Across the world, wars, humanitarian disasters, and geopolitical rivalries continue to unfold, shaping an international environment whose consequences increasingly spill beyond national borders.
The Russia-Ukraine war grinds on without a clear end, while Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has caused devastating civilian casualties, deepening a humanitarian crisis that persists despite diplomatic initiatives such as the US-backed Board of Peace.
These conflicts unfold alongside widening global inequality, as disparities in wealth, technological capacity, and political influence among nations sharpen, fueling instability and resentment across regions.
Indonesia, meanwhile, faces a complex set of internal challenges that test governance, social cohesion, and national resilience under the Prabowo-Gibran leadership.
Efforts to eradicate corruption remain elusive. Law enforcement is still widely perceived as uneven - often harsh toward the powerless while lenient toward elites - undermining public confidence in the justice system.
Poverty continues to take quiet victims. The suicide of a child in East Nusa Tenggara, reportedly driven by economic hardship, shocked the nation and exposed the human toll behind abstract development indicators.
Natural disasters have further compounded national hardship. In late November 2025, flash floods and landslides struck parts of Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, killing residents and destroying homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
The scale of devastation across those three provinces remains vivid in public memory, reinforcing how geography and climate vulnerability continue to pose enduring national challenges.
Collective endurance
Entering January 2026, collective endurance was tested once again, as new tragedies followed a year already marked by suffering.
A plane crash in South Sulawesi claimed lives, followed by a deadly landslide in West Bandung Regency, underscoring persistent weaknesses in disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience.
Against this unsettled backdrop, Indonesia marks National Press Day, an annual observance honoring journalism’s contribution to the republic and its democratic foundations.
The media industry itself is undergoing profound transformation, entering an era shaped by artificial intelligence that offers both opportunity and existential risk.
On one side, AI tools enhance newsroom efficiency, assisting with data analysis, transcription, and organization, allowing journalists to focus on deeper, more substantive reporting.
On the other, the same technology absorbs high-quality journalistic content - often produced through costly investigative work - without compensation, threatening already fragile media business models.
This technological disruption intersects with broader global pressures, including geopolitical fragmentation, regional conflict, climate crisis, and economic uncertainty, creating layered strain on national institutions.
Under such conditions, the professional commitment of Indonesia’s press to the nation’s collective progress toward developed-country status becomes not merely desirable, but essential.
These pressures demand national resilience that is not only strong, but also intelligent, adaptive, and grounded in credible information.
Within this turbulence, the role of Indonesia’s professional press is tested once more - not simply as a conveyor of news, but as a public institution that helps safeguard the nation’s direction.
President Prabowo Subianto’s government, now in its second year, faces cross-sector challenges requiring careful navigation across politics, security, and economic development.
Political stability and public safety must be maintained, economic growth accelerated, and food and energy sovereignty strengthened, while managing intensifying rivalry among global powers.
These tasks unfold in an increasingly competitive international environment, where small missteps can ripple through markets, erode public trust, and weaken Indonesia’s global standing.
Not state alone
Challenges of this scale cannot be addressed by the state alone, highlighting why the press, as democracy’s fourth pillar, carries strategic responsibility often taken for granted.
Supporting government does not mean surrendering independence. In mature press traditions, alignment with the state is rooted in loyalty to the public interest, not political expediency.
A professional press assists government in the most fundamental way: by delivering accurate facts, clear context, and spaces for rational, civil public debate.
This role becomes critical amid floods of disinformation, hoaxes, and cross-border propaganda, especially when bureaucratic reporting still risks prioritizing comfort over candor.
Indonesia’s mainstream media serve as anchors of truth, helping ensure public policy rests on reality rather than narratives polished to satisfy superiors.
When global geopolitical developments - from Indo-Pacific tensions to supply chain disruptions - reverberate domestically, citizens need explanation, not sensationalism or exaggerated fear.
At this juncture, quality journalism becomes a tangible contribution to national resilience: calming without numbing, critical without incitement, firm without losing empathy.
The press also functions as a translator of policy. President Prabowo’s strategic agendas - defense modernization, industrial downstreaming, food transformation, and human capital development - are complex and highly technocratic.
Without in-depth coverage in accessible language, such policies risk misunderstanding, allowing even sound programs to falter due to poor communication.
Journalism: "why" and "how"
Journalism that explains “why” and “how,” not merely “what,” enables citizens to assess policy fairly. Trust is built through understanding, never coercion.
Yet support for the state must never blur into uncritical justification. The press remains obligated to perform its corrective role through data-driven scrutiny and responsible investigation.
Strong nations require honest mirrors. The press is that mirror, reflecting reality as it is, not as power might prefer it to appear.
In global geopolitical competition, narratives about Indonesia have themselves become contested terrain, shaped by international media, foreign institutions, and non-state actors.
At times, Indonesia is portrayed as overly optimistic; at others, excessively problematic. Rarely is the picture complete or balanced.
Here, the strategic importance of a strong national press becomes clear, ensuring Indonesia’s story is conveyed proportionally and with confidence.
This task demands restraint without chauvinism and confidence without inferiority, a balance requiring editorial discipline and professional maturity.
The burden does not rest on journalists alone. Media organizations carry responsibility through editorial decisions, business models, and willingness to invest in quality journalism.
Under global economic pressure, temptations toward clickbait and polarization intensify. Such shortcuts may yield short-term traffic but steadily erode public trust.
History shows trust is a long-term asset, earned only through consistency, integrity, and the courage to resist popularity when truth demands otherwise.
Public-oriented journalism
National Press Day 2026, commemorated in Serang, Banten, on February 9 under the theme “A Healthy Press, a Sovereign Economy, a Strong Nation,” serves as a moment of collective reflection.
Indonesia’s press was born of struggle, matured alongside the republic, and repeatedly tested - from the revolutionary era to today’s hyper-digital age.
Those who endure are not the loudest, but the most faithful to core values: that freedom always comes with responsibility.
Assisting President Prabowo’s government through national challenges is not about political allegiance, but about commitment to Indonesia’s future.
Through impartial, intelligent, and public-oriented journalism, the professional press can serve as a unifying force in a society prone to division.
It preserves public reason amid a world increasingly noisy, emotional, and saturated with distraction.
As Indonesia pursues Vision 2045, one constant remains: the republic needs a strong press to remain whole.
That strength emerges only from journalists who recognize their work not merely as a profession, but as a national calling.
Happy National Press Day.
Related news: Prabowo hails press role in democracy on National Press Day
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*)Rahmad Nasution is a journalist at Indonesia’s National News Agency, ANTARA.
The views and opinions expressed on this page are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ANTARA News Agency.
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