Indonesias Mas Media Role to Reducing Poverty

Indonesia in fact, has many potential to become a great and wealth country. However, the government of The Republik Indonesia faced many problems to reach their goals, and the biggest one is poverty.

Nowadays, poverty has become a world issues. So that’s not only become Indonesia problem, but also the world problem. Some seminars and workshop was held by various world organizations, in various countries regarding this poverty issues. Many countries doing some more, with creating some action and agenda with given aid and support to attacking poverty. In Indonesia itself, the government has launched Indonesian Year of Financial Micro (Tahun Keuangan Mikro Indonesia), on Februari 26th 2005. This government’s program was aim to attacking poverty, creating more job opportunity in Indonesia, and also to increase the wealthy of people.

The government realized, this program could be successful with strengthen the Small Medium Enterprises (SME). In the same way, the government has asked to national banking industries and financial services to provide a financial support to the SMEs business in Indonesia. Hopefully with this program, could be reducing poor communities and creating some new successful SMEs business in this country.

In the other hand, to reducing poverty, mass media in Indonesia has a significant and critical role in the enabling the environment of business. Mass media, should be creating many attractive program and action i.e. :

First, giving a guidance and direction for poor society to get information about business environment and capital access. In this case, the media should make some program to bridging them to capital access, or banking loan and credit facilities. So they can create business based on the capital provide by banking and financial services. Some media like Swa Magazine and Koran Tempo, has create program on this. Swa with Enterprise50 (cooperation between SWA, Accenture and PT UKM Indonesia), give an award to 50 successful entrepreneurs. Koran Tempo, more specially focus to lower SME’s supporting by Sampoerna has to do the same with given Djie Sam Soe Award. Unfortunately, these two programs not followed by some follow up program.

Second, providing channel information about successful stories of some SMEs business in a various area. Hopefully, this way can attract many SMEs to do the same thing, to make their business more existence and sustainable. The action on this, with creating a rubrication on some media, like SMEs corner who provide some successful SME stories.
Informed, that many product of SME can be accepted in the market if they have a good quality standards, and continuity supply. Media can cooperate with government institution like Department of Trade or Department of Industry give a direction to the SMEs, how to create a good quality product.

Third, Ensure the stakeholder of SMSs the benefit of joining group or business association to give them opportunity to find a business knowledge, joining and follow an interactive discussion about their business.

However, on the basic, the journalist should have a passion about writing some positive article concerning poverty. To achieve this, some NGOs related with this field, should given an opportunity to take some journalist of various media to see the reality. Take them to some poor communities and rural environment, created some workshop on poverty; give them information of some program has done, to reducing it. So, the journalist has a background to publish their article regarding on it.