Nurfika Osman – Freedom of the press in democratic societies should be upheld, industry experts agreed on Friday, although that principle should be balanced with responsible reporting.

Speaking during a book launch in Jakarta, John Riady, a law lecturer at Pelita Harapan University and editor-at-large of the Jakarta Globe, brought up the case of Luna Maya, who last year wrote on her Twitter account that infotainment journalists were "lower than prostitutes."

As a result, a defamation complaint was brought against Luna by the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI). Riady complained that the journalists bringing the case were extraordinarily thin-skinned. Luna later said that she had been angry with a throng of paparazzi. The case was dropped last month.

"We need to continue to build freedom of speech, but at the same time we have to support the right to privacy and accurate information," Riady, whose family owns the Jakarta Globe, told the discussion. "We need to have a bill on the right to information and encourage responsible journalism."

The book launch was held for the local release of "Uninhibited, Robust and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century," by Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia University in New York City. The discussion was organized by Pelita Harapan University and Times Bookstores.

The Pantau Foundation, a media watchdog, and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), co-sponsored the event, along with the Jakarta Globe.

In his book, Bollinger, an expert on the US first amendment, argues that globalization has intensified the need for a free press to accurately report on an increasingly integrated world.

But Indonesian journalists, the discussion panel argued, were still hampered by threats to freedom of expression.

Ezki Suyanto, a member of AJI, said an array of government regulations, such as the Information and Electronic Transaction Law (ITE), the Antipornography Law and the Public Information Law, stifled free speech. She cited the example of Prita Mulyasari, who was briefly jailed and tried for libel after complaining in an e-mail about the service at a Tangerang hospital.

Andreas Harsono, a Jakarta-based journalist and human rights activist, agreed, saying journalists were increasingly threatened with criminal charges in order to silence them.

He insisted that freedom of the press meant that journalists should be free from any kind of intervention or interference, including from media owners.

An independent press, Andreas said, was important to the development of a free and democratic society. "The better the quality of journalism, the better the quality of our societies," he said.

Also speaking at the event were Endy Bayuni, the chief editor of the Jakarta Post, and A. Lin Neumann, the chief editorial advisor of the Jakarta Globe.