IT WAS NOT unexpected that the real threat to journalists came from those who were supposed to be their protectors.
As discovered by the Tifa Foundation as part of the Safe Journalism Consortium together with PPMN and HRWG in collaboration with Populix and supported by the Dutch Embassy.
Threats to journalists come mainly from the State. Apart from that, also from community organizations (Ormas). This is known from the measurements of the Journalist Safety Index carried out
Tifa Foundation.
The 2023 Journalist Safety Index is at a score of 59.8 out of 100 or in the ‘Somewhat Protected’ category. This score is partly contributed by the number of violence experienced by journalists, both collected through surveys and from cases handled by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) throughout 2023.
Through a survey of 536 respondents, 45% of respondents admitted to having experienced violence. Meanwhile, AJI data shows that the number of violence against journalists reached 87 cases, an increase of 16 cases from the previous year.
The most common forms of violence are prohibitions on reporting (45%), prohibitions on reporting (44%) and terror and intimidation (39%). The survey also noted that one journalist can experience various forms of violence and female journalists are more vulnerable.
Threats to the safety of journalists come from various parties. When asked about potential safety threats, journalists mentioned starting from mass organizations (29%), the state through the police (26%) and government officials (22%), political actors (14%) to the media companies themselves (7%). The remaining 4% mentioned other actors.
Executive Director of the TIFA Foundation, Oslan Purba, said that this index aims to map the problems faced by journalists, provide relevant data to prevent violence, and improve working conditions and journalistic professionalism in Indonesia.
“We are trying to make this measurement regular and it is hoped that it can become a monitoring tool and find factors that cause journalist safety problems, so that it can become an advocacy material for realizing safe journalism in Indonesia,” explained Oslan at the launch of the 2023 Journalist Safety Index, in Jakarta, Thursday (28/3/2024).
The 2023 Journalist Safety Index is measured using a survey method among journalists and combined with actual data on cases of violence against journalists handled by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI). This description of the safety conditions of journalists in carrying out their profession is prepared based on three main pillars which include individual journalists, pillars stakeholder media, and state and regulatory pillars.
The individual journalist pillar is built from two variables, namely the journalist’s experience of violence and the journalist’s knowledge of protection from violence. Medium pillar stakeholder media, exploring journalists’ experiences and views on the role of media companies, civil society organizations such as journalists’ organizations and legal aid institutions as well as the role of state institutions such as the Press Council and National Human Rights Commission. Meanwhile, the pillars of the state and regulations were obtained by exploring journalists’ experiences and perceptions of the role of the state and enforcing laws and regulations.
Populix Research Manager, Nazmi Haddyat Tamara, among these three pillars, the individual pillar got the lowest score (36.08) followed by the state and regulation pillar (64.36) and the media stakeholder pillar (74.36).
“The individual pillar received a low score, driven by cases of violence that are still high, including regarding censorship. “On the other hand, journalists generally admit that their work is risky,” explained Nazmi.
LBH Press Director Ade Wahyudin said that there are three big challenges that journalists face when they experience acts of violence. One of them is the reluctance to report acts of violence to the authorities.
“The reason for the reluctance to report this act of violence is because we saw previous cases that had been reported and there was no progress in the police department. The second challenge is that law enforcement officials are slow in resolving cases of violence experienced by journalists. “The third challenge is the media companies, which sometimes in the middle of the road withdraw these reports from the authorities for various reasons,” explained Ade.
KBR Media Director Citra Prastuti admitted that not all media companies have the resources to carry out safety training for journalists. Therefore, safety training for journalists is usually carried out by external parties.
“We usually implement a ToT system regarding safety training for journalists. “This is because companies are not yet able to do it themselves, but it is true that the safety of journalists is something important,” said Citra.
In addition to potential threats from the state through its apparatus, the state and regulation pillar score is formed by journalists’ assessments of potential threats to a number of regulations. In general, journalists believe that laws such as the PDP Law, ITE Law and Criminal Code Law can threaten their safety while working.
Komnas HAM Human Rights Enforcement Sub-Commission Coordinator Uli Parulian Sihombing revealed that there is a knowledge gap among a number of stakeholders regarding the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This is what causes many cases of violence and defamation experienced by journalists.
“From 2018-2024, there were seven cases of violence reported to Komnas HAM. Five cases of verbal violence and two cases of torture. There are five cases of defamation and violations of the ITE Law. Komnas HAM has made guidelines that journalists are part of human rights defenders and this has been conveyed to stakeholder,” explained Uli.
Komnas HAM also always coordinates with the Press Council when it receives reports regarding defamation committed by journalists.
The Ministry of Communication and Information appreciates this journalist safety index. Director of Media Management at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Nursodik Gunarjo, said that this index would be early warning system when a journalist’s safety goes down it can be monitored by many people.
“But what is important after the existence of this index is what must be done next so that the safety of journalists can be maintained. We actually want there to be no more violence against journalists. Maybe one thing that can be done is regulation, but regulation is like currency, when it comes to press freedom guaranteed by the law so at the same time there are also those who feel it limited by the law,” explained Nursodik.
Nursodik said, the government will not regulate the press because there is already a law regarding press freedom. One way that can be done is for the press to propose to the government to create a law that can regulate the safety of journalists, such as the Light Publishers Law which has just been passed by the government.
Chairman of AJI Indonesia Sasmito Madrid hopes that, to ensure the safety of journalists, a national action plan needs to be immediately created. This step is in order to ensure the safety of journalists.
Data collection through a survey for the Journalist Safety Index was carried out on January 22 – February 13 2024 using the self filling by journalists by sending questionnaires to journalists registered in a number of organizations as well as visiting journalists while they are in the field and interviewing a number of journalists to verify crucial information. The journalists included in this survey were 536 people spread throughout Indonesia and represented journalists from various types of media. (S-1)
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