Jakarta – To commemorate its 40th anniversary, The Jakarta Post is holding an exhibition called "Portraits of a Nation: Indonesia's Journey of Change and Resilience", which recounts key stories from the country's recent past through photographs taken by the newspaper's photojournalists.
As part of the exhibition, the first of two events in the "Media Matters" discussion series was held on Tuesday. The series invites notable speakers to discuss Indonesia's ever-changing media landscape by exploring the growth of new media platforms and the challenges the industry faces.
The first session, titled "Media Sustainability: The Evolving Media Landscape in Indonesia", featured Paulus Tri Agung Kristanto, deputy chief editor of Kompas and member of the Press Council; Usman Kansong, director-general for press at the Communications and Information Ministry; and Wahyu Dhyatmika, CEO of Tempo Digital as speakers, with Taufiq Rahman, editor-in-chief of The Jakarta Post, serving as moderator.
Paulus said the media needed a new approach that could adapt to social media developments, noting that many media companies had been "destroyed" by their failure to adapt. The media would survive, he continued, if it had strong creativity and efficiency.
The discussions continued in the second session, titled "Fake News and Disinformation: How to Battle these Threats to Democracy Ahead of the 2024 Election", which brought together Maria Ressa, Rappler CEO and Nobel Prize laureate; Septiaji Eko Nugroho, chair of MAFINDO; and Damar Juniarto of SAFEnet as speakers, accompanied by Facebook Oversight Board member and former editor-in-chief of the Post, Endy Bayuni, as moderator.
Ressa discussed fake news and disinformation, informed by recent experiences in the Philippines with Rappler. Providing an example of fake news' proliferation, she highlighted the 2016 bombing in Davao city, after which strange news sites abounded containing fraudulent information and fabricated quotes attributed to then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
"So what did we do? We cannot look at content as content alone. We have to look at the patterns, the data. So we took all of the data," she added, noting that their social media team scoured platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook to determine which accounts were real and responsive and which accounts were fake and trying to manipulate public opinion.
Warief from Lembaga Pers Dr. Soetomo, who attended both sessions, told the Post on the sidelines that he regarded The Jakarta Post as influential in forming public opinion as its news was read by policymakers as a reference for information.
"The evidence is that two journalists from The Jakarta Post have been appointed ambassadors, namely Sabam Siagian, as ambassador to Australia in 1990, and Susanto Pudjomartono, who was ambassador to Russia during the Megawati era. That is a benchmark for The Jakarta Post to be trusted by the government," he added, adding that The Jakarta Post "absolutely invited" the right speakers for current and ongoing issues.
The Post will be holding 40th anniversary events until Aug. 19, so please join us for discussions of the country's most pressing issues with some of its most incisive minds. Register your attendance at https://lnkd.in/gtFJyUmA.
The events and speakers for the upcoming events can be assessed through this link: https://lnkd.in/gke2A3mw.