POLICE asked to crush fake journalists

Jakarta Forum - Pandeglang, W Java, Tens of crusading journalists in the West Java town of Pandeglang had asked the police to arrest fake journalists for damaging their credibility.

"We have asked the police to crush these fake journalists because they are not real journalists but are only after money through unlawful acts," a local journalist said here Tuesday.

Speaking at the 64th National Press Day anniversary here, Mardiana Tirtalaksana, Satelit News Daily`s reporter, said the government officials also need to ignore those fake journalists who did wrongdoings, like asking for money, to the police, he said.

The professional Indonesian journalists should be rescued from those irresponsible pretenders who worked for their own sake by selling the names of credible media workers, he said.

The 64th National Press Day anniversary was held in the South Sumatran city of Palembang.

On the occasion, eighteen press companies ratified the Palembang Charter aimed at providing an Indonesian press quality standard in terms of news reporting and human resources.

In an effort to improve the quality of Indonesian journalists, schools of journalism would be set up in six cities.

The cities would be Jakarta, Semarang (Central Java), Makassar (South Sulawesi), Samarinda (East Kalimantan), Palembang (South Sumatra) and Pekanbaru (Riau).

The end of the Soeharto regime in 1998 has brought positive impacts on the growth of print and electronic media in Indonesia.

During three decades of the New Order regime in power, Indonesia just had 289 print media, but the number has drastically increased to 1,687 in the post-Soeharto era.

As complained by the working journalists in Pandeglang regency, fake journalists remain serious problems in other parts of the country.

Source: Antara News

Posted in: 64th National Press Day anniversary here,after money through unlawful acts,Mardiana Tirtalaksana,Pandeglang,quality of Indonesian journalists,Satelit News Daily`s reporter,W Java