Papua Press Freedom No 33 Among 34 Provinces in Indonesia

TheIndonesia.co - Press freedom in Papua was categorized as "rather free," with the province scoring 68.87 on the 2021 Press Freedom Index (IKP) to rank 33rd out of 34 provinces, the Indonesian Press Council has informed.

"The IKP placed Papua Province 33rd out of 34 provinces, a declined of 1.16 points compared to 2020 (when its score was recorded) at 70.04," Indonesian Press Council member M Agung Darmajaya remarked during a public discussion on the future of press freedom, in Jayapura, Papua, on Saturday, January 29, 2022.

In 2020, the Press Freedom Index of Papua Province, for the first time, was in the category of "fairly free," he added.

"One of the factors that affected the score was low coordination between local government and journalists," he said. The local government did not provide a place allocated for journalists, he explained.

Information distribution was not transparent and there were some incidents of violence against journalists, including physical violence, intimidation, terror, and destruction of reporting equipment, he said.

Factors that affected the score included intimidation and criminalization of journalists, Darmajaya added.

"For instance, there was a case of a journalist who was expelled while covering news. On the other hand, there were errors in news reporting due to weak media professionalism," he explained.

As a result, 27 cyber media were reported to the Press Council over complaints of false reporting, he informed.

"The good side is, there is more training for journalists this year, organized by journalist organizations in collaboration with local NGOs," Darmajaya said.

The public discussions on the future of press freedom in Papua also received a positive response from the Indonesian Journalist Association, the Presidential Staff Office, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Military Resort Command 172/PWY, Papua Police, religious figures, and media representatives, he added.