Indonesia’s journalism is facing a downturn after a notable improvement in the early post Reform. After the Reform, Indonesian Government tried to improve the journalism quality, including but not limited to ensuring the press independence and freedom through Press Law (Law No. 40/1999), though the press faces significant challenges. For instance, the Reporters Without Border finds Indonesia’s press freedom index is weakening in the last five years: from 63.23 in 2019 to 51.15 in 2024. Furthermore, a similar finding comes from Indonesia Press Council; 2023 press freedom index is declining 6.30 points from 2022.
Furthermore, while economic conditions are one of the variables to measure journalism quality, Indonesia’s newsrooms are facing financial challenges. The recent report from Indonesia Press Council shows that among three measured environments–Politic, Economy, and Law—the environment of the economy experiences the deepest downfall (6.74 points). In response, Indonesia Press Council argues that the environment of economy and press independence is a two-sided coin; a quality decline on one side will significantly affect the other side. Furthermore, the press economy turmoil also can be seen in the trend of press employment. Throughout 2023, there were approximately 800 journalists being laid-off.
These current circumstances potentially lead Indonesia to implications such as Indonesia’s democracy and/or people’s trust towards the press. Despite its status as one of democracy’s pillars, the position and sustainability of the media are at stake. The voice of accountability, especially within the spectrum of democracy, highlights the vital role of media as it enables free dissemination of information and ensures equal access to all citizens. Furthermore, as the current wave of digitization leads society into a post-truth era, many communities regard newsrooms as ‘watchdogs,’ ‘fact-checkers,’ and ‘critics.’ Hence, improving Indonesia’s democracy and its Voice of Accountability also means enhancing the quality of media.
Furthermore, the press is vulnerable, making Indonesia’s democracy also at stake. The 1998’s Reform had contributed to improving Indonesia’s democracy as this political shift was also being followed by improving governance and ensuring press freedom. However, reports from international NGOs and institutions, such as Freedom House and V-Dem Institute, found that after two-and-half decades, Indonesia’s democracy is experiencing a downturn and one of the contributing factors is press freedom. V-Dem Institute even underlined that Indonesia is in the top 50% of countries that experiences a significant authoritarian shift. Meanwhile, the Freedom House found that Indonesia’s democracy score is declining from 62 in 2019 to 57 in 2024. This current condition of Indonesia’s democracy becomes a stronger reason for improving press quality as it plays a pivotal role in democracy.
Indonesia’s Democracy Index Scores (2013—2023)
Nevertheless, this wave also increases the vulnerability of journalists. Wisnu Prasetyo Utomo finds that journalists face several dilemmas amidst the digitalization wave, making them vulnerable. First, the lack of social protection coverage. Utomo finds that many journalists are not covered by public health insurance (BPJS Kesehatan) or employee social insurance (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan). Furthermore, the Jakarta office of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI Jakarta) reports that some journalists are still earning IDR 2 million monthly salary, while a decent wage is IDR 8.2 million. Second, besides being underpaid and lacking social protection, Utomo also finds that journalists often face heavy workloads. As revenue decreases while the target for increasing high traffic persists, journalism in Indonesia tends to focus on quantity. For instance, a recent lawsuit against a media outlet in Yogyakarta reveals that their team, consisting of eight writers and four assistant editors, is expected to produce 200 news articles per day.
