Journalist Competence in Applying the Presumption of Innocence Principle on Press Release

Abstract

A journalist competence as intended in the Press Council Regulation is interpreted as knowledge capability without affirmation for journalists who have knowledge of certain scientific disciplines. The meaning is all journalists from any discipline may be recognized as journalists who have the competence to apply the presumption of innocence in reporting. This arrangement in journalistic practice, the press often appears' 'judgmental' in the news because the use of the terms is often interpreted the same, even though the law holds very different meanings, such as the suspect is written as the perpetrator, released is written as free, not accepted is written as rejected, sentenced to trial is written as the judge free it. To prevent the violation of the presumption of innocence principle in reporting, the regulation of journalists' competencies must be emphasized from intellectual abilities and general knowledge to legal knowledge. The affirmation is directly correlated with the news object which is in the realm of law as a function of the press that is obliged to respect the presumption of innocence principle.