Covering cops: Critical reporting of Indonesian police corruption

Abstract

The following article analyses contemporary newspaper representations of police corruption in Indonesia’s premier English-language newspaper, The Jakarta Post. The article draws on primary data obtained from 114 articles published online between January and December 2013. The subsequent quantitative analysis found that The Jakarta Post reported on various forms of police corruption in both specific and general contexts with a majority of reports focusing on the investigation of corruption allegations where at least three people were involved. Information about suspects was also provided. Qualitative analysis indicated the following themes were frequently discussed: the extent of police corruption; causes of police corruption; fighting police corruption; the belief that police cannot be trusted to investigate internal police corruption; and that police corruption interferes with external investigations. Despite many obstacles involved in reporting police corruption, the authors argue that overall The Jakarta Post takes a critical view in its reporting of police corruption.