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Jokowi calls on journalists to step up fight against hoaxes
Journalists should be at the forefront of eliminating hoaxes and easing people's anxieties as a result of misleading news, the President said.
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Just recently, two people were detained by the Balikpapan Police in East Kalimantan for allegedly spreading false information about a positive coronavirus case in the region. (Shutterstock/Kunst Bilder)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has urged journalists to tackle the rampant spread of false news in the media through reliable and accountable journalism work.
Journalists, he said, should be at the forefront of eliminating hoaxes and easing people's anxieties as a result of misleading news.
"The press's role in conveying reliable information is extremely needed, especially when the country is facing such unexpected situations like the coronavirus outbreak," Jokowi said on Saturday while attending a celebration for National Press Day in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan.
“A healthy society is a society that is exposed to healthy and [accurate] information; this information comes from good journalism."
House of Representative Speaker Puan Maharani said on the sidelines of the commemoration that "a professional and accountable press is increasingly needed as a tool to combat hoaxes".
She also called on the public to trust the products of mainstream media instead of irresponsibly distributing unsourced information on social media, as the former had gone through thorough journalistic processes that involve verification as well as double-checking, among other things.
"Therefore, I invite all Indonesians to refer to national mainstream media when it comes to finding reliable information," said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician.
