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ostility toward journalists is alarmingly on the rise as Muslim conservatives have accused several media outlets of biased reporting in the blasphemy case of the incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.

The third-largest anti-Ahok demonstration on Friday in Central Jakarta, where more than 500,000 peopled flocked to the National Monument (Monas) complex in what they called a “peaceful rally”, saw another series of intimidations carried out by dozens of protesters against television crews reporting live.

Early in the morning, protesters walking down Jl. Merdeka Selatan shouted in front of Kompas TV’s satellite news-gathering van, demanding the crews to stop reporting and to leave the scene. The protesters accused the TV stations of one-sided reporting that tended to be pro-Ahok.

The situation, however, was quickly contained when police personnel approached and asked the crews to park their vans at City Hall.

“This incident is unfortunate, because the protesters had promised to stage the rally in a peaceful manner. However, we appreciate the security officials’ quick action to guard us,” Kompas TV field producer Alvi Apriayandi said.

Rifai Pamone, a Metro TV journalist who reported live from behind a wire barricade on Jl. Merdeka Barat, was also shouted at and hit with mineral water cups by protesters who claimed that the media he represented was a “provocateur”.

Police personnel on standby behind the barricade asked Rifai to pause the recording of his reportage to defuse tensions.

“When people already have negative sentiments, anything we do is wrong. We only get mineral water cups thrown at us, but that’s OK, we are only carrying out our journalistic duties,” Rifai said.

The Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) noted that over the years, the number of cases of violence or other forms of abuses against journalists have fluctuated. However, numbers tend to rise significantly when nearing huge occasions, such as regional elections.

“In numerous cases, the intimidations are carried out against journalists by the supporters of certain candidates [running in the election]”, LBH Pers research and networking head Asep Komaruddin told The Jakarta Post.

LBH Pers is aware of the phenomena of labeling media outlets accused of biased reporting.

“Labeling actually threatens the journalists as they are susceptible to becoming the targets of violence,” Asep said.

In the previous Nov. 4 mass rally, which was also initiated by the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa (GNPF-MUI), the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) recorded numerous instances of violence against journalists initiated by protesters.

The violence included both physical and non-physical, such as when a TV crew was forced to leave Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on allegations of biased reporting.

In another case, Kompas TV journalist Muhammad Guntur was also intimidated and got his memory card taken away by protesters near the State Palace in Central Jakarta during the Nov. 4 rally, which erupted into violence after dusk.

On Wednesday, journalist Reja Hidayat from tirto.id was hit and told to go away by an alleged member of the firebrand Islam Defenders Front (FPI) when he was carrying out work in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, near the FPI headquarters on Wednesday.

Reja wrote in his report circulating in several journalist chat groups that the man tried to prohibit him from writing any news about the FPI meeting ahead of the rally and demanded that he delete anything he had already written.

“We have filed a report with AJI. But we haven’t decided whether we will file a report with the police. But my office will send a protest letter to the FPI,” Reja told the Post.

The AJI Jakarta chapter chairman Ahmad Nurhasim criticized the series of intimidations faced by journalists.

“Intimidating actions, let alone violent attacks [against journalists] should not occur no matter the reason,” Ahmad told the Post, adding that the AJI would speak out against attacks that threatened press freedom.

Ahmad said there were many ways people could voice their complaints against media outlets they claimed to be bias in their reporting that did not involve violence ,including by writing a letter to the editorial team or filing a report with the Press Council, as in accordance with the 1999 Press Law.

However, Ahmad asserted that journalists should carry out their tasks based on the journalistic code of ethics.

“Every mass media has a right to determine the angle of their reportage, however they should serve justice for all elements in society,” Ahmad said. (fac)