Exploring Citizen Journalism for Rural Indonesia

"The West Kalimantan community has welcomed the news service, which provides highly relevant information on topics such as roads that are closed due to flooding, bridges that need repair, protests at local government offices, and community events."

To help improve the flow of information among marginalised communities of West Kalimantan Indonesia, with its ethnic strife, land use conflict, and weak infrastructure, the Internews Center for Innovation and Learning initiated a 3-month pilot project in September 2011 that combined the power of mobile phone technologies with citizen journalism. As part of "RuaiSMS", community members were trained to report local stories by text message using their mobile phones, and regular news feeds of edited stories are now distributed to subscribers via Short Message Service (SMS). A second project element using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology involved citizens in the role of journalists calling in stories via regular voice phone calls and using, as receivers of news, the keypads on their phones to select what kinds of information they want to hear. This report evaluates the project's success in capitalising on existing mobile phone technology to provide needed information, in addition to empowering community members to report on issues of concern and make their voices heard by local government authorities and companies.

Initial sections of the report provide context for the implementation of this information and communication technology (ICT) for development initiative. According to author Restu Pratiwi, West Kalimantan's "daunting and complex array of challenges receives very little attention or news coverage within the province or beyond, and relevant government offices and palm oil companies make little effort to communicate with affected populations. Community members have tried to reach out to the powers that be, without much success." Furthermore, indigenous people (IP) in this region have very little access to newspapers or television. In terms of mobile phone service, about 87% of Indonesia as a whole has coverage, compared to 50% in Kalimantan. In Java, about 60% of the population owns mobile phones, whereas in Kalimantan only about a tenth as many, 6.5%, own mobile phones. In fact, mobile phone ownership has increased by 64% over the past decade. Internet use has also been increasing in Indonesia, particularly in the big cities. The Internet World Stats resource estimates 55 million users in Indonesia.

Seeing this potential and the need for improving the flow of news and information using mobile platforms, the Internews Center for Innovation & Learning teamed up with independent Indonesian journalist and Knight Fellow Harry Surjadi. Ruai TV, a local television station based in Pontianak, served as the host and manager for the news service. The station also facilitated project trainings, liaised with citizen journalists, and now utilises video content produced by participating citizen journalists in their broadcasts. The SMS pilot project involved technical training for the host administrator and a 2-day journalism training for 140 community members. Next, citizen journalists who were among the more active in the SMS news service joined non-governmental organisation (NGO) activists whose work focuses on information technology to take part in a half-day, hands-on training on the use of IVR. As part of "RuaiSwara", the 12 participants learned the process of recording an audio news report and sending it in to be edited by the administrator. In addition, Internews provided several different models of cameras to citizen journalists who were considered capable of providing video coverage of newsworthy items.

The research approach used in this study included desk reviews, interviews with stakeholders, and field observation of SMS and IVR citizen journalism trainings and of project implementation. Pre- and post-trainings surveys of training participants were also analysed.

It was found that attendance at the 2-day RuaiSM training was high, at least for the training observed in Balai Berkuak, Ketapang District. (A local Catholic priest, who happened to be community activist, sent out invitations to this event, resulting in strong community participation.) The structure and delivery of the training appeared very effective. 350 people have subscribed to the free news service through Ruai TV, 65% more than the original target of 200 subscribers. Subscribers include IP, NGO activists, community and religious leaders, farmers, schoolteachers, youth activists, police officers, health workers, and more. They also include the government officials, credit union members, media workers, NGO representatives, and others who attended one of the SMS trainings. The information sharing through RuaiSMS has proven particularly useful for issues such as weather forecasts, flood warnings and notifications of closed roads, rubber prices, land acquisitions, palm oil company activities, and other community issues. Although most don't take advantage of the opportunity, community members feel empowered to be able to contribute news. "At one level, the overall quality of information sent in by citizens is useful and to certain extent, fulfills the community's needs for local news. At the same time, citizen journalists could use further assistance, particularly in selecting relevant news items to be sent." They also report that the SMS news service is helpful and informative. For Ruai TV, the SMS project is particularly useful given their limited staff resources. It helps the station to obtain news from remote areas that are not accessible by Ruai TV reporters. To cite one example of concrete impact of RuaiSMA: "There were long-standing community complaints about a local palm oil mill. After Adrianus Tekot, an SMS citizen journalist in Sungai Enau Village, Kubu Raya District, circulated a request for a meeting, the company finally agreed to speak with community members about land use and corporate social responsibility (CSR), particularly regarding road repair."

While the IVR programme, RuaiSwara had not yet had the chance to demonstrate any results at the time of this research, the evaluation found that "it has the potential to grow and have significant impact....A fundamental difference between the SMS news service and the IVR system is that, in the latter, information is conveyed via voice rather than text. This means that emotion and urgency can be more clearly conveyed, adding nuance and helping listeners to decide whether or not a message requires immediate action. This is particularly relevant for migrants working abroad. Furthermore, for those who are illiterate or who are not used to typing into the keypad of a cellular phone, and for those who do not have cellular phones, IVR technology makes it possible to send and receive news by voice. News items can also be sent from fixed line home telephones." However, one interviewee identified several challenges, such as: "The hardware intended to be used is expensive and is not available in country. The instruction manual is not easy to understand throughout....There was inadequate interaction and coordination between the local host, Ruai TV and the two organizations that set up the system, CGNet Swara and Yayasan Airputih....Ruai TV has not been proactive in maintaining the system since the IVR launch. Ruai TV's website has not been updated since the system was installed....As with the SMS project, Ruai TV said that they lack the staff to exclusively focus and manage and follow up the project."

Table 2 on page 18 lists advantages, challenges, and mitigation of SMS and IVR systems. Pages 19 and 20 outline recommendations for future CJ projects using these technologies. For example, the host (in this case, Ruai TV) could touch base with citizen journalists regularly to encourage and monitor the news making process. There should be solid coordination between the local partner/host and the technical organisations as well as linkages with community organisations. Trainings for CJ could be less formal and more engaging, for example with more use of images and better explanations of terminology. Female participants should get special encouragement to submit news stories, particularly given that there are many topics that can best be reported by teachers or health workers, occupations traditionally held by women. Training of the administrators should emphasise the importance of guarding against Indonesian interest groups, such as political parties, misusing or politicising the SMS news service. Concrete results accomplished, for example, by RuaiSMS in resolving conflicts between IP and palm oil companies in Kapuas Hulu and Kubu Raya should be reported to other organisations to encourage replication of the project. If the project continues or is replicated, local partners should educate potential subscribers about the SMS and IVR news service through television and radio as well as during trainings.

In conclusion: "The pilot project shows great potential for rural regions like West Kalimantan that are poorly served by major media but have a high penetration of mobile phones. Sustainable success may depend on partners committed to providing resources, a structured training program, and long-term technical support."