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Journalists underpaid, lack protection: AJI Jakarta
Not enough: A researcher from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) speaks about a study on the salaries of entry-level reporters at the group’s office in Kalibata, South Jakarta, on Sunday
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span class="inline inline-center">Not enough: A researcher from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) speaks about a study on the salaries of entry-level reporters at the group’s office in Kalibata, South Jakarta, on Sunday. The study found that most of the media workers are underpaid.(JP/Ben Latuihamallo)
The Jakarta chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta) recommended on Sunday that media companies pay entry-level journalists a minimum wage of Rp 7.9 million (US$ 594), considering the high expenses of the job.
The proposed salary was based on a survey of entry-level journalists in Greater Jakarta.
The survey, which involved 29 media companies, shows that several companies pay their journalists below the provincial minimum wage of Rp 3.6 million.
Survey coordinator Hayati Nupus said media companies should take into account monthly expenses, such as daily meals, rent, clothes and transportation.
“There are a lot of cases in which underpaid journalists are sacrificing their integrity in order to fulfil their basic necessities,” Hayati told The Jakarta Post, referring to the practice of accepting money from news sources, usually to encourage positive coverage.
In order to maintain quality, she suggested that companies increase the minimum wage of new journalists.
“There are a lot of cases in which journalists are taking bribes from their source or leak their information for money because their companies didn’t pay them accordingly,” Hayati said.
Ade Armando, a media observer from the University of Indonesia (UI), said there were several reasons as to why media companies underpaid their employees.
“First, we must take into account that media companies are currently struggling. Since the number of newspaper readers has decreased significantly, most media companies have to survive by transitioning online. There is a huge amount of money they need to spend in order to make that change,” Ade said.
He also explained that the mass media market was more competitive due to the birth of online media companies. These companies, he said, had to choose between keeping their company afloat and increasing wages.
“Some struggling media firms have to decrease journalist wages in order to ensure their companies survive,” he said.
During the press conference, AJI Jakarta also revealed that in 2017, it handled nine termination of employment cases.
The group recorded that in four of the cases, 300 journalists were laid off from MNC Group because several regional offices were shut down. In the same year, Genie, a tabloid, and the Mom and Kiddie magazine also let go of 42 journalists because their companies closed down.
Hayati encouraged journalists to join or form a labor union, saying that if something happened between companies and their journalists, a union could help to support their cause.
“However, there are a lot of journalists who haven’t joined a labor union because their companies forbid them from doing so, or because they do not know the importance of a labor union,” she said.
She added that if there were journalists who wanted to start their own union, AJI Jakarta would help them to form one and advocate for their cause. (dpk)
