Anita Rachman – Siti Jamilah, a scavenger who lives in Jakarta, doesn't think the mainstream media pays enough attention to poverty issues and poor people like her. "Not even television," the 53-year-old told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.
That's why, Siti said, she reads Bacaan Rakyat. "I get more information about government policies on education and health for the poor from Bacaan Rakyat," Siti said.
Bacaan Rakyat, which roughly translates to People's Digest, is a bulletin published by the Indonesian Poor Union (SRMI) for its members – the poor in the capital and other cities in the country. Siti has been an active member of SRMI for seven years.
The black-and-white publication usually has 28 pages that include six stories and one or two opinion pieces.
Its pages have included articles about the public health insurance scheme Jamkesmas, the government cash hand-out program BLT, the Social Security Law (BPJS), debates on how the government defines poverty and reportage on the SRMI congress.
"From Bacaan Rakyat I found out that I can get a letter certifying my low-income status to receive free medical care," said Syahroni Usman, a 43-year-old ojek driver from Kampung Basmol, West Jakarta.
Syahroni said Bacaan Rakyat provided him with more detailed information on policies affecting the poor than from mainstream media outlets.
Bacaan Rakyat, first published in 2004, was originally intended to be a monthly publication. But SRMI has only been able to release the paper a few times a year. Last year, it only came out twice.
"It is because we don't have enough of a budget," said Dika Mohammad, Bacaan Rakyat's editor-in-chief. "We are not supported by any donors or the government. But starting this year, we are going to publish the bulletin every month."
Dika said SRMI planned to print 1,500 to 2,500 copies per edition to be distributed to members who work in various professions, such as ojek drivers, laundry workers, scavengers, bajaj drivers, factory laborers and food vendors in traditional markets.
"It will cost us Rp 3 million to Rp 4 million [$330 to $440] [to publish each issue]," he said. "We usually ask our readers a contribution of only Rp 1,500. It's not that we want to go commercial, but we also want to teach them that they also can contribute."
Active SRMI members like Siti, Dika said, help to spread the issues of the paper around Jakarta. Usually, Siti distributes approximately 70 copies in her area in Kebun Jeruk, where many scavengers live.
In addition to publishing more regularly, Dika said, SRMI also wants Bacaan Rakyat to improve in the journalism it produces.
For two days in December, about 15 SRMI officers and contributors from Jakarta, Medan, and Lampung gathered in the capital for a journalism training workshop held by the Jakarta branch of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta).
Dika said that although Bacaan Rakyat's reporters might not always write like professional journalists, he hoped writers and contributors could still create articles with good word choices and better flow so that readers could understand the information that could benefit them.
Wahyu Dhyatmika, AJI Jakarta chairman and one of the trainers, said the bulletin needed to be improved, especially in terms of how the team gathered facts and data. Also, he said, the writers tended to let their own opinions sneak into their articles.
"We think they should separate news and opinion," Wahyu said. "They should also make sure to have correct supporting data. And in the future, they should also meet more sources to balance the stories. "I'm not saying their pieces are provoking in a bad way. It's just that they write stories based on their perspectives, and that could trigger readers' anger."
Despite these shortcomings, Wahyu said such media served an important role, filling the void left by mainstream media on coverage of issues important to the impoverished. Wahyu said AJI Jakarta was committed to helping SRMI publish the bulletin.
Yosi Kristanto, one of Bacaan Rakyat's editors, said that besides informing the poor about policies affecting them, the bulletin was meant to foster reading habits. Not all members, especially homeless people living in huts near railroads or under bridges, had access to newspapers or television, he said. Thus, Bacaan Rakyat was intended to serve those who have no other medium for reading.
"Children can read to their parents or neighbors, because many of our members are illiterate," Yosi said. In the future, Dika said, his team hoped to distribute the bulletin to officials so that policymakers could better understand issues facing the poor.