Informality of Media Freelancers in Indonesia: Motives and Prospects

Abstract

This article presents our analysis of the nature of informality of media freelancers and its implications to creative workers. Employing a series of 15 interviews, we offer an interpretive understanding through the subjective experience of the Indonesian media freelancers. Accordingly, we analyse the participants’ responses in four dimensions of informality: personal, professional, technological and social. This analysis brings up a discussion about the flexibility, challenges and opportunities of working as a media freelancer. Specifically, three themes emerged from our discussion: motivations of doing freelance, managing ‘uncertainty’ through creativity and self-management, and the importance of social–technological infrastructure. Considering the demographic bonus in Indonesia, we suggest a future research agenda towards the potentials of informality of media freelancers. This future direction would shed light on whether the informality, on the one hand, can lead to the casualization of work, or, on the other hand, can lead to the idea of flexibility and self-management of media freelancers.