Tri Indah Oktavianti, Jakarta – Jakarta will host the annual National Press Day celebration on Feb. 9 next year, Governor Anies Baswedan announced on Wednesday.
The decision came shortly after the governor conducted a meeting with the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) and showed a positive attitude toward the matter.
"Hopefully, the pandemic will decline by Feb. 9 of next year, so that the celebratory events will be festive. Because of the pandemic, Jakarta has canceled many big festivals and events," Anies said.
Anies also suggested Ancol in North Jakarta as the main venue for the event next year.
"Ancol meets all the requirements to be a venue for big events under proper health protocols. It also exhibits Jakarta as a special coastal city," he added.
According to the head committee of the 2021 National Press Day celebration Auri Jaya, the committees for the event have planned two alternative scenarios – online and offline celebrations – for this specific annual event.
"We will soon conduct the next meeting to further coordinate the matter with the Jakarta administration in preparing next year's event," Auri said.
Among the participants of the meeting with the governor were the head of the central PWI Atal Sembiring Depari, the secretary general of the organization Mirza Zuhaldi and the Jakarta PWI committees.
During the last National Press Day event in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, The Jakarta Post received two awards at the 2020 Indonesia Print Media Awards (IPMA) from the Union of Print Media Companies (SPS), including the gold award for the Best of Investigation Reporting for its Oct. 29, 2019 edition titled "Wamena investigation: What the government is not telling us".