Religious Moderation, Journalism Ethics Similar

PPIM.UINJKT.AC.ID – Kyodo News journalist, Ed Sepsha, said that religious moderation had basic principles of fairness and balance, and that was not different with the ethical codes of journalism: independent, accurate and balanced.

She was speaking on Friday (7/8) in a virtual seminar series of #ModerasiBeragama (Religious Moderation) themed “Religious Moderation in Media”, which was organized by the Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta through Convey Indonesia program.

The contributor to the Japanese News Agency shared her experiences when reporting religious issues, particularly when she covered the Surabaya bombing in 2018. While most of the foreign news agencies related the attack with terrorism, Sepsha preferred to write something different. She said that her responsibility as a reporter had triggered her to do research and interview several credible sources first.

“In reporting religious conflicts, what we should keep in mind is that the biggest threat is not the religion itself, but the perpetrators,” said Sepsha, who is also an alumni from UIN Jakarta.

She also noticed that news about religions were still dominated by ceremonial activities and certain events. She, then, suggested that journalists should also raise the religious issues from humanitarian sides, so that they could give positive images about the religions to the public.

She called on all journalists to promote peace instead of only writing about the violence and affiliating it with religions.

“Build the bridge not the wall, promote peace not violence,” Sepsha said.

The virtual seminar on Religious Moderation is held every Friday via “Convey Indonesia” official Youtube channel. The discussion, moderated by Convey Indonesia Team Leader Jamhari Makruf, also presented other speakers, such as Makroen Sanjaya (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of RTV), Savic Ali (Director of NU Online and Islami.co), and Muhammad Hanifuddin (Editor-in-Chief of Buletin Jumat Muslim Muda Indonesia).

Writer: Meitha Dzuharia
Editor: M. Nida Fadlan