Financial security may raise impartial media<\/p>\n
Ardimas Sasdi, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post,
\nBerkeley, California, ajambak@uclink.berkeley.edu<\/p>\n
One perennial problem, which often provokes cynicism and
\nsarcasm from the reading and viewing public toward the Indonesian
\nmedia, is the violations of ethics by unscrupulous or \"rotten\"
\nreporters who receive benefits from news sources for their
\nreports.<\/p>\n
This old, but nagging problem has been going on for years, and
\nit resurfaced again on Monday at the National Convention of Mass
\nMedia in Jakarta, an event organized by the press community to
\nmark National Press Day, which falls on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n
\"There is a rotten egg in your basket. The press community
\nmust admit it and need not be defensive against this charge,\"
\nErna Witoelar, the United Nations envoy for the Millennium
\nDevelopment Goals, bluntly told participants of the convention
\nabout the shameful acts of some reporters, who often ask for
\nmoney after interviews, ostensibly to print something favorable.<\/p>\n
On the other hand Erna, a veteran activist of non-governmental
\norganizations and minister under President Wahid before she
\nserved as the UN envoy, emphasized the key role of the press with
\nother elements of the reform forces in fighting for democracy and
\ncombating endemic corruption in Indonesia. She urged the media
\ncommunity to take urgent steps to get its own house in order and
\nregain public trust.<\/p>\n
\"Envelope journalism\", a popular but derogatory term referring
\nto the local practice of taking and giving money between rotten
\njournalists and news sources after interviews, new conferences
\nand companies' shareholders meeting, is not a uniquely Indonesian
\nscourge, but a cancerous disease plaguing media in many
\ndeveloping countries from Burma (Myanmar) to China in Asia and
\nNigeria and Kenya in Africa.<\/p>\n
Erna is not alone in her criticism of envelope journalism, but
\nother people -- especially public figures -- choose not to go
\npublic for fear that these unscrupulous reporters will fight back
\nagainst them because they themselves are involved in abuse of
\npower or sexual scandals.<\/p>\n
The rotten politicians, business people and public relations
\nofficers who know the importance of the media as an effective
\ntool of image-building and promotion have long exploited these
\n\"envelope-hungry\" reporters by deliberately arranging media
\nevents from informal talks to meetings in cafes, hotels and
\ntourist resorts, in order to get space with throwaway prices in
\nprint and\/or airtime on TV.<\/p>\n
The unscrupulous journalists, who receive payments or other
\ntypes of favors from news sources, usually package information
\nwhich commonly falls into the gray area of real news and
\nadvertisements in such a way that they resemble newsworthy
\nstories to many unsuspecting readers. But careful readers can
\ndifferentiate between good stories and sponsored pieces by their
\ncontent, news selection, time element and sources.<\/p>\n
Tarman Azzam, the chairman of the Indonesian Journalists'
\nAssociation -- the largest in the country -- acknowledged that
\nsome reporters received payments or extorted money from their
\nsources, but he quickly downplayed it by saying many of these
\nreporters work for small media, run by their owners on unsound
\nbusiness principles.<\/p>\n
Article 5 of the code of ethics for Indonesian journalists
\nstates that journalists shall not accept bribes or any form of
\nreward in any way related to their journalistic duties from news
\nsources, and shall not abuse their profession for their personal
\nand\/or group interests.<\/p>\n
Media experts and activists of media watch organizations have
\nraised issues about envelope journalism time and again, but some
\nof them, apparently not knowledgeable of the media business, put
\nthe blame solely on reporters for violations of ethics, without
\nquerying the responsibility of the media owners and chief editors
\nor going further to study the root causes of the problem.<\/p>\n
The practice of receiving envelopes by reporters from news
\nsources is only one type of violation of the code of ethics by
\njournalists. The others include junkets or free trips or picnics;
\nfreebies (in-kind gifts given by news sources to reporters) and
\nother disguised bribes.<\/p>\n
In order to maintain their image among the public, some large
\nmedia groups have drafted their own strict code of ethics, and
\ntry hard to enforce them, but detecting such violations by
\nreporters in the field is not easy.<\/p>\n
Experts on ethics and law in media explain that a code of
\nethics alone cannot cover all activities, as many of them fall
\ninto gray areas. Adherence to codes is, therefore, primarily
\ncontingent upon each individual journalist.<\/p>\n
But the key to the success of a plan to maintain standards of
\nethics in the newsrooms remains in the hands of media owners, who
\ndraft budgets and control distribution of expenditures. Media
\nowners and executives need to work together to raise the salaries
\nof journalists and the budgets for newsroom operations.<\/p>\n
Prof. Conrad C. Fink in a book on Media Ethics in the Newsroom
\nand Beyond (1988) said the first move toward ethical, responsible
\njournalism must come not from the newsroom, but, rather, the
\nexecutive suite.<\/p>\n
\"There must be owner commitment to excellence, and that means
\ncommitment of money. Good journalism isn't cheap. Owners of the
\nmedia, if they really want to promote quality reports, must
\nstrike a balance between making profits and allocating proper
\nbudgets for news coverage as done by big media\", Fink says.<\/p>\n
The financial condition of many Indonesian press organizations
\nis weak, and so they cannot pay reporters decent enough wages to
\ndiscourage them from taking \"gifts\". The data has shown that only
\na small number of around 16,000 journalists get adequate
\nsalaries, while others receive meager salaries. Some even get
\nmonthly payments lower than regional minimum wages of laborers in
\ntheir areas.<\/p>\n
Thus to solve violations of ethics and promote ethical,
\nresponsible journalism, reporters and media owners must embark on
\na collaborative effort. Reporters must shun bribes and adhere to
\na code of ethics in their jobs if they want respect from the
\npublic, while media owners must set aside some of their huge
\nprofits to improve the standards of living of their employees.
\nGood journalism is not a cheap and simple matter.<\/p>\n
The writer is a visiting scholar at the Graduate School of
\nJournalism of the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>",
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