•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

To improve the professionalism and credibility of the country’s news sources, three journalism associations plan to ask print news organizations to agree to a new set of industry regulations.

Dahlan Iskan, chairman of the Association of Newspaper Publishers (SPS), one of the groups involved, told the Jakarta Globe over the weekend that among other things the rules would urge compliance with a journalistic code of ethics and set a standard pay rate for entry-level journalists higher than that of other non-editorial staff at the same level in the company.

“We plan to set the standard salary for a novice journalist four times higher than the salary of new staff,” he said, adding that journalists should also be provided with clear and established career paths.

Dahlan said news organizations that agreed could voluntarily ratify the planned regulations. Those who did, he said, would be eligible to use a compliance logo to show that they were endorsed by the association.

“We hope this could help to boost the newspapers’ credibility,” he said.

The other two groups involved are the Press Council and the Indonesian Journalists Association. Press Council member Abdullah Alamudi said on Friday that the groups had been working on the plan since midyear and the regulations were expected to take effect in the new year.

Alamudi said the regulations would be binding for the news organizations that ratified them, and would allow the press associations to impose sanctions on journalists who were found to have violated the code of ethics.

A tiered system of professional accreditation and testing would also be created for journalists.

Dahlan said he hoped that the SPS’s 951 print media members, including 315 daily newspapers, would agree to the regulations.

“This would be a voluntary but binding ratification, and for those who are not yet ready to do so in the earlier stages, they can ratify them later at any time,” he said, adding that time would be given for newspapers to improve their standards before signing on to the regulations.

Dahlan also said the regulations had so far been planned only for the print media, but could also be adapted to encompass electronic news media.