The first panel, taking the theme of Challenges and Opportunities for Traditional Media in the Digital Age, invited CEO of Kompas Gramedia Andy Budiman; CEO of Tribun News Network Dahlan Dahi; and executive assistant to the CEO for business development Media Group Wayan Eka Putra; alongside Judistira Wanandi, CEO of The Jakarta Post as moderator.

Wayan Eka said the first challenge for traditional media was digital transformation, which is not easy as it requires a large investment, especially since the pandemic. Apart from that, he said, the advertising landscape has also completely changed with the current digital era.

Andy Budiman agreed that the challenge after the pandemic was bigger because of the digitization process. “We even found that our customers prefer to watch videos, making it a watching culture rather than reading culture,” he added.

In the second panel, the dialogue continued by raising the issue of The Role of Women in Journalism and Media Leadership, inviting noteworthy women leaders such as Julia Suryakusuma, the author of State Ibuism and Julia’s Jihad; Devi Asmarani, chief editor of Magdalene; and Uni Lubis, chief editor of IDN Times; with the Post’s managing editor Adisti Sukma Sawitri as moderator.

Julia noted the importance of highlighting the fact that the women's movement in Indonesia has become stronger for journalism compared with the past. Meanwhile, Devi added that one of the problems for women was social norms.

“When we talk about society when women have to work, they have responsibilities at home, which affects me in the recruitment opportunity to advance their careers in joining Magdalene.”

Uni Lubis recounted her experience as a female journalist covering issues in the Suharto era.

“No phone, no WhatsApp, […] and at the office they’d say ‘never come back to the office if you can’t get the interview’. It was really hard,” she recalled, adding that women in the modern era have developed and have careers in journalism.

Abdulmonem Annan, the ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic in Indonesia attended the event, and told the Post that the “Media Matters” event was useful and informative, noting that women’s empowerment was part of an effective institution, especially in media and journalism as the main outlet for conveying the voices of women to the audience.

“I think the organizers of this ‘Media Matters’ made the right choice. The topics are quite relevant to the issues at large, which should be tackled. And I think they came across as a wide range of issues that really need so much contemplation and further elaboration, but they were quite comprehensive in their holistic approach to the exhaustion of these ideas and notions.” 

A self-professed daily reader of the Post, Annan said the English-language daily provided a very important gateway for him to read about Indonesia with quality coverage.

“It has high caliber writers who really write things very interesting and worth reading,” he added.

If you wish to attend the events in the upcoming days, up to Aug. 19; please RSVP at https://lnkd.in/gtFJyUmA

Learn more about ongoing events and the speakers by visiting https://lnkd.in/gke2A3mw

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