With subscriber numbers tanking and advertising revenue drying up, the timing could not be worse for media outlets both in Indonesia and elsewhere in the world, to deal with another more serious, if not existential, challenge. 

This time, politics is responsible for dealing the latest blow to media outfits striving for independent journalism.

In many countries, the rise of populist leaders, who all have developed the habit of reaching out to and communicating directly with the people, has completely sidelined the mainstream media. 

On a good day, these populist leaders prefer to speak to a coterie of friendly journalists and influencers who will only write puff pieces for their dear leader. 

On a bad day, these finicky populist leaders can make life difficult for journalists and their media outlets if they fail to toe the government’s line.

These days, nothing is safe for media companies anymore, even in a well-established democracy like the United States. 

The resignation of CBS’ Bill Owens, the executive producer of the legendary program 60 minutes, is the kind of thing we can expect from a third-world country.

The fact that Owens stepped down in the face of US President Donald Trump’s US$10 billion lawsuit for what he described as “biased reporting” is disconcerting to say the least. 

The lawsuit threat however is not at all surprising coming from Trump or people in his administration. The writing was already on the wall the moment credible journalists from reputable media outlets were kicked out of the White House press pool. 

In Argentina, the far-right president Gabriel Milei has launched attacks on journalists throughout his presidency, portraying the whole profession as corrupt. As a result, many journalists have become targets of attacks from his supporters. 

Indonesia is not immune to this trend. 

The delivery of a severed pig's head to a female investigative journalist of the Tempo weekly in March is a flashing red light for press freedom in the world's third-largest democracy.

For Tempo, the pig's head delivery was the culmination of a pattern of harassment in retaliation for its investigative journalism. In recent months, some journalists working with the company have reported attacks on their private property.

The most disturbing part of the episode was that the government and law enforcement agencies did not appear to take the problem of journalist harassment too seriously. 

Two months have passed since the incident and the Jakarta Police have not been able to find any leads in their investigation. 

It does not help that a presidential spokesperson appeared to make light of the intimidation by suggesting that the pig's head be cooked. 

What if a recent decision from the Attorney General's Office, to name the chief editor of a news channel a suspect in an obstruction of justice case, is the consequence of the authorities not taking journalist harassment seriously?

It is against this gathering cloud that The Jakarta Post celebrates its 42nd anniversary today. 

Buffeted by the twin challenges of a changing business model and shrinking media freedoms, we must admit that it is getting more and more challenging to bring in bold and independent reporting on a daily basis. 

But 42 years is a long time, and truth be told, in the not-so-distant past there were occasions when the entire page could go blank from censorship. 

We will make sure that will not happen again.