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Indonesian News Agency Wins International Award
FrontLines - August 2009
A radio news agency in Indonesia supported in its early years by USAID has won the King Baudouin International Development Prize. KBR68H Radio News Agency was selected from 250 nominations to receive the prize, which is awarded by Belgium every
two years.
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Isaac Santoso of KBR68H holds a certificate
of appreciation from USAID.
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“This award is a big honor, to see that our work for the past 10 years is appreciated,” said Managing Director Isaac Santoso at a June 2 meeting at USAID headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building. “It gives us new energy to continue our programs in Indonesia.”
KBR68H was founded in the late 1990s by a group of journalists dedicated to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. It was a dramatic period in Indonesian history, as the country was emerging from the Suharto dictatorship and transitioning
to democracy.
KBR68H stands for Kantor Berita Radio 68H, which can be translated as “Radio News Agency 68H.” The number 68H derives from the street address of the radio station in Jakarta.
Today, KBR68H has a network
of more than 650 radio stations, and its programs can be heard throughout Indonesia and in 10 countries in Asia. As Indonesia’s sole independent news agency, it continues to play a vital role in providing trustworthy information to citizens, fostering a national political dialogue, and serving
as a governmental watchdog.
KBR68H was initially supported
by a USAID grant to the Asia Foundation. The first grant ended in 2002, but other USAID programs have continued to support
KBR68H in conducting talk shows on tolerance and pluralism.
“I feel really proud about KBR68H winning the award, not only for KBR68H but also for USAID/Indonesia and its grantee, the Asia Foundation,” said Gartini Isa, a now-retired USAID employee who managed the initial grant in the late 1990s. (See related story on page 13.)
In the announcement of the award, KBR68H was recognized “for its contribution to a sustainable
development based on the strengthening of democracy, tolerance
and citizen participation, by producing and disseminating qualitative information through a network of local radio stations and by promoting professional ethics in the media world.”
In Jakarta, KBR68H’s headquarters
has become a hotbed of free speech. Sipping tea or coffee in KBR68H’s café, activists, students, journalists, and others engage in spirited debates on current domestic
and international policy issues.
In addition to the international recognition that the prize brings, winners receive a 150,000 Euro cash award from the Belgian
government.
★—J.C.
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