced by foreign interests in their media policies.

Alleged Binus student killers stand trial Jakarta: Four men accused of killing Livia Pavita Soelistiyo, a student of Bina Nusantara (Binus) University who has found dead in August, stood trial on Wednesday at the West Jakarta district Court. The suspects: Irwan Soleh, 22, Rohman Setiawan, 20, Muhammad Fahri, 19, and Apriyadi, 22, allegedly robbed Livia, gang-raped her and then killed her on board an M24 public minivan playing the Srengseng to Kebon Jeruk route before dumping her body in Cisauk, Tangerang on August 16. Livias remains were found on Aug. 21. Prosecutor Didi Karyanto said that the suspects allegedly breached Criminal Code Articles 340 and 338 on premeditated murdered and Article 365 on robbery. The minimum punishment for their crime is 20 years in prison, while the maximum is a life sentence, he said. Presiding judge C. Sormin adjourned the trial until Jan. 10 next year because the suspects did not have defence lawyers. Sormin appointed Resty Sri Utomo from the courts legal aid to act as lawyer for the suspects. A Lung, a relative of Livia, demanded that the judges hand down maximum sentences for the suspects.

SMS crimes still exist I am an expatiate who has been living here the last 14 years. I am writing to unfold a scam that is happening as I am writing. My family has been part of this scam and we lost money last week. This is related to a music concert scheduled to happen in Sentul, West Java, on Jan. 19. It so happened that we received an SMS text message that was offering tickets for the show. So my wife called this number and the man at the other end introduced himself as Pribadi (I am sure that he used his real name) and offered tickets for the blue stand which are Rp 2.7 million (US$300) each. My wife was not sure about this and asked for his website and he gave her a website that showed up as a genuine one (www.rajaticket.web.com). He then urged my wife to make immediate payment to secure the tickets as there were only three left. Since it sounded very genuine my wife when ahead and made the ATM transfer and bough two tickets, paying Rp 5.4 million. The minute the money was transferred he called back and said that the tickets were already sold to someone else and only one was left and if we wanted then he could offer a seat in the red stand for a higher price. My wife was upset and asked him to return the money, which he duly promised he would do on Dec. 19 as this incident has happened on Dec.18 which was on Sunday. On Monday when my wife tried to call him, he was not reachable and kept disconnecting the phone. So we called from another number and he pick up. So we enquired as if we are another customer and asked if he had blue tickets. And not to our surprise he said he had seven tickets left and urged us to make a payment. Then my wife spoke to him and he promptly disconnected the phone. I know it was our mistake to have believed this con artist and have fallen prey so easily to this scam/trick. However,
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what we were concerned about was that many more innocent people would be tricked by this cheat if we didnt act. So we went to the police to make a complaint on Des. 20 and it was such a long drawnout process by the end of half a day we had only manage to file the first information report. The files are still in process and we were now waiting for the police to call us to hear the story and then to act on it, which we were informed could be within three days. I have to say that it was quite disappointing to see inactivity and lack of interest from the police to take this seriously. It made me wonder why we have a police force in place if they are not going to protect the general people when they need protecting. If they act quickly, I am positive that this culprit could be caught red handed and save more innocent victims falling for his trick, if only quick action were taken as he is still answering calls and playing the same trick to any one to calls him. His mobile number is 853 7777 3445. We then went to BRI bank to which the money was transferred. We showed them the copy of the police complaint and requested that the account can be frozen and again we were not surprised to learn that there had been a few transfers to the account after ours and that the account had a zero balance as all of the money had been withdrawn.

Indonesia Needs More Midwives To reduce maternal morality rate The high maternal morality rate in Indonesia is of serious concern. According to research conducted on basic health in 2007, Indonesias maternal morality rate stands at 228 per 100,000 live births, while the infant morality rate is 31 per 1,000 live births. By index, Indonesia ranks 27 in terms of maternal morality rate, far higher compared to Singapore that ranks 200 out of around 400 countries. A lack of reproductive health services for impoverished pregnant women and a lack of access to such services contribute to the high maternal morality rate in the country. Bleeding and preeclampsia, a medical condition, and rising hypertension during pregnancy are among the causes of death of pregnant mothers. Lots of pregnant women in villages use the services of midwives when it comes to childbirth, which means that midwives play a pivotal role in society, especially in regards to reducing the maternal and infant morality rate. Out of over four million childbirths in villages each year, more than 60 percent are facilitated by midwives. According to Yetti Irawan, secretary-general of the Indonesia Midwives Association (IBI), the number of midwives in Indonesia stands at 175,124. Ideally, there should be three midwives in every village in Indonesia. Currently, there are 35,000 villages across Indonesia where pregnant women have no access to childbirth services. This means that Indonesia lacks 105,000 midwives, she said, adding the shortage of midwives might prompt pregnant women in villages to resort to using the services of unqualified traditional midwives or dukun bayi or other nonmedical childbirth services. If this situation continues, then the maternal morality rate will remain high
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and therefore, continuous and concerted efforts should be made to address the issue, she said. Given the great role that midwives play in society, especially in regards to the reduction of the maternal and infant morality rate, PT Sari Husada, in cooperation with the IBI, held the Srikandi Award for the third time since 2009. Under the Srikandi Award program, acknowledgement is given to nine midwives whose work can provide an inspiration to their peers across the country. Out of the nine selected midwives, three have been selected by a panel of judges as the best under different categories, namely cultural challenges, promotion of health and economic empowerment (See Box). The panel of judges comprised of Dr. Kartono Mohamad, former head of the Indonesian Doctors Associations (IDI), Dr. H. Abidinsyah Siregar, DHSM, a representative from the Ministry of Health, Ninuk Mardiana Pambudi, senior editor of Kompas Daily, Dr. Hari Koesno, chairmen of IBI, Diah Saminarsih, assistant to special envoy of President for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and Dr. Pinky Saptandari, expert staff of the minister for the Womens Empowerment and Child Protection. First set up in 2009, the Srikandi Award program is an initiative to improve, encourage and acknowledge midwives for dedication to their profession and contribution to society, especially in regards to the reduction of malnutrition, the maternal and infant morality rate and enhancement of maternal health under Pos Bhakti Bidan program. The program was developed and is jointly carried out by IBI and Sari Husada. IBI chairman Dr. Harni Koesno, MKM, said, Amid our joint efforts to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs target, a midwives constitutes an important figure who plays an important and strategic role. Her role is more than just
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providing childbirth services, a midwife has now become a figure who can take more actions to improve maternal health and maternal and infant nutrition in society. Meanwhile, Boris Bourdin, president director of Sari Husada, pointed out, Srikandi Award 2011 select nine inspiring midwives who are able to provide maximum contribution despite various obstacles or challenges that midwives face in dealing with health improvement efforts and maternal and infant welfare in society. Today, midwives are not only required to have adequate knowledge and childbirth-related skills but also the ability to make a social analysis, solve problems, to have creative thinking, and commitment to accomplishing their work with their hearth and full dedication. According to him, the nominated midwives have presented programs that are useful for improving social health, which they conduct in various inspiring ways. It is seen that midwives have become an inseparable part of Indonesian social life, especially in regions where access is difficult for medical personnel. A midwife is a noble profession that deserves adequate attention and appreciation from the whole community. Bourdin added. Dr. Kartono Mohamad, chairman of the panel, explained, This yearss Srikandi Award is aimed at rising the issue of the complexity of the roles of midwives amid various challenges in society. Through the long selection process, the nine selected midwives have managed to respond to the relevance of the program, to the challenges. The award is expected to be ableto inpsire and ask medical personnel, especially midwives, to reaffirm their commitment of quality health, especillly for mothers and infents, Dr. Harni Koesno, MKM, added. With the governments goal to reduce the maternal mortality rate to 102 per 100,000 live births by 2015 as a way to

meet the standarts set by the MDGs, all parties-not only midwives-should be involved in this.