VOA —
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia stated that press freedom in the country throughout 2023 will be in a crisis condition. Secretary General of AJI Indonesia, Ika Ningtyas, believes that the press freedom crisis can be seen from the concentration of media ownership which is quite strong and directly connected to certain political parties and business oligarchs. This poses a serious challenge to the independence of the newsroom.
“This is a challenge (because) there is intervention in production efforts, there is no independence,” said Ika at the online launch of the 2023 press freedom situation report, Wednesday (31/1).
The press freedom crisis in Indonesia, he added, is also influenced by the click-bites-based mass media business model, which is still quite dominant, especially online media. This can have an impact on low quality journalism products.
Journalists protest against the imprisonment of Reuters journalists Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo by Myanmar authorities, outside the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta, September 7 2018. (Photo: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside)
“This can encourage media that produce low-quality journalism, which actually amplifies propaganda, disinformation and hate narratives amidst quite massive manipulation of information on social media,” said Ika.
According to AJI Indonesia, the press freedom crisis can also be seen from the high wave of layoffs (PHK) of journalists during 2023. At least nearly 1,000 journalists and media workers have become victims of layoffs carried out by media companies.
“This means journalists are still in a low welfare situation while their future is increasingly uncertain,” said Ika.
AJI Indonesia has recorded the welfare situation of 428 journalists from all regions in Indonesia who work on various platforms. The result was that 32.8 percent of journalists worked without a work agreement, most of whom had contract status. Then, there are also journalists who are paid based on the units of news produced. Some media companies even pay journalists from IDR 15 thousand to IDR 30 thousand per story.
Journalists wear masks while taking part in the Labor Day parade at the National Museum (Monas), Jakarta, May 1 2019. (Photo: Reuters)
Cases of Violence Against Journalists
The crisis regarding press freedom in Indonesia is also influenced by the high number of cases of violence against journalists throughout 2023. AJI Indonesia recorded 89 cases of violence. A total of 83 journalists, 5 journalist groups and 15 media were victims. The number of cases of violence increased compared to 2022 with 61 cases and 41 cases in 2021.
The 89 cases of violence against journalists, the highest in the form of terror and intimidation with 26 cases, 18 cases of physical violence, 14 cases of digital attacks, 10 cases of banning coverage, seven cases of deletion of coverage results, five cases of destruction or confiscation of work equipment, five cases of sexual violence, and criminalization and civil lawsuits in four cases.
AJI Indonesia detailed that the perpetrators of violence were dominated by 36 state actors consisting of 17 police, 13 government officials, five TNI and 1 prosecutor. Then, there were 29 perpetrators of non-state violence, consisting of 13 citizens, seven companies, four mass organizations, four professional workers and one political party. However, there were 24 perpetrators of violence against journalists who could not be identified, mainly in cases of digital attacks.
Of the 89 cases that occurred in 2023, 20 of them have been reported to the police. However, most of the reported cases have not been followed up.
Not only that, AJI Indonesia also recorded a number of cases of attacks on sources last year, namely four cases with five people becoming victims. One of the attacks on sources was experienced by former Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Agus Rahardjo.
“We still note that violence or repression against journalists, media and sources is still higher than in 2022,” explained Ika.
The situation of press freedom is not good
Chairman of the Media Regulatory and Regulatory Monitor (PR2Media), Masduki, said the report issued by AJI Indonesia described the situation of press freedom in the country as not being good.
“When our press freedom conditions experience extraordinary repression. “Press freedom is actually parallel to our political condition which is currently experiencing what is often called regression or setback,” he said.
Surabaya journalists took action to reject the violence carried out by the police against Tempo journalists in Surabaya while reporting (Photo:VOA/Petrus Riski).
Reflecting on the crisis situation for press freedom in Indonesia, one of the issues is the question of living wages for journalists. According to Masduki, the government's role is needed in creating a quality journalism ecosystem.
“Providing endowment funds for media with good journalism. Later it will be managed by independent figures through their institutions. Then, provide and manage endowment funds from companies or the state for quality journalism. Because this is all that is needed now and in the future. “We just need an ecosystem to support it all,” he explained.
Meanwhile, a senior lecturer from Monash University Indonesia, Ika Idris, said that the majority of mass media in Indonesia rely on advertising business models from digital platforms. This business model is often part of the propaganda ecosystem that has contributed to the press freedom crisis in Indonesia.
Due to this, press organizations in Indonesia are asked to advocate for differences in incentives generated by mass media that rely on advertising from digital platforms related to journalistic products or verified content.
“Press organizations should advocate to Google that there should be a difference in incentives between verified and unverified news or content,” he said. (aa/em)