HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE INDONESIAN PRESS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF COLONIAL, VERNACULAR, AND POST-INDEPENDENCE PERSPECTIVES
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Abstract
This study aims to analyze three major historiographical works on the Indonesian press critically: Ahmat Adam (2003), David T. Hill (2011), and Basilius Triharyanto (2009). Employing a Historiographical Review approach and Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this article examines how these three works construct the narrative of the Indonesian press from the colonial era to the post-independence period. The findings indicate that these works represent three distinct analytical loci: the press as an agent of modernization and a catalyst for national consciousness (Adam), journalism as a form of political opposition (Hill), and the vernacular press as a vehicle for anti-colonialism beyond Java (Triharyanto). A comparative synthesis reveals that the historiography of the Indonesian press remains geographically and temporally fragmented, with significant gaps in studies focusing on the post-Reformasi press, gender perspectives, and the eastern regions of Indonesia. As an original contribution, this article proposes a "three nodes" framework—modernization, opposition, and locality—as a unified thematic foundation for future research on the history of the Indonesian press.
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