The Press Council on Tuesday criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for blaming the media for relying on text messages as news sources in the graft scandals surrounding his political party
he Press Council on Tuesday criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for blaming the media for relying on text messages as news sources in the graft scandals surrounding his political party.
Text messages are a valid source for news stories as long as the media meets principles of covering both sides, council deputy chairman Sabam Leo Batubara said.
However, he added, media outlets should verify all allegations made in text messages.
“Information for the media could come from many sources, including text messages. It is a matter of technology,” Press Council member Agus Sudibyo told the The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
“It is the right of media outlets to use text messages as the source of a news story. The media outlet knows whether the source is reliable,” Batubara said. “Of course, the media outlet is responsible for verifying all allegations made in the text message.”
Batubara said Yudhoyono should use existing mechanisms to settle disputes over news stories.
Under the mechanism, people or groups who feel disadvantaged by a news story have the right to seek clarification directly from the media outlet.
“If that fails, the case can be brought to the Press Council. The final option would be legal recourse. Such mechanisms have been effective so far,” he said.
Batubara said Yudhoyono’s statements at a press briefing on Monday escalated the issue as he did not directly blame any specific media outlet.
“I was surprised by Yudhoyono’s generalization that all media outlets did wrong by publicizing the text messages allegedly sent by Nazaruddin.”
At the press briefing, Yudho-yono said the media continued to discredit the Democratic Party by basing reports only on text messages purportedly sent by Nazaruddin, the former treasurer of the Democratic Party and a fugitive graft suspect.
“I don’t understand this. The news stories’ sole cited source are text messages, which then make headlines. The messages allegedly sent by Nazaruddin — which has not been proven — were publicized to cast a bad light on the Democratic Party,” Yudhoyono said.
Nazaruddin fled to Singapore in May following growing allegations against him implicating him of involvement in a graft scandal surrounding a Southeast Asian (SEA) Games construction project.
Since leaving Indonesia, the media has received numerous text messages from a person claiming to be Nazaruddin. The messages alleged that the scandal also involved other high-ranking members of the Democratic Party.
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