On the eve of Indonesia’s first free elections in more than a generation, government officials eagerly point to the country’s open and virtually unfettered press as one of the major accomplishments of interim President B.J. Habibie’s tenure. With the Indonesian economy still reeling from the Asian economic crisis, unrest simmering in many provinces, and the…
“Journalists covering the violent political convulsions that gripped East Timor this spring found themselves the targets of pro-Indonesia militias angered by press coverage of their activities. In the run-up to August’s United Nations-sponsored vote on the territory’s future status, political instability in East Timor escalated, prompting fears of a full-scale civil war. Jakarta’s surprise announcement…
The Asian economic turmoil of the last eight months struck many international observers as a sudden calamity–trouble that seemed to drop from the sky like an alien invader. But in fact, the signs of structural weakness and the cracks in the veneer of financial robustness were in plain view for those in a position to…