Pegadaian Holds UKW Again for Hundreds of Indonesian Journalists

PT Pegadaian (Persero) continues to demonstrate its commitment to supporting the improvement of Indonesia’s press quality through the organisation of Journalist Competency Tests (UKW). Since 2025 until mid-2026, this programme, in collaboration with the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS), has reached hundreds of journalists from various regions across Indonesia as part of an effort to strengthen national press professionalism. Entering 2026, this commitment continues. The first UKW session of the year was held in Jakarta from 3–5 June 2026 and continued in Surabaya on 24–26 June 2026, with a total of 40 journalists from 37 media outlets participating. Deputy Chairman of the Press Council, Totok Suryanto, at the Surabaya UKW, expressed appreciation for Pegadaian’s support in enhancing journalist competency in Indonesia, noting it provides significant benefits for journalists. In line with this, the Director of the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute, Kristanto Hartadi, also expressed his gratitude and stated that Pegadaian’s support is a tangible contribution to maintaining the quality of Indonesian journalism. ‘On behalf of LPDS and all Indonesian press personnel, we thank Pegadaian for supporting the improvement of the competence and professionalism of our national press. Moreover, the implementation of UKW is also part of the effort to preserve press freedom,’ said Kristanto. ‘Press freedom can only be maintained by professional, competent, and integral journalists. Pegadaian’s support is a real contribution to maintaining the quality of Indonesian journalism.’ On a separate occasion, PT Pegadaian (Persero) Director of Network and Operations, Eka Pebriansyah, stated that for Pegadaian, the media is a strategic partner in building public literacy. Therefore, the company is committed to continuously supporting the capacity building of press personnel so they can present accurate, credible, and value-added information to the public. ‘A professional press plays an important role in building public trust and improving public literacy, including financial literacy. Through UKW, Pegadaian hopes to contribute to creating a healthy, objective, and responsible information ecosystem,’ said Eka. Previously, Pegadaian successfully held UKW throughout 2025 in eleven cities, namely Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang, Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Manado, and Makassar. The programme was attended by 226 journalists from 208 media outlets across 26 provinces in Indonesia. The implementation of UKW aims to improve journalist professionalism in accordance with the Journalistic Code of Ethics and Law Number 40 of 1999 concerning the Press. This programme is also Pegadaian’s contribution to supporting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 4, Quality Education, through improving the competence of human resources in the field of journalism.