Ethical Practice and Internal Censorship Among Senior Journalists in Indonesia: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study

Abstract

The field of journalism studies has increasingly examined how political environments shape media practices, particularly in contexts of declining press freedom. In Indonesia, the resurgence of authoritarian tendencies has led to subtle forms of internal censorship, especially among senior journalists. However, little is known about how these journalists experience and interpret ethical dilemmas within such constrained environments. This study asks: how do senior journalists make sense of their ethical responsibilities while navigating internal censorship in a politically restrictive media landscape? Using an interpretative phenomenological approach, this study explores the lived experiences—understood as the deeply personal and subjective perceptions— of ten senior Indonesian journalists to answer this question. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The findings reveal four key experiential themes: implicit newsroom boundaries, ethical dissonance, memory of press freedom, and subtle resistance through mentorship and narrative strategies. These themes illustrate how internal censorship is experienced as a negotiation of professional ideals, institutional pressures, and moral identity. The study advances our understanding of journalism ethics by highlighting the fundamental human experiences (existential aspects) of ethical practice under constraint and emphasizes practical implications such as the importance of supporting moral agency and ethical resilience among journalists working in semi-authoritarian contexts. It also suggests the need for further research on moral agency within semi-authoritarian contexts.