"I think the condition in our country is better than others; for example Singapore and Malaysia do not have any freedom of press, while in Myanmar and Timor Leste the media is limited," Yosep Stanley Adi Prasetyo, Press Council chairman, said on World Press Freedom Day 2017 here, Tuesday.
Although the latest reports released by Freedom House and Committee to Protect Journalists stated that Indonesian press was still "half-free," Stanley insisted the country had freedom of press, as could be seen from the growth of the media business.
"We have 47 thousand media which are growing freely because people can easily develop that business," he noted.
Among the media in Indonesia, 2,000 are print, 1,500 are radio and television stations, while 43,000 are online.
Regarding the ease of developing a media company, Stanley expressed concern over how every company had to implement competency testing and media verification to maintain the honor of journalism.
The press freedom, which is guaranteed in the system of democracy, must also be run with full responsibility, Stanley stressed. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
