West Papuan journalists today: An alternative human rights perspective from Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines the curiosity of journalists in West Papua about the notion of human rights. The selection of this theme as a focus of research can be seen as a concern for the role of journalists in the enforcement of human rights. The selection of West Papuan journalists for research departs from the position of journalists as perpetrators of journalism activities. The author has proposed four disciplines of writing news about human rights violations in West Papua: 1) the level of curiosity of the notion of human rights by West Papuan journalists; 2) the intellectual attitude of West Papuan journalists; 3) the terms of reference for practising journalism skills in writing news about human rights violations in West Papua; and 4) news about human rights violations in West Papua. To test the level of curiosity about human rights of West Papuan journalists, the author carried out indepth interviews with Benny Mawel (a journalist with tabloidjubi.com) and Arnold Belau (a journalist with suarapapua.com). The findings are discussed in terms of journalists as professionals. The author argues that that the focus on the notion of human rights in West Papua has begun to diminish.

Keywords

• interviews
• human rights journalism
• human rights violations
• Indonesia
• journalism skills
• West Papua