Unspun wonders what the portents must be for the venerable Jakarta Post when an upstart new English daily that is just one-year old can field nine finalists in the prestigious Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna journalism awards while the Jakarta Post, which has always prided itself being the best in a field of one for years, didn’t even have a single name in the finalists’ list.
The list was announced last week and the awarding night will be next Thursday, on December 3.
The Globe’s Dewi Kurniawati was shortlisted for her article “Miseries of Our Migrant Workers: A world of Peril, Crime, and Crushed Dreams” and Hera Diani was shortlisted for her investigative efforts, that is part of a series, of the “Cost of Smoking.”
It was, however, in the photojournalism section that The Jakarta Globe showed its prowess with seven nominations. There will be a few justifying quips in The Post’s newsroom that goes something like “Of course they are going to win, they have so many pages to fill and not enough copy to do it.” That, however, is besides the point. The fact is that in a fair fight adjudged by respected industry figures the Jakarta Globe trounced the Jakarta Post.
The Globe’s photojournalist finalists are below:
Economy and business
M. Safir Makki – Jakarta Globe. “Gimme Shelter”
Jurnasyanto Sukarno – Jakarta Globe. “Trade Suspension”
Politics
Yudhi Sukma Wijaya – Jakarta Globe. “Squeaky Clean”
Law
Jurnasyanto Sukarno – Jakarta Globe. “The Serial Killer”
M. Safir Makki – Jakarta Globe. “Faces in the Crowd”
Arts and Culture
Yudhi Sukma Wijaya – Jakarta Globe. “Baca Mantra”
Yudhi Sukma Wijaya – Jakarta Globe. “Refleksi Seniman Batik”
So what does this say of the state of competition among the only two English language dailies in Indonesia? Several questions pop to mind:
1. Would the bosses and editors at The Post treat this as a wake up call, or will they continue to bury their heads in the sand?
2. Who actually produces a better paper these days? The Globe or the Post? Perhaps raders of this posting might want to help inform the papers with this simple poll below.
Unspun 
Post isn’t in the nomination because it didn’t send one.
Maybe the reporters are too busy for any awards.
Thanks for writing about AAS.
Regards.
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Unspun is overatting the Sampoerna award. Journalists should send a copy of their work to get valued by panelist for the award not otherwise. So it makes sense the Post doesn’t get any. Get it? For your record, the award is not that prestigious. The Post’s special report on KPK, Bank Century and Boat People are miles away for the Globe and other Indonesian publications to rival at the moment.
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@felicia: Thanks
@banci: No I don’t get it, lots of awards, journalism or otherwise, require journalists or their papers to submit their work for consideration. If the Post’s reports are, as you say, miles ahead of others then all the more reason why they should be submitted.
@iseng: Sorry, your comment got caught in the spam filter and my finger was too quick and deleted it. Yes, you are correct, Maverick helps to organize the AAS but has no hand in the judging process as it is conducted by an independent panel. Unspun forgot to disclose this in the posting. Was at the back of my mind but forgot to so the fault is mine. Apologies.
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It’s still venerable, anyways. 28 years. Globe just can’t beat the fact. I’m sorry I have to say that.
I personally like the Globe better, but in the case of prestige and accuracy, the Post still outdoes the Globe. It’s the number that tells you. Scholars all around the world have referred to the Post when they’re doing their research or looking for historical analysis.
Globe, you will stand next to the Post when you age more.
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