Journalist reveals bribery practice in Indonesian media

JAKARTA: A journalist has admitted demanding bribes of up to hundreds of millions of Rupiah to play up issues in the media, presenting deliberately-biased or inaccurate news reports to benefit those paying him.

Danu Pratama (not his real name), who has worked as a journalist for nearly seven years, told English daily Jakarta Globe Friday that he usually worked with a team of five journalists so that the news reports would not be less convincing.

"We could play up any issue in the media, especially political, legal and economic issues, because politicians, law enforcement officials and businessmen are willing to spend a lot of money to attack their rivals through the media and make them look bad," he was qouted as saying by the daily.

Danu said his demands for bribes ranged from Rp7.5 million (US$830) into hundreds of millions, depending on the urgency of the issue, who the source was and whether they wanted an issue manipulated in print, broadcast or online media -- or all three.

"I never play up an issue alone, because then, it'd become obvious. I usually work with a team of five other journalists, where I act as the coordinator and make the deal with the source.

"I assure you that even the so-called cleanest media outlets have journalists who have taken part in this mafia practice," he said.

Senior media figures say this culture of strings-attached reporting is the norm in Indonesia, fueled by a liberal official stance on bribery and a largely underpaid press corps.

"Government institutions and companies often allocate a portion of their budget to a media development fund that provides journalists with so-called transportation money," said Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Nezar Patria.

"They maintain a list of journalists covering their respective beats, who are paid anywhere from Rp250,000 to Rp1 million each. Unfortunately, this money is often accepted by journalists who work for less-than-credible media outlets which do not pay them well," he said.

Nezar said AJI and the Press Council had, for the past 15 years, been campaigning against the practice of journalists taking bribes.

"A journalist must convey only the truth because society has the right to know the truth," he added.

Source: MOLE