Indonesian TV journalists advocate the importance of OSH for the public and for themselves
The ILO works hand in hand with the Indonesian TV Journalist Association (IJTI) to promote occupational safety and health (OSH) standards and to be part of the campaign towards a more resilient OSH management system in Indonesia.
Organized from June to August 2022, the programme began with a two-day OSH workshop for 20 television journalists from various leading TV stations and provinces. The programme was facilitated by dr. Nuri Purwito Adi, Head of Occupational Medicine Specialist Study Programme at the University of Indonesia.
The workshop has helped me increasing my competency. The information that I obtain is very useful for journalists so that we can be more sensitive to the news products we produce and, at the same time, we are also aware of maintaining our own safety and health when working on the field or at the office facing deadlines."
Kusnadar from Antara TV
This two-day workshop was followed by a media fellowship programme where the 20 participating journalists were mentored for two months by three senior TV journalists from IJTI to produce and screen their OSH in-depth TV reporting. The fellowship programme aimed to engage and support TV journalists in promoting and delivering quality OSH reporting at various employment sectors as well as to build their capacity to better protect themselves.
“The workshop has helped me increasing my competency. The information that I obtain is very useful for journalists so that we can be more sensitive to the news products we produce and, at the same time, we are also aware of maintaining our own safety and health when working on the field or at the office facing deadlines,” shared Kusnadar from Antara TV.
Varied issues were produced from OSH issues in the fishery and mining sector, the impact of COVID-19 on journalists work accidents in the mining sector, informal employment and infrastructure. Fredy Cahya, a TV journalist from Surya Citra Televisi (SCTV), produced a news report about OSH risks that journalists faced when they had to report the latest condition of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenging tasks have caused some journalists losing their lives.
The reporting highlighted the data from Press Emblem Campaign that from March 2020 to December 2021 a total of 1,940 journalists worldwide had lost their lives with 556 of them from Asia. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia showed that between March 2020 to July 2021, 388 journalists had been affected by the COVID-19 and 9 had lost their lives.
The news report also highlighted the plight of the deceased journalists and the efforts taken by the mass media companies to improve and strengthen their OSH management system. Understanding the high risks that journalists have to face in the field has forced mass media companies to take measures in order to provide better OSH knowledge and protection.
The media workshop and fellowship programme have helped me gain a lot of new knowledge about OSH principles and provided me with new insights when covering OSH-related issues."
Nova Misdayanti, a TV journalist from Kompas TV Aceh
“OSH is an important issue for local workers in Aceh, especially those working in the construction sector because they are not familiar with the issues. The media workshop and fellowship programme have helped me gain a lot of new knowledge about OSH principles and provided me with new insights when covering OSH-related issues,” she said.
Talking about work accidents, Febriyanto, a TV journalist from Inews Kendari, reported on the urgent call for improvements in the OSH management system to prevent work accidents at mining companies located in Southeast Sulawesi. The report featured two cases of work accidents and highlighted the supervision of the local Manpower Office to ensure that companies supported the treatment processes, covered all the medical costs and employed back the workers after their recovery.
This is the first collaboration between the ILO and IJTI. OSH has become one of the fundamental rights at work; thus, with more frequent OSH news products screened on various TV outlets, including digital TV, OSH can be incorporated into our daily activities and lives."
Gita Lingga, ILO’s Communications Officer
In addition, Gita Lingga, ILO’s Communications Officer, hoped that there would be an increase in the number and variety of topics of OSH reporting and news products across the TV outlets in the country. “This is the first collaboration between the ILO and IJTI. OSH has become one of the fundamental rights at work; thus, with more frequent OSH news products screened on various TV outlets, including digital TV, OSH can be incorporated into our daily activities and lives,” she added.
Funded by the Government of Japan, the ILO’s Enhancing COVID-19 Prevention at and through Workplaces aims to enhance COVID-19 prevention measures at and through workplaces amidst of the pandemic that will facilitate business re-opening, continuation and expansion.
To watch OSH reporting from the ILO OSH media fellowship, click: Compilation of OSH videos