JAKARTA. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has urged media professionals to remain faithful to journalistic codes of ethics in the face of challenges from the spread of digital information.
Speaking at an event to mark National Press Day on Mandalika Beach in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Tuesday, Jokowi said that without complying with codes of ethics, journalists would be biased and create unbalanced reports.
“I think this is very dangerous,” said Jokowi.
The President added that he was aware that pushed by the demands of fast-flowing information, journalists, particularly those in the employ of online media companies, were keen to report the news to their readers as fast as possible, leading them sometimes to forget journalistic codes of ethics and ethical reporting principles.
“As a result, their news reports are inaccurate, unbalanced, mixing fact and opinion,” he said.
Jokowi added that the current relations between the press and the government were very different now. In the past, the government heavily leaned on the press, but now, the tables had turned, he noted.
“It is the press that is pressing the government,” he said, adding that pressures on the media stemmed mainly now from intersector competition.
In the era of press freedom, Jokowi continued, all parts of society were inundated with information. Opinions, data, information and even the personal status of a social media figures could be circulated as news, he said.
At the end of his speech, Jokowi said he hoped the press could be the fourth pillar of democracy by presenting information that was honest, accurate and objective. "Always give room to the voice of the people," he concluded. (Ayomi Amindoni)
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