EYE ON ETHICS

This article was first posted on The Jakarta Post last May 7. The author is a journalism instructor at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta.
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May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, when journalists take stock of their work-linked concerns. One such concern relates to their professional conduct or lack of it. North Sumatra journalists recently discussed this issue as it relates to local reporting.

A madrasah or Islamic boarding school offers free tuition, with donors covering the school expenditures. However, a local newspaper charges the madrasah lets its pupils go hungry. The madrasah complains rightly the story is one-sided, as none of the school executives were interviewed.

Meanwhile, a weekly paper reports on a money pyramid scam in Medan that promised investors 60 percent monthly interest. After the fraudulent company, PT BMA, collapsed and its boss became a fugitive, the paper printed this headline: “Bos PT BMA Siluman Anjing?” (PT BMA Boss a Phantom Dog?) The story is accompanied with a line drawing of a menacing dog with a protruding tongue and set of sharp teeth.

In the meantime, the press in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam tends to focus on two matters when it reports on khalwat cases. The first matter is undue attention to the details of the punishment, a prerequisite caning, and the moral lecturing of Islamic law enforcers. The second matter is the majority of the press denies the woman charged with khalwat her voice to relate her version of the incident. (Khalwat is the act of a man and a woman who are not married to one another intimately meeting in a secluded place. In Aceh, where sharia or Islamic law is in force, khalwat is illegal.)

The above observations came to the fore in a meeting on journalism ethics in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. The concern was that many journalists have not reached the bar of proper, ethical reporting. A reporter’s lack of sense of ethics and appropriateness can hurt not only the injured party but the reporter as well. The reporter and his or her media could face a lawsuit for defamation and lose public credibility.

In March 2006, 29 journalist organizations in Indonesia jointly drew up an 11-article Journalistic Code of Ethics for all Indonesian journalists. This code, however, may not be adequate to instill journalists with ethically correct reporting. A code of ethics affects the conscience of the user in distinguishing what is right and wrong. Is this enough for journalists to make their news stories ethically acceptable?

J. Anto, a Medan-based media monitor, believes individual media should also have their own specific guidelines to deal with coverage situations. A code of conduct is a need, argues Anto, executive director of Yayasan Kippas, the Sumatra Information, Education and Publication Studies Foundation. A code of conduct also functions as a basis in the management of a media organization in assessing and making decisions on the professional career path of a journalist, Anto said.

A code of conduct is a set of practical rules that deal with avoidance of conflict of interest and regulate the responsible relationship between the journalist and the source. It also guides journalists in how to cover issues of a special nature. These issues could concern violence, gender, children, rape and court cases. It governs its journalists’ attitude and actions in news coverage.

So what specific substance goes into a code of conduct? On conflict of interest, the code should state whether journalists are prohibited or not to own shares in a public company they report. This rule should help the journalists in reporting the firm’s activities factually and without favor. The code should also determine whether journalists may become a member and an office holder in a political party, moreover run for public office.

On a journalist’s relations with news sources, the code should underscore respect for the privacy of a news source. It should be clear whether entering a source’s house or room is an infringement of that privacy. The code should also emphasize recognition of the dignity of the news source or subject. It should make certain whether depicting a news source or news subject in animal form is demeaning or not. It should further make clear what kind of reporting and language constitutes malice toward the news source or news subject.

On covering conflict, for instance between community elements, the code should spell out how to report it without enlarging the conflict. In the reporting of victims of such conflict, the code should determine how to identify or how not to identify the victims. Reference should be made to provisions in international humanitarian law under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. It should guide how the reporting could help reduce the conflict.

On the covering of a gender-related issue, for example domestic violence or a court case, the code should guide journalists on how to report the issue in a sensitive manner.

“Journalists believe they must maintain a first obligation to the truth; put citizens ahead of other considerations; stay independent from factions; employ an ethical method of verification; provide an open public forum; report what is significant as well as engaging; keep news in proportion; monitor the powerful; and remain true to personal conscience.”