I am very curious about how journalists work these days. From my own personal experience when a journalist starts writing a story it seems like they already have a story in their mind that they want to tell. I presume that this comes from their editor, or they come up with the idea and they get the story approved by their editor. I think most people believe that journalists or reporters, report on news that they have heard/seen or experienced. Maybe this happens with day to day reporting, but other "news" that is being reported on seems to have more an agenda.
We can see this when journalists ask for people to interview on Facebook, like this one the other day:
[ATTACH type="full" alt="3372"]3372[/ATTACH]
It seems like the Australian media is trying to write a story that Indonesia is kicking out Aussies. From my understanding of the visa situation is that immigration has been fairly helpful and generous letting foreigners stay in the country, even when foreigners could have left a long time ago when they had the opportunity. Anyone who stayed after the borders closed pretty much made a conscious decision that they wanted to stay in the country.
This is a recent story from the ABC which possibly came from the FB post:
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/australians-in-bali-ordered-to-leave-or-face-visa-fines/12564356?fbclid=IwAR3IskJqxi8FHrya3hAiaCLDXFrmbGJYIF1LP4NOpNnER9wq_YdRpfOcE7s
And this:
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/australians-in-bali-ordered-to-leave-or-face-visa-fines/12564356?fbclid=IwAR3IskJqxi8FHrya3hAiaCLDXFrmbGJYIF1LP4NOpNnER9wq_YdRpfOcE7s
The Indonesian correspondent for the ABC is not even living in Indonesia:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/about/backstory/2020-04-16/anne-barker-leaving-abc-indonesia-bureau-due-to-coronavirus/12145562 which of course I have no problem if the journalist decides that the situation was too "dangerous" to stay.
Would Jakarta erupt into looting, or riots, a complete breakdown of civil order?
That presented a whole new — and dangerous — scenario.
Anyone still in Bali during the pandemic was given free emergency visas and have just now given people the option to change these to paid visas.
She reports:
They were also given another option — to apply for a 'social' visa that initially allows them to stay for up to six months.
But that visa comes with a catch. Switching to a social visa requires a local sponsor and bureaucratic paperwork.
And those who don't comply — or whose visa applications are rejected — will be fined 1 million rupiah ($94) from Thursday for every day they overstay their visa.
The sudden change in rules has thrown many into a panic, and forced some of them to hire freelance immigration agents to help them navigate the system.
It seems like there was some confusion and the information was not always clear, but by most accounts, the government has been fair in handling the situation. Many expats who abuse the visa situation have been caught out, but this can only be a good thing:
https://indonesiaexpat.biz/featured/foreigner-deported-for-running-illegal-spiritual-practice-online-in-bali/
I was interviewed by another journalist for a similar story about the situation in Bali and when I said it was basically "business as usual" in the area I lived, they seemed disappointed. I can only expect they were looking to write something about Bali being in a chaotic situation.
