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A young radio news agency in Indonesia is attracting fans and international recognition for programming that eschews “infotainment” and focuses on hard issues like human rights and corruption.

Founded 10 years ago after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, KBR-68H is making the most of the liberalization of Indonesia’s media to spread values of free speech and religious tolerance across the huge archipelago.

The country’s only independent national news agency now has a network of more than 600 local radio affiliates and an audience of more than 18 million people in almost all corners of the mainly Muslim country.

Co-founder and managing director Santoso said that in the era of Facebook and Twitter, old-fashioned radio was still the “cheapest and most flexible” way to reach a wide audience.

“Our goal is to expand our network to Indonesia’s remote areas such as central Papua, Sumba Island or Maluku. It will encourage citizen participation and strengthen democracy,” he said.

As Indonesia is broken up into thousands of islands, the best way in KBR’s view to reach listeners is to offer ready-made programming to community radio stations in each region.

“We send eight hours of programs per day — news bulletins, reports and a lot of interactive talk shows,” production director Heri Hendratmoko said.

The subscription fee can be as low as $10 a month. The subject matter is serious: human rights, corruption, economic development, deforestation, religious tolerance, women’s health.

“These are the key themes for a country like Indonesia, which is in the process of democratization,” Santoso said.

And in a country where the airwaves are swamped every day with giddy celebrity stories, KBR stands apart.

“We refuse to do ‘infotainment’ — light news — like most of the commercial radio and television stations,” Hendratmoko said.

“It is very important in today’s Indonesia to make in-depth reports and discuss issues such as deforestation or local corruption.”

Wanting to be faithful to the activist spirit in which KBR was founded, the station’s journalists are not afraid to get their hands dirty in the pursuit of balanced news.

Eric Mahaley, owner of KBR-affiliate DMS Radio in Ambon, said the network won respect for its reporting of bloody fighting between Muslims and Christians in the area between 2002 and 2004.

“During the Muslim-Christian sectarian conflict, the radio owned by Christians and Muslims was a voice of tolerance and dialogue,” he said.

“From 2002 to 2004, we broadcasted appeals launched by kids to stop the conflict. I think this played a significant role in raising awareness of the local people.”

Sometimes its broadcasts upset vested interests such as illegal loggers or religious extremists, but KBR is able to fall back on its right to free speech.

It also works with government ministries on community service programming.

“In remote areas of Papua or Nusa Tenggara, radio is the only media available. There is no electricity, so almost no TV, and newspapers are not delivered,” Hendratmoko said.

In regions where electricity is scarce, the radio network has worked with various aid agencies to build solar-energy or microhydro generators to run community radios, he said. AFP