DILI, 17 october 2023 (TATOLI) – The Head of the Social Communication Department of the National University of Timor Lorosa’e (UNTL), Marcelino Magno said that the new generation of journalists should look up to the Balibo Five journalists for their role in journalism.
Magno emphasized that the important thing for Timorese journalists to learn from them is their spirit and love for their profession.
“Timorese journalists should look up to the five Australian journalists killed in Balibo as their role models,” Magno told TATOLI at the UNTL Campus in Dili, on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the deaths of the five journalists.
Magno urged Timorese journalists to maintain their professionalism and contribute to the development of democracy in the country.
It’s been 48 years since five Australian journalists were killed in Balibó, a tiny town near the border between Indonesia and East Timor.
Balibó, the tiny town, is full of significance for Timor-Leste’s independence as the five Australian journalists were killed for denouncing Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor in 1975.
Timor-Leste celebrates the Balibó 5 every year to honor these five brave journalists who, at the time, reported on the Indonesian invasion. This means that the story of the Balibó 5 has not been forgotten and will never be forgotten.
On october, 1975, five Australian-based journalists, Greg Shackleton, Gary Cunningham, Tony Stewart, Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters were sent by TV Channels 7 and 9 to East Timor to investigate hit-run attacks along the border with Indonesian-controlled West Timor. The five were murdered by Indonesian forces on 16th october 1975.
The house where the journalists stayed, referred to as the Balibó Flag House, and now known as the Balibó Community Learning Centre, is dedicated to them.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Filomeno Martins
