Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla is supporting a campaign spearheaded by the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) to ensure journalists reject gifts from their news sources.

AJI chairman Heru Hendratmoko said Kalla would order government officials not to give journalists money. "The vice president will order all government officials to omit funds allocated specifically for journalists as gifts," said Heru after meeting with Kalla.

In a recent AJI survey, 68 percent of journalists said a gift or favor from a news source could influence their reporting in favor of the source.

The AJI campaign is failing to garner support from most journalists covering Kalla, who argue receiving gifts from news sources is acceptable as long as there is no quid pro quo involved.