Rohmat Selamat, SH, M.Kn |
Violence and criminalization of journalists has recently spread in Indonesia. In fact, by now, Indonesia has entered the era of press freedom, marked by the end of the era of repression of the New Order government.
In the current era of reform, the freedom of the press to disseminate information to the public is open, compared to the New Order era. However, the birth of this freedom of the press was followed by the increasing threat of violence against journalists, as well as leading to the realm of law, in relation to the news or information written.
As a media actor and legal practitioner, I am often asked questions by fellow journalists, whether journalists who report fake or unsatisfactory news to other parties that contain defamatory elements or create negative opinions can be criminalized? This question, we must see.
If a journalist spreads the wrong news, which can lead to negative opinions, the journalist cannot be blamed. There is no space or mechanism that can be implemented.
Basically, journalists who publish inaccurate articles or reports should immediately remove, correct, and correct any inaccurate and inaccurate news along with an apology to the reader.
This refers to Article 10 of the Press Council Regulation No. 6 / Regulation -DP / V / 2008 on the Ratification of Press Council Decision Number 03 / SK-DP / III / 2006 on the Journalism Ethics Code as the Press Council Regulation states:
"Indonesian journalists immediately remove, correct and correct false and inaccurate news along with apologies to readers, viewers and / or viewers,"
In the world of the press, as regulated by Law No. 40 of 1999 on the Press, there are two terms that are known, namely the right of reply and the right of correction
The right to reply is the right of a person or a group of people to give a response or assistance to the report in the form of facts that harm his good name.
The right to justify is the right for anyone to correct or correct any misinformation presented by the press about themselves or others.
Related to this issue, the right to reply and the right to correct are the steps that can be taken by national press readers if there is an error in reporting, in particular that causes harm to certain parties.
The next step that can be taken, the injured party can make a complaint to the Press Council.
*) Rohmat Selamat, SH, M.Kn, Legal Practitioner, Chairman of PWRI Bogor Raya