Let Nike rest in peace: PWI council

Let Nike rest in peace: PWI council

JAKARTA (JP): The Honor Council of the Association of Indonesian Journalists (PWI) criticized the national media yesterday for going overboard in their coverage of the death of TV starlet Nike Ardila to the point of sensationalism.

The council, the profession's watchdog, said in a statement that media coverage of Nike's death "has been blown out of proportion, bordering on sensationalism, at the expense of respecting the privacy of a person," Antara reported.

"To compound matters, the person concerned is dead and is therefore unable to defend herself," said the statement, which was signed by council chairman Syamsul Basri.

Nike was at the peak of her career when she died in a car accident in Bandung last month. At 19, she was one of Indonesia's most sought after actresses, starring in several of the increasingly popular "telenovellas". She began her rise to stardom in singing and modeling.

Her untimely death -- she died on a Sunday morning after an all night party -- has generated speculations in the press about the kind of lifestyle she was leading. Some reports even drew a link between her death and the increasing incidence of drug abuse among Indonesia's young elite.

Some magazines have run cover stories on her death.

The PWI Honor Council said journalists should show professionalism in handling stories like Nike's death because otherwise the integrity of the profession in the eyes of the public could be affected.

The council also said it had given a warning to a local publication that had repeatedly published pictures of scantily dressed women, during the Moslem holy month of Ramadhan, which could offend readers' sense of modesty.

The council appealed to the local press not to resort to publishing pictures of semi-naked women for the purpose of boosting their readerships. (emb)