Journalists face violence, intimidation
Journalists face violence, intimidation
JAKARTA (JP): In the reform era where journalists have more
freedom to write, they apparently face violence and intimidation,
mostly from the public, government officials and the police.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) reported on
Wednesday that during the past year, there were 106 cases of
oppression against journalists and the media, with almost half of
them, 47 cases, perpetrated by the public.
"The most prominent case occurred on May 6 (last year) or
three days after the World Free Press Day. That was when Jawa Pos
was occupied by a large number of people," AJI secretary-general
Didik Supriyanto told a discussion here marking World Free Press
Day.
Didik referred to an incident when Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
civilian guards in Surabaya rallied and occupied the Surabaya-
based daily's office because it had reported allegedly corrupt
practices by executives of the country's largest Muslim
organization.
The occupation caused the daily to cancel its Sunday edition,
resulting in a total loss of Rp 1 billion.
Didik also pointed to the case in Pekanbaru, Riau, when a
group of people ran amok at the Pekanbaru Pos' office. A similar
incident also occurred in Padang, West Sumatra when the office of
Bijak tabloid was attacked and damaged by a group of college
students and their professors.
Didik said that there is nothing wrong in staging a rally to
express one's objections to a media report.
"But the problem is, it is followed by terror and violence,"
he said.
Mass violence, Didik said, is often worsened by security
bodies like the police.
AJI recorded that police and government officials came second
in cases of violence against journalists with 18.
The violence ranged from hitting and death threats toward the
journalists to threatening to shut down the paper.
The latest incident occurred in March when North Maluku
Governor Abdul Muhyi Effendie threatened to shut down three local
media: Ternate Pos, Fokus and Mimbar Kieraha for printing
"disturbing" news.
Abdul also threatened to ban private TV stations RCTI and TPI
from reporting in the area.
"Therefore, in commemorating World Press Day, we urge everyone
to stop any form of oppression and violence against journalists
and the media," Didik said.
Didik admitted that journalists are not always innocent and
many have ulterior motives in their reporting, but violence is
not the solution.
"People can do three things: clarify the news, go to the
National Press Council or file a lawsuit in court," he said.
AJI also called on media to be more accurate and honest when
reporting.
Ezki Suyanto from AJI's campaign division said that many media
are still using "talking journalism" or "spit journalism".
"The report is nothing other than people's comments, mostly
government officials' or bureaucrats'. Journalists have become
the spokesperson of the (government) spokesperson," she asserted.
Women
In a separate discussion on Wednesday, AJI also pointed to the
low percentage of women journalists in Indonesia who only make up
12.8 percent of the total in this country.
A survey conducted by the Yogyakarta-based Publishing
Education Research Institution in 1997 also shows that the higher
the positions are within a media organization, the fewer the
women who hold them.
"That's because there is still sexist stereotyping in our
culture about the job," said the editor of Media Indonesia Tatik
Hafidz.
There are also cynical comments around, saying that women
journalists have made it because they use their femininity.
Zuherna Bahari from Aceh-based Serambi Indonesia said that
women journalists are being used by their media bosses to get
information from sources.
"But when we make a good report, they say that we've
manipulated people with our femininity. Women journalists are
also an object of intimidation in conflict areas," she said.
Zuherna said that the police often intimidated her to give
information about the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) base camps.
She added that GAM had tried to manipulate her too. (hdn)