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Atmakusumah Astraatmadja

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Atmakusumah Astraatmadja
Born(1938-10-20)20 October 1938
Labuan [id], Dutch East Indies
Died2 January 2025(2025-01-02) (aged 86)
Jakarta, Indonesia
NationalityIndonesian
OccupationJournalist
AwardsRamon Magsaysay Award

Atmakusumah Astraatmadja (20 October 1938 – 2 January 2025) was an Indonesian journalist who was a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his formative role in laying the institutional and professional foundations for a new era of press freedom in Indonesia.[1] [2] Atmakusumah received the 2008 Press Freedom Award from the Alliance of Independent Journalists for his dedication and commitment to advocating for press freedom in Indonesia,[3] as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Press Council Awards for his service and contributions to the field of journalism.[4]

Atmakusumah's career as a cub reporter began after graduating from high school at the age of 19, working for Sunday Indonesia Raya in 1957. His career there was very brief, as the newspaper was shut down by Sukarno's Guided Democracy government a year later. After losing his job, Atmakusumah briefly attended university, took on various jobs, and, feeling unsafe under military censorship, eventually decided to leave Indonesia to work for ABC News in Australia and Deutsche Welle in Germany as radio newscaster.[5]

After the fall of Sukarno, in 1968, editor-in-chief Mochtar Lubis invited him to help republish Indonesia Raya newspaper.[6] Atmakusumah agreed and his career flourished at the newspaper where he rose to the position of managing editor. However, in 1974, the paper was once again shut down, this time by Suharto's New Order government, due to its reporting on the Malari incident.[7]

Blacklisted and unable to work as a journalist or writer,[8] Atmakusumah took a position at the United States Information Service in Jakarta as a Press Assistant until 1992 when he was invited to teach journalism, press laws and ethics at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS). Two years later he was promoted as the executive director.[9]

Atmakusumah is regarded as a pioneer of press freedom principles through the formation of the Indonesian press laws. In 1999, after the fall of Suharto, Minister of Information Yunus Yosfiah appointed Atmakusumah as a government expert to assist in drafting the press bill and discussing it with members of parliament.[10][11] Through extensive debates, the new Press Law, which drastically amends the previous legislation and provides strong protections for press freedom, was ultimately enacted by President B. J. Habibie.[12][13]

With the new Press Law, press publications no longer required licensing, which meant that the government no longer had the authority to censor or shut down press media.[14][15] The Press Law also transformed the Press Council, which was previously always led by the Minister of Information, into an independent body whose chairperson was democratically elected by journalist organizations, press companies, and public figures.[16] In 2000, Atmakusumah was elected as the first independent Chairperson of the Press Council, serving until the end of his term in 2003.[17][18]

During the last 30 years of his life, he indefatigably spoke at seminars and workshops on journalism, press freedom, and freedom of expression in approximately 40 cities, both large and small, across Indonesia.[19][20][21] By the end of his life, Atmakusumah was estimated to have trained 20,000 journalists in Indonesia and East Timor.[22][23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation - Awardees". Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  2. ^ Tempo, Tempo. "Mantan Ketua Dewan Pers Atmakusumah Astraatmadja Tutup Usia". tempo.co. Tempo. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  3. ^ Media, Kompas Cyber (26 August 2008). "Atmakusumah Raih Penghargaan Kebebasan Pers 2008". KOMPAS.com (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  4. ^ dewanpers.or.id. "Atmakusumah Astraatmadja Raih Lifetime Achievement dalam Anugerah Dewan Pers 2023". dewanpers.or.id. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  5. ^ Luwarso, Lukas (2008). Menjaga Kebebasan Pers: 70 tahun Atmakusumah Astraatmadja [Guarding Press Freedom: 70 Years of Atmakusumah Astraatmadja] (1st ed.). Jakarta: Lembaga Pers Dr. Soetomo (published December 2008). ISBN 978-979-95518-4-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ Scandal and Democracy: Media Politics in Indonesia. Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Cornell University Press. 2019. ISBN 978-1-5017-3105-1.
  7. ^ Post, The Jakarta. "Farewell Atmakusumah, press freedom prodigy - Academia". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  8. ^ Hill, David T. (1994). The press in New Order Indonesia. An Equinox classic Indonesia book. Jakarta: Equinox Publ. ISBN 978-979-3780-46-7.
  9. ^ "Sejarah – Lembaga Pers Dr.Soetomo" (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  10. ^ Steele, Janet (2012). "The Making of the 1999 Indonesian Press Law". Indonesia (94): 1–22. doi:10.5728/indonesia.94.0001. ISSN 0019-7289.
  11. ^ Lim, Louisa; Moser, David; Horvat, Andrew; McCurry, Justin; Seo, Hyunjin; Huang, Jaw-Nian; Venkiteswaran, Gayathry S.; Coronel, Sheila S.; Pavin Chachavalpongpun (2020). Burrett, Tina; Kingston, Jeff (eds.). Press freedom in contemporary Asia. London New York, NY: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-429-50569-0.
  12. ^ Kompas, Tim Harian (2 January 2025). ""Obor Rakyat" dan Kebangsaan". Kompas.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  13. ^ Steele, Janet E. (2018). Mediating Islam: cosmopolitan journalisms in Muslim Southeast Asia. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-74295-3.
  14. ^ McCoy, Mary Elizabeth (1 June 2005). "The media in democratic transitions: Institutionalizing uncertainty in post -Suharto Indonesia - ProQuest". www.proquest.com. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  15. ^ Kakiailatu, Toeti (April 2004). "Media in Indonesia: Forum for political change and critical assessment". Asia Pacific Viewpoint. 48 (1): 60–71. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8373.2007.00330.x. ISSN 1360-7456 – via Wiley Online Library.
  16. ^ Ispandriarno, Lukas (1 December 2008). "Political Communication in Indonesia: An Analysis of the Freedom of the Press in the Transition Process after the Downfall of the Soeharto-Regime (1998-2004)" (PDF). Dissertation Presented to the Institute of Media and Communication Science, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Technical University of Ilmenau.
  17. ^ Wiratraman, Herlambang (6 January 2025). "Atmakusumah, Sang Guru Besar Jurnalisme Indonesia". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  18. ^ George, Cherian; Asian Media Information and Communication Centre; Nanyang Technological University, eds. (2008). Free markets free media? reflections on the political economy of the press in Asia. AMIC Asian communication series. Singapore: AMIC ; Nanyang Technological University. ISBN 978-981-4136-09-9.
  19. ^ Santosa, Bend Abidin (5 May 2017). "Peran Media Massa dalam Mencegah Konflik". Jurnal ASPIKOM. 3 (2): 199–214. ISSN 2548-8309.
  20. ^ Steele, Janet (1 July 2013). ""Trial by the Press": An Examination of Journalism, Ethics, and Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia". The International Journal of Press/Politics. 18 (3): 342–359. doi:10.1177/1940161213484588. ISSN 1940-1612.
  21. ^ Aditya, Zaka Firma; Al-Fatih, Sholahuddin (7 October 2020). "Indonesian constitutional rights: expressing and purposing opinions on the internet". The International Journal of Human Rights. 25 (9): 1395–1419. doi:10.1080/13642987.2020.1826450. ISSN 1364-2987.
  22. ^ Harsono, Andreas (6 January 2025). "Atmakusumah Astraatmadja, Pejuang Kebebasan Pers dan Jurnalisme Bermutu". Project Multatuli. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  23. ^ Steele, Janet (September 2007). "The Voice of East Timor: Journalism, Ideology, and the Struggle for Independence". Asian Studies Review. 31 (3): 261–282. doi:10.1080/10357820701559071. ISSN 1035-7823.
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