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Signatories to the Palembang Charter, a new set of standards aimed at improving the quality of journalism in the country, will need at least a year to integrate the charter into their companies’ regulations, the Indonesian Journalists Association said on Thursday.

Marah Sakti, the head of the training department at the association, also known as PWI, told the Jakarta Globe that the charter’s implementation would “reflect the media owners’ moral responsibility.”

The charter comprises competency standards for journalists, a code of ethics, standards for media companies and guidelines to protect journalists.

It was signed on Tuesday, on the 64th National Press Day, by 18 senior figures from different media groups, including James Riady from the Globe Media Group. The signing was witnessed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Signatories to the charter will be eligible to use a compliance logo to show that they are committed to quality journalism.
“It is a self-regulation effort from the media community to improve our professionalism,” Marah said.

He said that when the charter was being written, a process that took years, there were doubts and concerns from some in the industry about its usefulness.

“However, we managed to make them realize that the charter’s ratification would be beneficial to them because it could distinguish them from ‘dodgy’ media organizations,” Marah said.

He added that the charter could help news sources in agreeing on standards for interviews and the media audience in deciding which media were deserving  of their trust.

Leo Batubara, deputy chairman of the Press Council, told the Globe that the standards the charter set for media organizations included the stipulations that they should be able to publish or broadcast regularly for at least six months consecutively; that they employ journalists that had passed competency standards; pay their journalists in accordance with the local minimum wage; provide full protection when assigning journalists to conflict areas; and have good recruitment and career development policies.

“It is better that we regulate ourselves instead of having the government doing it for us,” Leo said, adding that the charter would not deter media outlets that were not signatories from continuing to operate.

“But this could help tell the audience which media [are respected] and assist advertisers in choosing where to place their advertisements,” he said.

The next step for journalists who work at media groups that have signed the charter is to see if their organizations comply with the regulations contained in the document, he said.

Ignatius Haryanto, a media analyst and chairman of the Institute for Press and Development Studies, said there should be a third party to control the implementation of the Palembang Charter.

He added that there must be at least one union in each media group that is a signatory to the charter.

“I think maybe there are only five [unions] out of the 18 media groups,” he said.

Ignatius said that with the recent layoffs in the media, labor unions must take the responsibility to ensure that journalists receive all the benefits to which they were entitled.

“The charter needs a sincere commitment from those who signed it,” he said. He added that signatories must also agree on penalties for violations of the charter.

Marah said the body overseeing the charter’s implementation comprised representatives of the Press Council and nine journalist and media outlet associations.  He said the body would also provide consultations for media organizations that were willing to ratify the charter but were not yet ready to do so.

“Journalists can report to the supervisory body if they see their media outlet failing to implement the charter,” he said.

State news agency Antara, one of the charter’s signatories, said it planned to integrate the charter gradually, over about five years, in accordance with the agency’s business plan.

“We actually have been working on [the charter] since last year after we signed the mutual work agreement between the management and the workers’ union on November 10,” said Ahmad Mukhlis Yusuf, the agency’s president director.

He added that Antara had no hesitation in agreeing to ratify the charter since it was in line with the contents of the mutual work agreement.

“We plan to implement the charter gradually and proportionally as we improve the company’s business,” he said, adding that the charter’s integration with the agency’s policies would help it achieve its goal of becoming a  media outlet that would “facilitate journalists to love their profession and articulate themselves.”

Leo said, “It will take time to implement the charter, but the system will allow people to understand that there are professional and unprofessional media.”