Ridwan Kamil Shares Stories, His Late Son, Eril Once Helped Taxi Driver When He Was Mob

The atmosphere when the Governor of West Java Ridwan Kamil received a visit from the management of the Indonesian Editor-in-Chief Forum (Forum Pemred)/ANTARA

BANDUNG - West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil shared his story with the Indonesian Editor-in-Chief Forum (Forum Pemred) during a gathering that took place in Bandung, Wednesday, June 15.

Regarding the process of evacuating the body of his eldest son, Emmeril Kahn Mumtadz, for example, Kang Emil - as he is known - called it a beautiful scenario prepared by the creator for giving him a 14-day gap, from being lost until Eril's body was found.

It was also recently revealed that Eril helped a lot of people he met. This story was only known to Kang Emil when his son died. "There is a taxi driver who claims to have been defended by Eril when he was about to be beaten," said Kang Emil in an electronic message received, Antara, Wednesday, June 15.

He added that there were many lessons to be learned from Eril's life journey. Kang Emil also admitted that he learned a lot from the incident. "Eril has become public property. We only own part of it," he said.

In addition, Kang Emil also expressed his appreciation to the media for reporting on Eril's passing fairly. "The mainstream media (mainstream) has been fair in reporting on Eril. I am very grateful," he said.

Eril's passing is a moment when the mainstream media shows their identity as a reference for the community. In the meeting, the Editor-in-Chief Forum management was represented by the Chairman of the Editor-in-Chief Forum Arifin Asydhad (Pemred Kumparan), Secretary General of the Editor-in-Chief Forum Titin Rosmasari (CNN Editor), Irfan Junaidi (Pemred Republika), and Hery Trianto (Director of Indonesian Business).

Arifin revealed that the majority of mainstream media coverage regarding Eril was still good and paid attention to journalistic principles and codes of ethics. Only a small number of mainstream media develop their coverage in inappropriate ways.

“There is news that a small part of the media does not heed this code of ethics, one of which is because the current media ecosystem is concerned with clicks and views. This is a challenge and introspection to continue to be addressed,” said Arifin.

Mainstream media, continued Arifin, shouldn't just be chasing traffic. Therefore, said Arifin, the Pemred Forum is fully committed to building a healthier media ecosystem to support better journalism.