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'Reporters make me nervous', Jokowi jokes at National Press Day celebration in Banjarbaru
"Wherever I go, reporters are the ones who always follow me. The ministers sometimes do not come along, but reporters are always there. They're the ones who chase me every day, who stop me for comments. Sometimes they make me nervous and I stutter because they ask questions I'm not ready to answer,” Jokowi said.
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President Joko Widodo (center) addresses reporters at a press briefing at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. (Presidential Palace Press Bureau/Kris)
P
resident Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo joked that journalists often made him nervous during the celebrations of the 2020 National Press Day in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Saturday.
Jokowi said he made a point of attending the celebration despite being scheduled to leave for Canberra the same day.
“Why did I have to come? Because journalists are my friends, who I meet every day,” Jokowi told an audience of journalists at the event, as quoted in a State Palace press release on Saturday.
Jokowi added that reporters accompanied him on most of his presidential trips, more than even some of his ministers.
"Wherever I go, reporters are the ones who always follow me. The ministers sometimes do not come along, but reporters are always there. They're the ones who chase me every day, who stop me for comments. Sometimes they make me nervous and I stutter because they ask questions I'm not ready to answer,” Jokowi said.
"When I see journalists, I don’t hate them, I miss them. They are always in my heart, and I always miss them,” he said.
Jokowi reiterated his statement in a post on his official Twitter account.
“Happy National Press Day 2020,” he said in his tweet.
Tahukah Anda siapa yang kerap membuat saya gugup? Para wartawan. Yang mengejar saya untuk doorstop interview, yang membuat saya kadang-kadang gugup dan gagap, tak siap ditanya sesuatu.
Ke mana pun, selalu ikut bersama saya adalah para wartawan.
Selamat Hari Pers Nasional 2020! pic.twitter.com/2S3dUPtjll
— Joko Widodo (@jokowi) February 8, 2020
During last year's celebrations, Jokowi received a Press Freedom Award from the National Press Council for his administration's "commitment to protecting the freedom of the press".
However, the award was questioned by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), which cited the many attacks and restrictions on journalists covering certain topics and issues during his administration.
The organization recorded at least 223 cases of violence against journalists between 2015 and 2018, with the largest number of cases, 81, recorded in 2016.
