Anji Apologizes And Deletes His Opinion Uploads Regarding Joshua Irwandi's Photo

Singer Anji (Photo: Instagram @duniamanji)

JAKARTA - Singer Anji became a topic of conversation after posting his opinion on Instagram @duniamanji about Joshua Irwandi's photo of the corpse of a COVID-19 patient.

The upload came under fire from the Indonesian Photo Journalist (PFI). Now, Anji's upload that was criticized is no longer there.

Monday, July 20, Anji clarified. In his Instagram upload, Anji embedded a photo containing the inscription that he had established communication with the PFI Secretary General, Hendra Eka, via telephone.

"I do not discredit the photo journalist or journalist profession. In photo work, for me, Joshua Irwandi's photo is a powerful photo," wrote in the photo uploaded by Anji to his Instagram.

Anji emphasized that the opinion on his Instagram uploads was from the point of view of disseminating information which he considered very odd.

"What I discussed with KOL (Key Opinion Leader) was the pattern of information dissemination, not Joshua's purpose in taking the photo," said Anji.

Furthermore, he explained related to his statement, that the bodies of Covid victims could not be found by the family. He said, the question in his statement was about the code of ethics in the world of health, not the Journalistic Code of Ethics (KEJ).

"My mistake in this case is not including additional sentences to clarify the point that I am aiming at," Anji said while apologizing to PFI and Joshua for this misunderstanding.

Anji added that he had opened a forum with around 300 photographers on Sunday, July 19, evening. On that occasion, he made an open apology.

He also decided to delete this polemic upload. "For opinion-related posts, I usually never delete them, but out of respect for Joshua and PFI, I will delete them after this post," said Anji.

At the end of his upload, Anji still questioned the reason for the photojournalist being able to enter the room compared to family.

"Because I have not found a satisfactory answer in terms of a medical code of ethics for Covid-19 patients and their families," said Anji.

Earlier, Sunday, July 19, PFI issued an official statement regarding Anji's income. There are several points presented by PFI, including unbalanced opinions, deleting uploads, open apology, clarification, and not comparing journalism's work with other jobs.