Shrinking civic space and the media: How Indonesian media frame environmental issues

The trial served by two Indonesian activists, Haris Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti, about allegations of defamation against the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menkomarves), Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, on mining issues, serves as a wake-up call for civil society to re-examine the state of democracy in Indonesia. The criminalization of activists and the representation of civil society organizations are the most explicit symptoms of shrinking civic space, which will worsen advocacy on environmental issues. At the same time, mainstream media in Indonesia tends to be ineffective in serving as watchdogs. This research aims to demonstrate how Indonesian media covers the phenomenon of shrinking civic space that occurred in Indonesia from 2020 to 2021, particularly in environmental issues. The study examined news articles from 34 media outlets to categorize the symptoms of shrinking civic space. Recognizing the potential for significant underreporting in the coverage of shrinking civic space in environmental issues, this research also be supplemented with in-depth interviews with five senior environmental journalists. This study shows how media patterns frame the coverage of shrinking civic space and how media has become one of the loci of the shrinking civic space phenomenon.