Media raises heat under fakes
<p>Media raises heat under fakes</p><p>Slamet Susanto and Tarko Sudiarno, Yogyakarta</p><p> After a protest last week, Yogyakarta journalists stepped up
their campaign against bogus journalists in the city on Monday by
attaching stickers to cars and various places in the city.</p><p>The latest stage of the campaign began on Monday morning when
dozens of journalists in the city held separate protests in front
of the offices of the Yogyakarta provincial government, the
Yogyakarta Prosecutor's Office and the Yogyakarta High Court.</p><p>Following the noisy protests, they divided up into a number of
groups, with each group being assigned to attach stickers to
passing cars and particular locations around the city, mostly
government offices. The stickers said, "Stop: We Do Not Accept or
Serve Bogus Journalists!"</p><p>One of the journalists, Herman Rio, from the Bernas daily,
said that the latest actions were part of a campaign to combat
the proliferation of bogus journalists in the city. The first
round of the campaign took place in Yogya on Friday last week,
which was declared "No to Bogus Journalists Day."</p><p>The campaign would also be taken to the other regencies and
municipalities in the province, he said.</p><p>"We have earmarked 1,000 stickers for each regency and
municipality in the province," said Herman, adding that the
stickers would be put up in the locations that were prone to
visits by bogus journalists, such as prosecutor's offices,
district courts, police headquarters and hotels.</p><p>He said that the campaign would be followed up by other steps,
such as the holding of talks with government officials to inform
them about how the bogus journalists operated.</p><p>Sugeng Oto Pranyoto from the Radar Jogja daily said that the
campaign had been launched due to rampant extortion by bogus
journalists, which had tarnished the image of real journalists,
not only in Yogya but also nationwide.</p><p>The bogus journalists often arrived at a person's office in a
group, usually demanding money in exchange for not reporting an
allegation of corruption. They were only in pursuit of cash,
which harmed the image of real members of the press.</p><p>Oto said that he often received complaints from people working
in government offices, or their family members, that they had
been extorted by reporters who came from various press
publications. But, when he checked out the allegations, none of
the press publications said they had sent reporters to the
government offices in question, he said. "Which means that the
'reporters' who visited the government offices were bogus
journalists. They are very annoying," he said.</p><p>Besides the protests and sticker campaigns, the Yogyakarta
journalists will also produce T-shirts bearing the slogan, "Fight
Bogus Journalists" in a bid to encourage legitimate journalists
to combat the bogus ones.</p><p>The journalists involved in the campaign come from the print
and broadcast media, as well as various journalistic associations
like the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Yogyakarta
Indonesian Photographers Association (PFI) and a number of radio
journalists' groups.</p>
their campaign against bogus journalists in the city on Monday by
attaching stickers to cars and various places in the city.</p><p>The latest stage of the campaign began on Monday morning when
dozens of journalists in the city held separate protests in front
of the offices of the Yogyakarta provincial government, the
Yogyakarta Prosecutor's Office and the Yogyakarta High Court.</p><p>Following the noisy protests, they divided up into a number of
groups, with each group being assigned to attach stickers to
passing cars and particular locations around the city, mostly
government offices. The stickers said, "Stop: We Do Not Accept or
Serve Bogus Journalists!"</p><p>One of the journalists, Herman Rio, from the Bernas daily,
said that the latest actions were part of a campaign to combat
the proliferation of bogus journalists in the city. The first
round of the campaign took place in Yogya on Friday last week,
which was declared "No to Bogus Journalists Day."</p><p>The campaign would also be taken to the other regencies and
municipalities in the province, he said.</p><p>"We have earmarked 1,000 stickers for each regency and
municipality in the province," said Herman, adding that the
stickers would be put up in the locations that were prone to
visits by bogus journalists, such as prosecutor's offices,
district courts, police headquarters and hotels.</p><p>He said that the campaign would be followed up by other steps,
such as the holding of talks with government officials to inform
them about how the bogus journalists operated.</p><p>Sugeng Oto Pranyoto from the Radar Jogja daily said that the
campaign had been launched due to rampant extortion by bogus
journalists, which had tarnished the image of real journalists,
not only in Yogya but also nationwide.</p><p>The bogus journalists often arrived at a person's office in a
group, usually demanding money in exchange for not reporting an
allegation of corruption. They were only in pursuit of cash,
which harmed the image of real members of the press.</p><p>Oto said that he often received complaints from people working
in government offices, or their family members, that they had
been extorted by reporters who came from various press
publications. But, when he checked out the allegations, none of
the press publications said they had sent reporters to the
government offices in question, he said. "Which means that the
'reporters' who visited the government offices were bogus
journalists. They are very annoying," he said.</p><p>Besides the protests and sticker campaigns, the Yogyakarta
journalists will also produce T-shirts bearing the slogan, "Fight
Bogus Journalists" in a bid to encourage legitimate journalists
to combat the bogus ones.</p><p>The journalists involved in the campaign come from the print
and broadcast media, as well as various journalistic associations
like the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), the
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Yogyakarta
Indonesian Photographers Association (PFI) and a number of radio
journalists' groups.</p>