'Pelita' reprimanded over virginity articles<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The honorary council of Indonesian Journalists
\nAssociation (PWI) has strongly reprimanded the Islamic-oriented
\nPelita daily, whose articles alleging that 96 percent of the
\nfemale high school students in South Sulawesi regency of Tana
\nToraja were no longer virgins, created an uproar and waves of
\nprotest.<\/p>\n
The rebuke came only days after the daily was given a warning
\nby the Ministry of Information, Antara reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
The association said the daily violated certain articles in
\nthe Indonesian Journalists Code of Ethics which say, among other
\nthings, that journalists should not run stories or pictures which
\nmay \"harm the safety and security of the country\".<\/p>\n
The code of ethics also states that Indonesian journalists
\nshould not publish materials which may create disunity, or offend
\nthe believers of faiths which are protected by the laws.<\/p>\n
The daily published the controversial stories on April 27 and
\nApril 28, quoting religious affairs official Karimuddin, who made
\nthe allegation without any data to back it up.<\/p>\n
Karimuddin said that many girls in the scenic Tana Toraja
\nfilled their spare time working as tourist guides, and that they
\nslept with foreigners.<\/p>\n
Soon after the publication, thousands of Tana Torajans held a
\nseries of demonstrations in South Sulawesi's capital of
\nUjungpandang and in Jakarta, demanding that Karimuddin be brought
\nto court and Pelita be banned.<\/p>\n
The daily's deputy chief editor, Slamet Effendy Yusuf,
\nrecently said that the journalist who wrote the story had been
\npunished. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pelita-reprimanded-over-virginity-articles-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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