Diplomat blames media for journos' deaths in Timor

THE Australian media bears more responsibility than the Australian government for the deaths of five journalists in Balibo in 1975, according to retired diplomat Richard Woolcott. Woolcott, who was Australia's ambassador to Indonesia at the time of the invasion of Timor, said the young reporters, employed by Channel Seven and Channel Nine, should not have been sent into such dangerous territory.

``The ABC left, and others left,'' Woolcott said. ``I think proprietors (of the TV stations) bear a heavy responsibility that they've never had to shoulder.''
The role played by the Australian government at the time of the invasion of Timor is examined in a new film, Balibo, which opens this week. In the film, the reporters are shown painting a wonky Australian flag on the wall of a stone house, where they are sheltering.

Woolcott, said ``they always show that flag. They never show the other side of the door, which had a Fretilin (communist) flag on it. He said the Indonesians ``would have regarded (the reporters) as combatants because of their close association with Fretilin''.