TVRI Struggles to Pay Journalists and Contributors Due to Budget Cuts

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Executive Director of the Public Broadcasting Institution (LPP) , Iman Brotoseno, said that budget cuts have made it difficult for the management to pay the journalists and contributors. He mentioned that the 2025 budget ceiling has been cut by 48 percent from the previous total budget of Rp1.52 trillion to Rp1.06 trillion.

"We are feeling the impact of the budget efficiency. We are having difficulty paying employees in the regions, including presenters and outsourced staff," said Iman during a meeting with Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.

In addition to the difficulties in paying staff wages, he said that TVRI also faces challenges in inviting speakers because the Finance Ministry calls to cut the budget of professional services.

With the current budget, TVRI has to partially shut down transmission to conserve power and fuel consumption and enforce Work From Anywhere (WFA), and there is no coverage program outside the city due to the lack of allocation for official travel. TVRI also eliminates sports event broadcasts and reduces broadcasts in the regions.

"We also work efficiently by reducing contributors and freelance broadcaster airtime in the regions," he added.

Furthermore, Iman revealed that TVRI was invited by the Ministry of Finance. From the meeting, the Ministry of Finance decided to revise the amount, initially around Rp732 billion, to Rp276 billion. The Ministry of Finance requested that the additional budget be used to pay contributors and regional broadcasters.

"The directive from the Ministry of Finance is to focus on paying honorariums and operational expenses in the regions," he said.

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