Local news companies need higher standard: PWI

MEDAN: Standardization by media companies is urgently needed due to the number of substandard companies and journalists that ruin the credibility of journalism, Indonesian Journalist Association (PWI) chairman Margiono said Friday in Medan.

"The current press law is very weak after the reform, so a new standardization of press companies, journalistic competency, protection and welfare, including journalism ethics, is needed," he was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

Margiono said that several press companies agreed to implement standardization and that the Press Council should encourage more to follow suit.

At the end of Soeharto's New Order era, during which press freedoms were tightly controlled, journalists from a slew of media companies with intermittent publications, often frequent press events or approach officials. - JP