Bogus journalists demand bonus
Bogus journalists demand bonus
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra
Hundreds of people claiming to be journalists have flooded
offices in the North Sumatra capital city of Medan to demand Idul
Fitri bonuses, many of them using coercion in their requests.
Their presence caused concern among local officials who
refused to go to work, to avoid the "reporters".
Sakhyan Asmara, who heads the sports and youth affairs
department at the North Sumatra education office, said on
Thursday it was not unusual for phony journalists to swarm
government offices here ahead of the Idul Fitri, Christmas and
New Year holidays.
This has tarnished the image of journalists as professionals,
he said.
"Sometimes they force us to give them money or valuables,"
Sakhyan told The Jakarta Post in Medan.
On Wednesday, a man claiming to be a reporter with the Medan
Sumatra newspaper demanded money from a local official.
The man followed the official into his office at the
gubernatorial building compound.
Security guards were unsuccessful in their attempts to remove
the"journalist" from the office and resorted to violence.
Hours after the incident, a group of people claiming to be
journalists rallied at the governor's office in a show of support
for the man.
On Thursday, only about 50 percent of officials went to work
at the gubernatorial building, for fear that a similar incident
would take place.
The bogus journalists have also caused concern to the North
Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI).
Muchyan A.A., who chairs the executive board of PWI in the
province, said genuine journalists would never ask for money
while on the job.
"Based on our data, there are currently about 2,000 people
claiming to be journalists across Medan. Some of them are
hoodlums and commercial sex workers," he said.
He said the bogus journalists often claimed to work for
Jakarta-based newspapers and were equipped with fake ID cards.
"Sometimes they blackmail bureaucrats who are facing legal
cases. They could earn between Rp 10 million and Rp 40 million
from those officials," Muchyan added.