It Isn’t All Black and White
Sources: Are you going to say bad things about me?
Me: Well, there are criticisms out there. I think it’s a chance for you to speak up. Otherwise, the world will only know one side of the story.
I said those words several times in the past and now I just said it again to a source. She is a communication officer of one ministry in Jakarta and she worries that I will write something bad about her office. “We just want to know your angle..and your tone..you know, we have done a lot (for the country) but we have been heavily criticized,” she says.
I told her about my reporting plan and how I see the issue. I think it’s the job of a journalist to respect their sources and tell them the truth about his/her plan, even though it’s not pretty for them. Once again, I told her that criticism is unavoidable and it’s time for the ministry to show their work on the ground. I also told her that I’ll try my best to make a balanced story. To convince her, I sent her my latest article on the issue. I’m still waiting for her reply though.
But based on my experiences, telling your sources information about your reporting plan works well to get their trust. This worked when I interviewed a female Western scientist accused of doing helicopter science, a scientist accused of manipulating citation numbers in Indonesia’s science indexing system, and a prominent environmental activist who turned out to be a politician backing a controversial dam.
When I talked to them, I see that they are just humans. No one is truly evil. They have their own stories and it is the job of a journalist to listen to them carefully, without judgment and negative perception. When we treat them with respect, they will tell us their honest stories.
This is a line from one of my sources:
“Sadly I am not very well, I am so incredibly saddened and upset by the news that my research has been perceived as being somehow improperly conducted. I am also very sad that this might prohibit me from spending time with the people who participated in my research, who have become like my family,”
At first, I felt guilty working on this kind of story. Some say it is not Indonesian to reveal people’s wrongdoing. But I did it anyway.
I did it because journalism is about putting different perspectives in one story, giving the voices of the two parties, to the public. On my screen, the voices of my sources become those inanimate letters that I use to analyze the reality around me. This sounds inhumane, but it has to be done. Because my sources aren’t the only humans in the world. And as a journalist, I have to see them as a part of societal elements. On a personal level, they could be a good friend. But don’t forget that they could also be a white researcher in a privileged university, a lecturer with a need to excel, or a government scientist intimidated by top officials.
But this doesn’t mean that journalists are evil. We need to write down their side of the story and also their defense. In the end, what we have is a story that is not black and white.