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n Monday, Feb. 9 media workers from across Indonesia and overseas will descend on Batam, the industrial-zone island an hour'€™s ferry trip south of Singapore, to commemorate National Press Day, a day to reflect on the progress and failings of the national press during the previous year.

A media convention will precede the commemoration on Feb. 7. Coordinating Economic Minister, Sofyan Djalil will open the event with a keynote speech on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) set to open at the end of the year. ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh will also speak at the event.

Several panels will follow, one of which will examine the maritime economy and President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s maritime-highway concept, which he promoted to the world before CEOs at the APEC summit in Beijing last November.

The highly visible Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pujiastuti will be a core speaker here.

Two panels will directly relate to media matters '€” one on competitive and accountable media, the other on media ideology and independence. This latter panel, tentative, holds a mirror to the media on how it reported Indonesia'€™s general election in April and presidential race in July 2014.

Metro TV news director Suryopratomo and his TV One counterpart Karni Ilyas have been invited to speak.

These two 24-hour news channels supported rival presidential hopefuls, with TV One having given favorable coverage to Prabowo Subianto while Metro TV allocated more airtime for Jokowi. The presence of the news bosses will be a show of accountability for their coverage of the hotly contested 2014 elections.

Media observers and sections of the media itself have staunchly criticized bias in reporting of the elections by numerous outlets, particularly broadcast media.

Partisan media have become a part of the political dynamics to seize power. Partisan media emerged because a group of people or political parties felt the need for media support to achieve their aims, writes media researcher Ignatius Haryanto in a January 2015 paper.

Metro TV is owned by Surya Paloh, founder and chairman of the NasDem Party, which teamed with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to endorse Jokowi. Meanwhile TV One is owned by Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of the Golkar Party, which joined a coalition with the Gerindra Party, founded by Prabowo.

Prabowo also received support from Harry Tanoesoedibjo, owner of RCTI, Global TV and the MNC media group.

As an ethical tenet that applies to all Indonesian journalists, Article 1 of the 2006 Journalism Code of Ethics emphatically states: '€œThe Indonesian journalist is independent and produces news stories that are accurate, balanced and without malice.'€ It interprets '€œindependent'€ as '€œreporting events or facts in line with one'€™s conscience without interference, coercion or intervention from other parties including the owners of the press enterprise'€.

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the Indonesian Press Council in a joint statement June 2, 2014, deplored the partisan reporting of the broadcast stations, citing their non-compliance with the Journalism Code of Ethics (KEJ) and Broadcast Guide (P3 & SPS).

The two legally sanctioned media watchdogs monitored newscasts of TV stations during the week of May 19-25, 2014, in the run up to the July 9 presidential poll. They found '€œdeviation of the principle of independence and the tendency to use newscasts for the interest of certain groups'€.

The monitoring found that TV One, RCTI and Global TV allotted more airtime to Prabowo than Jokowi. Meanwhile Metro TV gave Jokowi more airtime than Prabowo.

The Press Council and KPI unequivocally stated that '€œusing news coverage for the interest of a particular group violated the principle of independence, violated the Journalism Code of Ethics and the Standard of Protection of the Journalistic Profession that has been ratified by all owners of media groups'€.

The Broadcast Guide and Standard, as regulated in the 2002 Broadcast Law, was also violated, the statement exclaimed.

The joint statement, however, lacked bite. It should have been more forceful by citing specific violations to underscore the kinds of news coverage media outlets should never practice.

Uncalled-for practices are unsubstantiated negative reporting and libelous smear campaigning in the guise of a news report.

The statement could also have threatened reproof on violators. KPI could seek to revoke the frequency permit of an errant TV station.

In the case of non-observing journalists, the Press Council could disbar individuals who had passed Press Council-approved competency tests.

Their names would be removed from the roll call of competence-certified journalists the Council maintains on its website.

On Jan. 15, the Press Council hosted an encounter of journalists, academics and Press Council members. After discussion, participants of the meeting drew up a declaration, calling on media owners to respect the principle of press freedom where the covering of an event is conducted without intervention, in line with Article 1 of the Journalism Code of Ethics.

It is adherence to this article on independence that the media convention in Batam should underscore.