Good news and bad news for Yogya 'reporters'
Good news and bad news for Yogya 'reporters'
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
There was good news for journalists based in Yogyakarta when
journalist associations, the legislative council and private
institutions agreed not to give money to reporters invited to
cover certain events.
The deal is, however, bad news for anyone claiming to be
reporter or any reporters who love collecting money from such
events.
It is common in Indonesia that ministries, government
institutions and private companies provide some money for
reporters they invite to press conferences. The amount of money,
usually in an envelope, varies depending on which institution
invites the reporters.
Once Yogyakarta-based reporter said that each envelope usually
contained between Rp 15,000 and Rp 25,000.
This habit has encouraged some groups of people to
fraudulently present themselves as journalists to merely to get
money from the institutions.
Reporters based in Yogyakarta have long been aware of such a
situation. Many bogus journalists, many of them claiming to work
for big publications, have regularly asked companies, including
hotels, for money. Bogus reporters are popularly called "bodrex"
or Wartawan Tanpa Surat Kabar (WTS), which means journalists
without publications.
The practice had continued until the Yogyakarta Journalists'
Forum meeting with Commission A of the legislative council,
related institutions and private companies last Saturday.
Present at the hearing were members of Commission A,
executives of the local branches of the Association of Indonesian
Journalists (PWI) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists
(AJI), the Indonesian Journalists' Community (KJI), public
relations officers from local hotels and hospitals, and dozens of
local reporters.
At Saturday's meeting, all people in attendance recommended
that giving money to reporters and reporters asking sources for
money should be stopped.
Any activities that could be classified as extortion or
blackmail must be reported to the police, the meeting agreed.
"Last but not least, the media companies should be concerned
about the wealth and morality of their journalists," said
Commission A chairman Krisnan, reading out the agreement.
The hearing revealed that many private institutions, mostly
hotels, had endured bad experiences with journalists or
individuals claiming to be journalists, who had asked them for
"transport" money.
"They often came in a group of up to 25 people and, if we
refuse to give them what they ask for, they threaten to do
something against us. They are really shameless," said a public
relations (PR) officer from the Santika Hotel, acknowledging that
some journalists often attended press conferences or other events
just for money.
She said that she once gave the group of bogus reporters Rp
300,000.
Dewi, a PR officer at the five-star Ambarrukmo Palace Hotel,
shared a similar experience, saying that she had once been so
afraid that she had to hide from a 'group of journalists' who
were asking for money when the hotel hosted a limited national
working meeting held by the Supreme Court in early October.
Natalia Subekti of Natour Garuda Hotel had a similar
experience when a group of people went to her and requested the
hotel's monthly program. After she gave them the agenda, the
people asked for money to copy it.
Commenting on the matters, both PWI and AJI representatives
called on all social groups to be tougher and more courageous.
"Just report to the police," said Kari Tri Adji of AJI Yogya.
KJI chairman Argo Pratomo Nugroho acknowledged that the
organization, the only one in the country, had become a scapegoat
for the bogus reporter problem.
Argo said, however, he supported PWI and AJI in their fight
against bogus reporters or blackmail practices.
"We (KJI) are often accused of being the ringleader (for the
illegal practices). I've checked all members and none of them has
been involved in such illegal practices. We will impose stern
sanctions against any member found violating journalistic
ethics," Argo said.