Press Council to Establish Terrorism Reporting Guidelines

Jakarta (Antara) - Indonesian Press Council will formulate guidelines for journalists when reporting terrorism acts to complement their behavior as provided in Regulation No. 40/1999 relating to the Press and Journalistic Code of Ethics. The guidelines will explain the code of conduct for journalists when covering events related to terrorism. "We hope the reporters have a code of conduct in covering terrorism acts because the police and the National Council for Combating Terrorism, BNPT, do not have regulation to command journalists," the Chairman of Law Commission for Indonesian Press Council Yosep Adi Prasetyo said here on Monday. According to Yosep, the major purpose of the guidelines is to regulate the media crew to be careful in covering terrorist acts. He added that if people are afraid and worried over the news of terrorism, then the reaction desired by the terrorists has been accomplished. "Therefore, the major focus of a journalist is to prevent terrorism currently," Yosep noted. (*)