Many Journalists Fear Reporting Restrictions During Prabowo's Era

According to a TIFA Foundation survey, Indonesian journalists perceive various threats they face over the next five years, or during President Prabowo Subianto's administration.

"The survey results show that the majority of journalists feel anxious about the future of press freedom, especially amid the new government transition," said the TIFA Foundation in its report, *Journalist Safety Index 2024: Threats and Risks to Journalist Safety during the Transition Period*.

"The forms of violence expected to increase in the next five years are coverage bans (56%) and news bans (51%)," they stated.

Some journalists also expressed concerns about terror and intimidation, digital attacks, the removal of coverage results, and other issues, as shown in the graph.

This survey also found that 79% of journalist respondents felt threatened or pressured during the new government transition.

"Although the conditions during the transition are quite threatening, the majority of respondents (82%) stated that the media outlets they work for are sufficiently independent," they said.

TIFA Foundation conducted this survey in collaboration with Populix, involving 760 active journalist respondents.

The majority of respondents were field journalists (68%), followed by editors/sub-editors (17%), editors-in-chief (10%), and managing editors (6%).

Respondents were spread across Java (48%), Sumatra (19%), Kalimantan (9%), Bali-Nusa Tenggara (6%), Papua (5%), and Maluku-Maluku Utara (5%).

Data collection was conducted from October 30 to December 6, 2024, using two methods: quantitative and qualitative.

In addition to the survey, they also collected secondary data on violence against journalists compiled by the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) over the past five years, as well as in-depth interviews with several media stakeholders.