AJI sees scant improvement for journalism in 2002<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The year 2002 will end for Indonesian journalism with hardly any
\nimprovements on news quality and press freedom, as reports of
\nslack professionalism, violence against reporters and inadequate
\naccess to information have prevailed this year, said a report.<\/p>\n
A year-end report by the Alliance of Independent Journalists
\n(AJI) issued on Saturday depicts the same maladies journalism has
\nsuffered here since press freedom was reclaimed after the 1998
\npolitical upheaval that ousted the New Order regime.<\/p>\n
"Frequent violence against journalists, the high number of
\nviolations of the journalism code of ethics, state policies that
\nclearly do not side with press freedom, threats over the freedom
\nto set up labor unions and the risk of lay-offs; this was the
\nface of journalism in 2002...," said a statement by AJI.<\/p>\n
It said that over the past year, reporters endured 65 cases of
\nvarious threats, 39 of which were physical.<\/p>\n
"It's worth noting that of the 65 cases, only 5 percent of the
\nperpetrators were brought to trial," AJI said, adding that almost
\nall of the cases had been reported to the police.<\/p>\n
The police, however, led in the number of reported violent
\nacts against journalists for the third consecutive year, it said,
\nalthough that number fell from 19 cases in 2001, to 18 in 2000,
\nand to 17 in 1999. This year, the number of cases stood at 14.<\/p>\n
Legislators and\/or council members were allegedly involved in
\n11 cases of violence against reporters, up from only five last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
One case involved last month's beating of Volare radio
\nreporter Rizal Ardiansyah. A local council member and his
\nsupporters reportedly attacked the journalist in response to
\nmedia reports of bribery among council members in Pontianak, West
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
Another threat against journalism was what appeared to be a
\ngovernment attempt to restrict press freedom, AJI said, citing
\nlast month's passing of the broadcasting law, despite protests
\nfrom television station companies, as an example.<\/p>\n
Although the law was an improvement over the previous one, it
\nincludes articles that smack of censorship, AJI said.<\/p>\n
"AJI's views are that the articles on broadcasting permits
\nshould be replaced with permits for frequency usage, because
\nbroadcasting implies the content of a media coverage -- it means
\ncensorship," the alliance said, adding that this violated the
\n1999 press law.<\/p>\n
Also contradicting the 1999 press law was the recently issued
\nanti-terrorism regulation, which bans the withholding of
\ninformation. The press law, however, allows reporters to withhold
\nthe names of their sources.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, local governments have established various regional
\ncommunication and information bureaus, some of which attempt to
\n"control" the dissemination of information.<\/p>\n
The quality of journalism also remains questionable, with the
\nselling of sex tabloids and news reporting that verges on
\nsensationalism with complete disregard of accuracy and
\nobjectivity, said AJI.<\/p>\n
Television shows depicting brutal and often vulgar scenes of
\npolice operations were a blatant attempt at pursuing ratings as
\nopposed to substance, it further said.<\/p>\n
According to AJI, the outlook for 2003 is gloomy. With
\nterrorism taking center stage, debates over the bills on state
\nsecrecy and anti-terrorism would likely put on hold the passing
\nof the bill on public access to information.<\/p>",
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