President: Press Increasingly Needed

Kompas/Ismail Zakaria

The peak of this year’s National Press Day celebration.

PADANG, KOMPAS — President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said that amid abundant information, the press is increasingly needed to convey the truth as a pillar to defend facts and the aspiration of the people.

“In the past five years, we have heard that mainstream media will be replaced by social media and new media. The mass media, the press, which is known as the fourth pillar of democracy, struggles to compete against social or digital media. However, I believe that in the era of technological development and amid abundant information and misinformation, the press is increasingly needed,” President Jokowi said Friday (9/2) during a National Press Day event in Padang, West Sumatra.