Verification Process for Media Companies: Balancing Freedom of Speech Against Professionalism

Indonesian Version

                                                                                      
Marcell Sihombing, CR20
 

 

In a bid to further improve the quality and professionalism of Indonesia’s journalists, the Indonesian Press Council (Council) has proposed a verification process for media companies, as well as professional competency tests for journalists. According to Council data, only 211 out of 43,000 online media companies, and 460 out of 2,000 print-media companies have currently passed any such verification process.
 
Yosep Adi Prasetyo, the Chair of the Council, explained that several requirements will have to be satisfied during the verification process, including the requirement that media companies will have to be incorporated as legal entities and also be in possession of actual office addresses and persons-in-charge. Furthermore, Mr. Prasetyo clarified that the Council would also be examining whether the contents offered by media companies satisfied proper journalistic codes, as well as whether they publish regularly. In other words, the company in question should not be simply cooking up controversial issues in order to attract consumers.
 
“The verification process will be completely free of charge and all media companies are being encouraged to apply for the verification process by enclosing all of the required documents. The Council will then begin to assess the quality of their products,” Mr. Prasetyo explained to hukumonline.
 
Mr. Prasetyo further stated that the Council would allow verified media companies to subsequently attach official watermark logos to all of their products. Mr. Prasetyo also confirmed that there would be no penal sanctions for any companies who refused to participate in the verification process. Instead, passing such a process would become a moral obligation and should help to convince readers that such media companies satisfy proper journalistic codes of ethics.
 
In addition to the verification process, Mr. Prasetyo stated that the Council was also planning to introduce professional competency tests for journalists. According to Mr. Prasetyo, around 800 complaints were made to the Council during 2015, and presumably many other cases went unreported. Mr. Prasetyo claims that journalists’ identities were often abused and misused, and that fake press ID cards could now be produced very easily. Moreover, only around 8,000 out of 80,000 Indonesian journalists have already passed such competency tests.
 
By way of example, Mr. Prasetyo elaborated upon the case of an individual living in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, who claimed to be a journalist and who published a fake newspaper, the contents of which were lifted directly from the Internet. The individual in question then used this self-published newspaper in order to blackmail the Regional Government Working Unit (Satuan Kerja Pemerintah Daerah) and demanded a work desk at a local government office, while threatening to report the working unit for violating his freedom of speech if his demands were not met.
 
Mr. Prasetyo asserts that we should learn from this situation, as many professions require licenses before people are allowed to offer services. Thus, incompetent journalists should not be able to secure a license without first passing a competency test. There may not be any penal sanctions for journalists who do not pass the test though, as such a test would merely be a moral obligation for the journalists. However, passing such a test would prove the commitment and competence of the journalist in question, as regards the provision of quality products.
 
“Besides, such tests may also help interviewees to determine whether or not to pursue a career as a journalist or not,” Mr. Prasetyo concluded.
 
Suwarjono, the Chair of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (Aliansi Jurnalis Independen or AJI), lauded the Council’s proposal, claiming that it would improve the professionalism of journalists.
However, Mr. Suwarjono expressed his concern that freedom of speech could ultimately be threatened if such a measure was implemented without any definitive standards or criteria being employed. Moreover, Mr. Suwarjono affirmed that freedom of speech was the cornerstone of journalism industry as a whole.
 
“The issuance of [watermark] logos could also become another issue if verification becomes a long winded bureaucratic process,” Mr. Suwarjono told hukumonline on Friday, 3 September 2016.
 
Furthermore, Mr. Suwarjono pointed out that the Council had yet to disseminate any further information regarding this particular matter to the public.
 
In regard to the proposal to introduce professional competency test for journalists, Mr. Suwarjono asserted that his institution, the AJI, already obliged all of its members to pass similar competency tests. Thus, Mr. Suwarjono suggested that it was vital that the Council formulated definitive requirements and guidelines for such professional competency tests before actually attempting to introduce and enforce them.
 
“Should any incidence of journalistic malpractice occur, then can a competency license be revoked or not? Matters such as this must be clearly addressed,” asserted Mr. Suwarjono.
 
Mr. Suwarjono also demanded that the Council organize an open dialogue on these various issues. Any such dialogue must specifically invite various press associations, including the AJI, as Mr. Suwarjono underlined the fact that the AJI had never previously been invited to join any such dialogue. However, Mr. Suwarjono expressed his hope that such dialogue would ultimately be able to address the issue of professionalism without hampering journalists’ freedom of speech.

(cd/sp)