Evi Mariani – Every World Press Freedom Day, journalists in Indonesia hold celebrations and reflect n their profession. But recent political and economic developments in the country have made this year's commemoration the most anxiety-inducing one for a long time.
The global theme for this year's World Press Freedom Day is "Reporting in the Brave New World – The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Press Freedom and the Media". The theme is apt. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is disrupting virtually everything, including journalism.
But the more immediate problems for the Indonesian press community are traditional ones: heightened safety threats from the rising military and the police, and the declining financial resources supporting the media industry.
Unprecedented: Police and military unchecked
Never before in Indonesia's modern history have the Indonesian people had to face the unchecked power of the military and the police at the same time.
The military, in particular, the army, rose to power under Soeharto's regime, which took power in 1966. Although the police were then one of four components of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI), along with the army, the navy, and the air force, they did not have real power. The army was the elite and the police were at the bottom of the rung, considered the underdog of ABRI.
Reformasi (reformation) ushered in a breakthrough, with the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) deciding in 2002 to pull the police out of ABRI and make them a separate entity: Polri. The three other forces then became the TNI (the Indonesian military).
In the same year, Indonesia passed a new police law stating that the police were to become an institution with a democratic spirit that respected human rights. That did not happen. Instead, the police were wracked by so many corruption scandals and human rights violation allegations that some simply label them "brutal".
Meanwhile, under Reformasi, the TNI seemed tamed, and certainly became less notorious. Although one can argue the TNI never really "returned to the barracks", its reduced budget and political power (to its chagrin of course) meant it took a back seat. In 2016, 2022 and 2023, it was even voted "the most trustworthy" national institution in a popularity survey done by pollsters CSIS, Indikator and the Saiful Mujani Research Center.
It seems that Indonesian civil society, especially those who did not grow up under the New Order, developed a very different view of the TNI in recent years. For me, it is unthinkable that Prabowo Subianto, the poster boy of the New Order and an elite soldier with human rights violation allegations on his record, could genuinely become a cuddly grandpa who pats cats and does funny dances. But, for many, his new image has apparently earned him the nation's forgiveness – thus his rise to the presidency with as much as 58.6 percent of votes.
Soon after he came to power Prabowo led the passing of a new TNI law that pushed the military into the political limelight and enabled it to play a greater role in civilian affairs. But this does not mean the police are now taking a back seat. They are now also likely to expand their legal and institutional powers as a security force.
Impact on press freedom
The rapid rise of the military, at a time when the police power is still largely unchecked, will weaken democracy and in turn, press freedom, which Indonesian civil society only won after the fall of Soeharto. The 1999 Press Law, which is still the most dependable legal protection for journalists, is a product of Reformasi.
Yet, even though that Law is still in place, Indonesia's rank in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) index of press freedom took a dip this year, from 111 to 127, ranking lower than Singapore at 123. Throughout the history of the RSF index (which began in 2002), Indonesia has only ranked lower than Singapore twice: in 2012 and this year.
Since the index reflects what happened and what respondents felt throughout 2024, I predict the score for next year index will likely be lower still, given incidents such as the psychological terrorism meted out against Tempo journalists in March this year, when they received a package containing a severed pig's head and, later, six dead rats, all sent by persons unknown.
Incidents like this mean that since the rise of Prabowo Subianto to the presidency, many journalists have become far more anxious about their safety. Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) publishes statistics of threats and attacks against the press on its website. Its data shows that since 2021, there has been an increase of physical attacks by 'unknown people' that reflects a similar rise in digital attacks, also by persons unknown.
According to AJI, in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 202, the police were the number one perpetrator of attacks on the press. They were only overtaken by "unknown people" in 2022 and 2023. Then, in 2024, the police again took first place, with the #PeringatanDarurat (Emergency Warning) protests across the country triggering physical assaults by police on journalists covering the protests. What is really alarming, however, is that the TNI, which never previously made the top three perpetrators list, sat at the third place for the first time in 2024, with 11 incidents out of 73. Having to face both police and the army at the same time is a frightening prospect for even the bravest of journalists.
A crumbling business model
The increasing challenges faced by journalists are worsened by economic decline and the crumbling of the media industry business model. This year has already seen a bout of layoffs among journalists: 150 from Kompas TV, 200 from CNN Indonesia, 75 from TV One, and 100 from Emtek (SCTV and Indosiar are part of this group). Word is spreading that Viva.co.id will shut down its office in East Jakarta in June.
Every one of the past five few years since the Covid-19 pandemic began have proven difficult for journalists who want to remain journalists. But this year seems the hardest yet.
Those journalists who remain still face older challenges like low salaries and competing for audience with content creators, but a new and more sophisticated challenge is arising. AI poses more questions than answers about whether it will help or harm journalists.
Hope for help?
Fortunately, many people who value democracy and justice, like scholars and civil society organisations, still believe journalism and the press freedom are important.
With many of them working on solutions to the huge problems facing journalism, there is still hope that help is on its way. Some journalists and publishers now realise that we need to find a new operational model that relies more on the civil society and public support rather than on corporations and the political status quo.
This year's economic and political situation is the most intimidating one journalists have had to face for many years. But it should also serve as momentum to find new ways of doing journalism and remind us that the press freedom is not guaranteed. It is something that we have to fight for.