H

ow do you measure a journalist's competence? The quick answer is look how good the journalist's piece of work is. However, it takes more than a single measure to be sure.

The media community here judges a journalist's competence on three aspects: Awareness, knowledge, and skills. To coincide with National Press Day on Feb. 9, observed in Palembang this year, Indonesia's independent Press Council published its Standar Kompetensi Wartawan (A Competency Standard for Journalists).

The Press Council, whose main job is to deal with public complaints about the press, invited individuals from the print, electronic and online media to produce the 99-page book.

Journalists' associations notably the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Indonesian Independent Journalists Association (AJI) and the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI), and media watch NGOs were brought in. Journalism schools, as well as media-related language and legal specialists, also joined.

One other function of the Press Council, as stated in Article 15 of the 1999 Press Law, is "to improve the quality of the journalistic profession". In light of public objections to biased and inaccurate reporting, and of unethical behavior of sections of the press, as well as acknowledgement from within the press industry of professional inadequacy, the Press Council acted. The competency book was one answer.

One troubling concern after the Indonesian media gained press freedom with the end of Soeharto's New Order in 1998 was the emergence of press freedom "stowaways".

They are press outlets that use press freedom for their self-interest rather than for the public interest. Under the guise of press freedom, they extort, deceive or intimidate, the preface of the competency book states.

Journalistic competence is defined as a journalist's ability to understand, master and uphold the profession in aspects of awareness, knowledge and skills. Awareness underscores the importance of ethical awareness.

This means an emphatic ban to gratuities, plagiarism, fictitious and libelous reporting. Awareness also relates to journalism sensitivity. This covers avoiding errors that lead to inaccuracy, bias and violation of privacy.

Meanwhile knowledge covers general knowledge, specialized knowledge of the area of reporting, and knowledge of journalism principles. Skills cover the basics of reporting, writing and editing. It includes the ability to use information technology tools as well as research, investigative and analytical skills.

The book lists 11 key competencies that range from understanding and complying with journalism ethics, to planning the news page, to using news technology equipment. These key competencies apply to three levels of journalists: Wartawan muda (junior journalists), wartawan madya (intermediate journalists) and wartawan utama (premier journalists).

Each level has its own set of competency standards to meet. The junior journalist or cub reporter, for instance, must be able to suggest story ideas and plan coverage. He or she must be able to seek information, do interviews, and develop and maintain a network of sources.

If the thrust of the junior jour-nalist is to carry out activities, the intermediate journalist, who may have a desk editor position, manages activities. Competency standards range from editing news copy to planning and coordinating investigative reporting.

Meanwhile the premier journalist, who may be in a senior position, should have editorial management proficiency, long-term vision, and leadership qualities, to name just three competency standards.

The competency standards book has a section on competency testing for each of the three levels of journalist. The testing covers the three aspects of awareness, knowledge and skills involving the various competency standards.

Journalism schools, press corporations and journalists' organizations are eligible to conduct competency tests after they meet yet-to-be-announced criteria from the Press Council.

Journalists who pass the test with a minimum score of 70 out of 100 are declared competent and the Press Council will post their names online and through other channels. This allows the public to know which journalists have Press Council accreditation. The Press Council is currently on the road to various cities to promote the competency standards to journalists throughout the country. It started with Makassar in late February.

In the final analysis, the competence of journalists is best determined by the quality of their work. Fine journalism is recognized in the annual Adinegoro Journalism Award from the Indonesian Journalists Association bestowed every National Press Day. A Rp 50 million (US$5,400) cash prize goes with the award in each of five categories.

In Palembang, the prize was given for news photography and for editorial writing. Although the jurors received more than 400 entries, no journalist won the prize in the thematic writing categories on humanitarian affairs and on democracy. Apparently meeting the standard for competence in journalism is still a work in progress.