National Press Day is celebrated on February 9th every year. This is also the date on which Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia (PWI) was founded in 1946 in Surakarta, becoming Indonesia’s first journalistic organization. PWI is closely associated with the establishment of National Press Day. PWI was formed after the society recognized the importance of journalists’ roles as news activists.
The idea for National Press Day, which was established in 1978 to coincide with the 28th PWI Congress in Padang, came from press figures who wanted to acknowledge the role of the Indonesian press in national life. After about seven years, the government finally designated February 9 as “National Press Day”. Indonesia was still in the grip of the New Order, led by Suharto at the time.
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During that time, prominent press figures like Sukarno, Adam Malik, Ki Hadjar Dewantara, Tjipto Mangunkusumo, W.R. Supratman, Mohammad Yamin, Iwa Kusumumasumantri, and Rasuna Said believed that the line of press publishers needed to be organized and managed in an ideal and profitable manner. They had this concern because colonists and the foreign press were still alive and trying to maintain their influence at the time.
The press figures agreed to establish SPS (Serikat Surat Kabar) based on this concept. On February 9–10, many press figures, leaders of newspapers, magazines, and journalists gathered at Sono Suka, which is now the Press Monument in Surakarta.
