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Bogor. Vice President Boediono has defended his notoriously reticent attitude toward the media, saying exploitative journalism and the Bank Century scandal have made him a prime target for political detractors.

“I admit that over the past several months I’ve been rather sparing with my statements to the public because they tend to get twisted out of context,” Boediono said on Sunday.

“I hope the situation gets better soon. I promise — half promise, but don’t hold me to it ­— that if I have something to say later on, I’ll let you know myself.”

Boediono, an economist and former governor of Bank Indonesia, has kept an inordinately low profile since taking up office in 2009, in stark contrast to his more bombastic predecessor, Jusuf Kalla.

Journalists covering the Vice Presidential Office have long complained about Boediono’s reticence to speak at news conferences. The few statements that are released from his office are usually passed on by Boediono’s spokesman, Yopie Hidayat.

However, last weekend’s government retreat at the Bogor Palace marked a thaw in the usually frigid relations between the vice president and the media, with events such as a sing-along, a jog, a petting zoo and various games seemingly designed to lighten the mood.

Boediono said such events would be held more regularly to “express my feelings” and establish better communication.

“I understand that the current communication mechanisms need to be smoothed out,” he said on Sunday.

“I’m all for trying harder. Truth be told, I miss saying things. I used to be a lecturer, and I tend to relapse into those ways when I talk to the media, so it comes across as a bit patronizing.

“Sometimes we forget that communication is a basic human need and is essential for garnering feedback,” he added.

“So if I have a message to get across, you need to make sure you get it down word for word.”

Boediono also called on journalists to “be professional when covering the news.”

“Democracy depends on a smooth flow of information: from the bottom up, top down and horizontally,” he said.

“Information is only of value if there’s a quality of truth in it and it’s conveyed at the right time. That’s key to maintaining a democratic state.”

He added that the system of embedding journalists in the Vice Presidential Office was designed to prevent the reporting of “inappropriate information that could destroy the whole system.”

“I want to have a good environment in my office, one in which you guys can develop into good journalists who support the nation, whose integrity is beyond doubt, whose reporting is sharp and who see things in the proper context,” Boediono said.

The vice president’s media silence is widely attributed to the uproar over the 2008 Bank Century bailout, which he authorized while serving as central bank governor.

He and then-Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati were accused by most parties in the House of Representatives of authorizing what a majority of legislators deemed to be an unwarranted bailout, with moves made toward seeking the dismissal of the cabinet’s two top reformers.

That never came to pass, although Sri Mulyani later resigned to take up a position at the World Bank, which analysts attribute to machinations by her main detractor, Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Boediono also took flak at the time after he was questioned about the bailout by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) at the Presidential Palace.

Critics claimed the vice president was given preferential treatment, pointing out that everyone else involved in the case was summoned for questioning at the KPK office.