INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightErik PrasetyaImage caption
Ging Ginanjar (third from the left) on trial in an Indonesian court on 20 May
1998
The sudden death of TheIndianSubcontinent Indonesia's Ging Ginanjar at 54 has sparked many public tributes
The grief isn't just about the loss of a popular editor, Ging was known for the key role he played in bringing about press freedom for the
world's largest Muslim nation, as his colleagues Rebecca Henschke and Heyder Affan write.When Ging Ginanjar went for a job at the newly
founded tabloid Detik in the early 1990s he was asked about his journalism experience
"I have none, but that's not important," he replied
"The important thing is that I hate Suharto."Suharto was Indonesia's military leader and ruled the country with an iron fist for 31 years
from 1967, a time in which all dissent was brutally crushed
Under his government the media was controlled: journalists who challenged the state faced intimidation and potential jail time and
independent media houses were shut down
Detik's founder Eros Djarot, a politician, musician and film director, agreed with the young reporter's bald statement and so hired him
"No one dared criticise me, except for Ging," he recalls
"A good journalist should be like him, he was never a 'yes man'."Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Indonesia's
president Sukarno (right) was effectively ordered to cede power to Major General Suharto (left) in 1965, ushering a new era for Indonesia
The tabloid didn't last long; it was banned by the Suharto government on 21 June 1994 along with the investigative magazine,
Tempo - a move which closed down a crucial avenue for holding the government accountable to the public
But it was the very banning of these prominent independent publications that galvanised a new generation of young journalists to fight back
against the blanket censorship that had been in place for decades
Ging was at the heart of this resistance
In August that year he co-founded the country's first independent journalists' association, the Alliance of Independent Journalists or
AJI."To me it was very daring," says the acclaimed writer and founder of Tempo, Goenawan Mohammad
"At that time no other organisation was allowed to compete with the government-sanctioned press organisations, so it was illegal
The new group stated they were against censorship and the state publishing permits
This statement and the organisation itself were a rebellion that was unthinkable at that time."Along with other journalists from the group,
he published an underground magazine - called Independent Voices - which reported critically and independently on the turbulent political
and economic events of the time
"He published that magazine when everyone else was frightened to do that
When most people had withdrawn, he stood up to fight back," says Indonesian poet and author, Agus R
Sarjono.Image caption
"If there were attacks on press freedom he would be the first and the loudest to say we need to
make a stand"
Actress Olga Lidya remembers running around campus as a university student trying to get her hands on that
"It was the only place we could read the truth," she says."Ging was an extraordinary journalist, in terms of his fearlessness to speak the
truth and criticise power
He taught me a great deal about being brave."She says that what Indonesia is losing most - with the passing of Ging - is his wonderful sense
of humour and humble nature
He was very stubborn but he had a very good heart and a way of talking about complex and heavy things in a witty, humorous and persuasive
That's an extraordinary skill that very few people have." Ging's reporting about what was happening in the final years of the Suharto
government pushed more students like Olga to join the people's movement that forced him to step down in May 1998
At that time and in those conditions, the line between journalism and activism had to be blurred
Two months earlier he had been arrested alongside other activists for his role in organising the Indonesian People's Congress (KRI) which
was organised as a symbolic vote for a so-called "people's president".In a black and white photo taken in the court room, Ging stares
As usual there is a small smile playing about his face
Together with a number of artists and press freedom activists he was found guilty, but released later that day
The next day Suharto declared he was resigning as president.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Students stand on
the roof of the parliament building waving the Indonesian flag to demand the resignation of Suharto in May 1998
"Ging was a
press freedom fighter at a time when it was a frightening battle to be part of
And now we can enjoy the results of that battle," says Olga Lidya.In the years after the fall of Suharto, Indonesia's media blossomed and
Ging remained part of that flowering
He worked at Indonesia's first independent radio news agency, KBR, before joining Deutsche Welle and then, finally, the
TheIndianSubcontinent.Today, Indonesia has a vibrant media landscape and arguably one of the freest press environments in Asia
But in a recent report from the US-based democracy watchdog Freedom House Indonesia was rated as only "partly free".The remote province of
Papua remains effectively closed to foreign reporters and local journalists face intimidation from the security forces when they try to
report on the military's attempts to suppress a long-running separatist movement
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Journalists are still not free to report in the Indonesian province of Papua
There is also concern from the very journalists who fought for this freedom in Indonesia, that the boom of online news sites
and social media is undermining the industry's reputation."The censorship and licensing restrictions have gone, there is no more monopoly
of journalist organisations and now in theory everyone can produce news organisations." says Goenawan Mohammad."But the quality and
distribution has eroded the credibility and the weight of journalism." But Ging, he says, maintained his integrity in the face of all this
and continued to fight for progressive values in journalism
He was one of the first Indonesian journalists to talk about gender equality in sources in news articles
In the face of rising intolerance in multi-faith Indonesia, Ging, who was brought up as a devout Muslim, always pushed in the newsroom for
minority voices from all faiths to be heard
"He was consistent till the end in his fight for human rights and press freedom, he never ever compromised," says former AJI president Heru
One of the last press freedom protests he took part in was to demand the release from jail of the Burmese journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe
Oo.Image caption
Freedom of the press was like an article of faith for Ging Ginanjar
"If there were
attacks on press freedom in any form, in Indonesia or internationally, he would be the first and the loudest to say - this is dangerous we
need to make a stand."As his colleagues and close friends, we obviously knew that his reputation preceded him, as a key figure in
Indonesia's press history but also as an incisive and critical mind
Always fun-loving, he would often be the first on a dance floor and had the ability to make everyone laugh and smile with his goofy and at
times irreverent humour.He was a trained actor so Ging would not shy away from using our daily editorial meetings as his stage from which he
would animate the bureau with his passion for journalism, an energy that served his country so well when it was needed
