Don't Be Anti-Critic, Revoking Journalist Access Is Contrary To The Spirit Of The Press Law

Illustration of journalists' actions against violence (Jurnal Bandung)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission I DPR RI Junico Siahaan, also highlighted the revocation of the Palace coverage identity card experienced by a national media journalist, just because he asked outside the context of the event, namely the Free Nutrition Food (MBG) to President Prabowo Subianto.

Junico hopes that the revocation of the Palace Press ID will not happen again in the future. He also reminded the importance of public officials being open to criticism.

"Pers has a public mandate to carry out social control and convey information as it is, including through critical questions to the President and state officials," Junico Siahaan told reporters, Wednesday, October 1.

"Revocation of access to coverage only because of the questions asked, can actually create an impression of silencing and create a bad precedent for the democratic climate in Indonesia," continued the member of the commission in charge of broadcasting affairs.

Junico also assessed that the revocation of this coverage ID also has the potential to disrupt press freedom and contradict the spirit of Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press, which guarantees press independence as one of the pillars of democracy.

"Buying journalists in carrying out their journalistic duties not only injures press freedom, but also damages public confidence in the government's commitment to maintaining information disclosure," said the man who is familiarly called Nico Siahaan.

According to Nico, the dynamics between journalists and public officials should be addressed with a cool head, open to criticism, and uphold the principle of transparency. Therefore, Nico encourages state officials to be open to criticism which is becoming a public conversation.

"All public officials still need criticism for the improvement and accountability of the program. Including us, yesterday the DPR improved because the criticism submitted played a role in improving our performance in the future," explained the legislator from the West Java I electoral district.

Nico assessed that this incident should be an important lesson for all parties, especially the government, that democracy is not only measured by formal political mechanisms, but also from what extent the state respects the press as a strategic partner in conveying the truth to the people.

"The DPR RI is committed to overseeing so that similar cases do not happen again, for the sake of maintaining freedom of the press and the quality of Indonesian democracy," he concluded.

As is known, the Press, Media and Information Bureau (BPMI) of the Presidential Secretariat revoked the coverage ID belonging to CNN Indonesia TV journalist Diana Valencia. The reason is that Diana Valencia asked a question about the issue of the Free Nutrition Eating (MBG) program to President Prabowo Subianto, who had just completed her visit in a number of countries and arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta, Saturday, September 27.

After this problem went viral on social media, the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat finally returned the press identity card belonging to CNN Indonesia journalist Diana Valencia. Based on the circulating photo, the id card was handed over directly by the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat to Diana Valencia on Monday, September 29.