Indonesia’s news industry is already struggling to stay afloat in the digital landscape where news outlets no longer control the flow of information the way they had in the analogue world of a not-to-distant past. Now, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing not only the way people access news, but also how it is produced. The industry is about to go through even more profound change and is facing an existential threat like never before.
While we argue that journalism is indispensable to the functioning of an open and democratic society, we have yet to figure out how the media can get out of its current predicament of gradually losing relevance in the information ecosystem.
One thing we know, however, is that quality journalism can be the main saviour. Getting there is a real challenge, but it is not insurmountable. Journalists must embrace the changes in information technology and adapt their work accordingly.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided a valuable lesson for media outlets in Indonesia and most countries around the world. Many news outlets reported a sudden uptick in the number of people clicking and viewing news about the virus from sources they could trust. Flooded with misinformation and disinformation, some of which came from the government, the public turned to news outlets, mostly established but also some startups, that practice journalism.
News outlets may never regain the glory days of the past now that they operate in the digital landscape, but they can still carve an important niche in the ecosystem. Focusing on quality, they can stay above the fray of the information that is flooding that landscape.
Quality has become the keyword of journalism’s survival.
Even the Indonesian government embraced the term in a 2023 presidential executive order titled the ‘Responsibility of the Digital Platforms to Support Quality Journalism’, which requires social media and search engine companies to pay for news content carried on their platforms. However, protracted negotiations with the tech giants means Indonesian publishers have made little progress in securing the funds.
Quality journalism means staying true to the values of the profession and strictly adhering to its disciplines, from verification, fairness, covering both sides, observing ethics, and carrying a sense of public service. We should add ‘critical’ and ‘independent’ as indispensable characteristics, and all this is only possible if news outlets have the freedom to operate.
The regulatory framework for journalists is the least of their worries, for now. The government, which in the past had been a barrier to press freedom, is more concerned with stopping the spread of bad and harmful content on social media and its impact on society.
Now the government plans to come up with a regulation on the use of AI, but with the technology still evolving and the full impact on society not fully known, any regulation will be provisional.
AI technology was used in campaigns during the 2024 general elections, but they were mostly harmless and did not undermine election integrity. There were videos of former strongman Suharto, who died in 2008, endorsing a political party; and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto appearing to give a speech in flawless Arabic. But we know that AI can be used maliciously.
The Indonesian Press Council has issued guidelines for news outlets on using AI technology for text and audio-visual works, including labeling content that is fully or partly AI-generated, respecting copyright and people’s privacy and securing consent from people who appear in AI-manipulated content. They also require journalists to observe the profession’s code of ethics and demand publishers take full responsibility for journalistic works that use AI.
All of this supports the notion of quality journalism but is easier said than done.
News outlets that could not survive in the digital landscape in the absence of a viable business model have closed shop or scaled back operations. Thousands of journalists have been laid off in the past decade. Many more could lose their jobs with AI technology entering newsrooms as they may not need as many staff, or require journalists with entirely different skill sets.
Given the financial straitjackets, most newsrooms are not investing in training, or retraining journalists, and low salaries mean the profession is not attracting young talent.
With reduced capacity, most newsrooms are not equipped to handle the changes. This was the case even before the arrival of AI technology.
It is not all bad news in the news industry however. Some online news startups have emerged to take up the challenge. Without the print and broadcasting baggage, they have fully exploited the advantages digital technology offers, and no doubt will tackle AI technology.
The IDN Times, which targets millennials, and Kumparan are among two success stories among new commercial enterprises. There are also non-profit public service news outlets, such as the Project Multatuli, Magadelene.co and the Conversation Indonesia that are trying to defy the trend. Some of the established media are also reinventing themselves.
They give a ray of hope that journalism will survive the changes in information technology to continue providing services required for the functioning of an open and democratic society.
This article is part of a special series on media freedom in Southeast Asia to mark this year’s Southeast Asia Oration by Nobel Peace Prize winning journalist Maria Ressa, hosted by Asialink and Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, on Thursday August 28, 2025. The special series is a joint initiative of Insights and Melbourne Asia Review.
Endy Bayuni is a veteran Indonesian journalist and former editor-in-chief of The Jakarta Post, and serves as a member of the Oversight Board of Meta.
Image: Journalists in Blitar, East Java, Indonesia, June, 2025. Credit: Mang Kelin/Shutterstock.
