Ismira Lutfia& Banjir Ambarita – The appallingly low wages paid to the majority of journalists in Indonesia may cause some to compromise their professionalism, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said.
The Jayapura chapter chairman of the AJI, Victor Mambor, said journalists working in a high-risk environment such as Papua can be paid as little as Rp 5,000 ($0.55) per story.
A survey conducted by the AJI from December 2010 to January 2011 in 16 cities found that numerous media outlets in other parts of the country pay their journalists as little as Rp 300,000 to Rp 700,000 per month.
"With such low wages and poor working conditions, journalists become prone to accepting bribes and are more willing to compromise their professionalism, which could result in impartial reporting," Winuranto Adhi, head of the AJI's workers union division, said on Friday.
AJI chairman Nezar Patria said the alliance has made recommendations regarding the minimum adequate salary for journalists across the nation as part of a campaign to improve journalistic professionalism.
The AJI's recommended minimum monthly salary for entry-level journalists ranges from just less than Rp 3 million for a reporter in a small town such as Kediri, East Java, to almost Rp 5 million for journalists working in Jakarta, where living costs are much higher.
The recommended salary for journalists in large regional centers such as Surabaya, Yogyakarta and Semarang is just more than Rp 3 million a month.
Currently, television news reporters in Kediri are paid as little as Rp 300,000 per month, while those working in Semarang receive Rp 700,000, without any transportation or communication allowances – both well below the amount recommended by the AJI.
Newspaper journalists in other areas of the country are not only paid less than recommended by the AJI, but also less than the regional minimum wage.
Winuranto said indicators used by the AJI in its survey were tailored to suit the working and living standard expected for journalists, covering miscellaneous needs such as food, clothing, housing and transportation as well as additional costs such as earning enough to purchase a laptop computer in installments throughout two to three years.
He added the AJI's survey did not base its recommendations on the minimum wage for each province because "it is meant to cover the minimum requirements [for those working in the profession], not simply cover an adequate standard of living."
In its survey, the AJI praised three media outlets already paying their journalists above the recommended minimum.
The three outlets are the Jakarta Globe, the Jakarta Post and Bisnis Indonesia, with an average salary of between Rp 5 million to Rp 5.5 million per month.