Old Tricks in a New Era: Self-Censorship in Indonesian Journalism

Even though Indonesia has entered a new era of democracy and press freedom, self-censorship still exists in the professional practice of many Indonesian newspaper journalists. Indonesia has a long history of censorship, particularly pressure from the government encouraging journalists to self-censor their work. As such, self-censorship has been encouraged and promoted through the institutionalised and internalised values of many Indonesian newspaper publications. Through interviews with journalists who work for new and re-established newspapers in Indonesia, this article will explain how the practice has evolved, and how it persists today. While the main agent of pressure during Indonesia's New Order regime was the government, today the owners of newspapers are powerful figures who exert their influence and hinder the autonomy of Indonesian journalists.