Bogus journalists nurtured by corrupt officials

Bogus journalists nurtured by corrupt officials

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bogus journalism has thrived in this country for decades thanks
to rampant corruption

Many press and public relations officials in government
offices and companies deliberately encourage the existence of
bogus journalists to ensure that their employers continue to
provide funds to pay these unscrupulous characters off.

Bogus journalists usually take an aggressive attitude during
press meetings and often push good news sources to the side with
their persistent or nonsensical questions. They only become quiet
after receiving envelopes containing cash.

In reality, many press officials secretly take some of the
"press funds" for themselves, leaving only a small amount of the
money for the bogus journalists.

"There wouldn't be any ants without sugar. Bogus journalists
wouldn't turn up if they knew we were not going to give them
envelopes. Many firms have adopted a policy of giving envelopes
to journalists at the suggestion of their press officers, who
actually want to make money themselves from the policy," said
Ryan, not his real name, a press officer with a medium-sized
private bank.

According to Ryan, his department had decided to allow bogus
journalists to attend the company's events because most of his
colleagues wanted to make "extra money".

"The company has decided to provide Rp 100,000 (about US$11)
for each journalist, but we usually cut it to Rp 50,000. You can
count yourself how much we get if there are, say, 300 journalists
attending one of our events," said Ryan.

Aside from companies, bogus journalists also ask for money
from state institutions and offices, the police, public
prosecutors and members of the House of Representatives.

Naryo -- not his real name -- a public relations officer with
the Ministry of Transportation, said his ministry had always
allocated money for not only bogus journalists but also for real
journalists who were looking for extra money.

"If we don't play along with these bogus journalists, they
will disrupt the working environment in our office. They will
keep arriving in droves to disrupt our events and even our
day-to-day activities," said Naryo.

Besides, Naryo said, a number of officials in the ministry
used their services to blackmail colleagues or officials in
state-owned enterprises.

"Bogus journalists keep terrorizing corrupt officials. Once
they get money from the corrupt officials, they share it with the
officials who gave them the info about the corruption," said
Naryo.

The Ministry of Finance is among the few governmental offices
that has managed to stamp out bogus journalism.

"It is easy to deal with such journalists. First, don't allocate
any money for them, and second, we should be brave enough to say
that we don't provide envelopes or any other form of payments,"
said Sofjan, a press officer at the ministry.

Sofjan, who has been dealing with the press for 25 years as
part of his work at the ministry, recalled that the ministry used
to be invaded by hundreds of bogus journalists every time a new
director general of customs and excise was inaugurated.