Media reports 'could be contributing to Timor unrest'

June 02, 2006
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JPGA group of academics at The University of New England believes reports in the Australian media implying that the FRETILIN government is largely to blame for the violent unrest in East Timor could be contributing to that unrest.

"Because of the very high rate of illiteracy, and the lack of a developed media and communications system, rumour is rife in Dili," said one of the group, Dr Bob Boughton.

"The Australian media stories have become a source of misinformed speculation, encouraging people to blame the elected government for the problems of recent weeks.

"Dr Boughton, a Senior Lecturer in UNE's School of Professional Development and Leadership, has been working with the Ministry for Education in East Timor on the development of adult education programs.

He pointed out that the media stories could give people the impression that the Government is unpopular with a large proportion of the population.

"In fact," he said, "the vast majority of Timorese voted for FRETILIN last year in the local elections."

"If the majority who voted for FRETILIN think Australia and other Western powers are supporting the demand for the Government's overthrow," Dr Boughton continued, "they will wonder about our commitment to democracy.

It could also look to them as though powerful forces are intervening to help the armed rebels achieve their goals - goals which the rebels and their political supporters in East Timor could never have achieved electorally.

This is highly dangerous, given that democracy in East Timor is very undeveloped, and the democratic culture is still fragile."

"The Constitution of East Timor was developed after extremely wide communityconsultation," Dr Boughton explained. "It is a robust document, and providesthe only framework in which this dispute can be settled without further violence.

Our media are not adequately reporting the way in which the three key State institutions - the Presidency, the Parliament, and the Council of Ministers - have chosen to resolve the conflict in accordance with the Constitution.

"Another member of the group, Dr Rebecca Spence (pictured here), is the Director of UNE's Centre for Peace Studies.

Dr Spence supported Dr Boughton's argument, saying that reports in the Australian media had the potential to "foment rumour and counter-rumour, leading to increased levels of fear, suspicion and violence".

The third member of the group, Dr Greg Carroll, said:

"The vast majority of people in East Timor have been subjected to violence for most of their lives. We need to remember this when reporting on what is perceived to be happening.
If we ignore a country's post-traumatic stress we can not only inflame old tensions but create new ones."

Dr Carroll, from UNE's Centre for Research in Aboriginal and Multicultural Studies, has been working with academics at the National University of TimorLeste on curriculum development, and is involved in a UNE project that is investigating the role of English in the nation-building process in East Timor.