Supported by Google, Suara and the LMC Held AI Tools Training of Trainers

TheIndonesia.co - Amidst the rapid shift in global media technology, the need for journalists who are adaptable to the latest development of artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly pressing.

To address this challenge, the Local Media Community and Suara.com, with full support from the Google News Initiative (GNI), officially launched a series of capacity-building programs titled "AI for Journalists."

This series of activities kicked off this month with an intensive two-day Training of Trainers (ToT) session, on December 9-10, 2025, at the Mercure Cikini Hotel, Jakarta.

This step was taken as a strategic response to build the capacity of journalists in Indonesia, particularly regarding advanced digital verification, investigations, and the use of generative AI tools.

Suara.com's Editor-in-Chief, Suwarjono, emphasized that mastering new technologies is no longer merely an option, but a necessity for journalists and the media industry to remain relevant.

Meanwhile, many journalists in various media outlets have yet to utilize artificial intelligence to assist their work.

"In fact, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the use of AI among journalists in various regions. Technology is developing very rapidly; new developments in artificial intelligence technology are being significantly enhanced not just by the years, months, but even in the count of weeks. This is what we will disseminate, so that journalists' skills in various regions will continue to develop," said Suwarjono.

Furthermore, the current challenging conditions in the media, where they must struggle to survive, demand constant innovation and skill development, especially in the newsroom. Journalists' work must become smarter and more efficient.

"One of the key areas is the skills or abilities in utilizing artificial intelligence (AI)," said Jono.

Preparing Reliable Journalist Trainers

This Training of Trainers (ToT) specifically selects participants deemed to have great potential as future AI trainers. They are representatives from various local media outlets in Indonesia as well as internal trainer candidates from Suara.com.

These participants will not only absorb the knowledge for themselves but also have a mandate to share it. Suwarjono explained that the ToT activity in Jakarta is just the first step in a broader digital literacy roadmap.

"We are kicking off a series of AI training sessions today. We're starting with a two-day Training of Trainers for dozens of selected AI trainers. They will then lead AI training sessions for journalists in various regions. We will be conducting AI training sessions in six cities across six provinces," he explained.

Collaboration for Quality Journalism

In this ToT, approximately 16 trainers were directly coached by Aidila Razak, a digital journalist and trainer from the Google News Initiative.

The material covered mastery of cutting-edge tools such as Gemini (for research and content creation), NotebookLM, Pinpoint (for data investigation), SynthID for verifying synthetic content, and many other tools related to journalistic work.

Regarding this strategic collaboration, Suwarjono expressed his appreciation for Google's continued support for the Indonesian press ecosystem.

"We are grateful that Google is among those who are paying attention to improving journalist capacity and developing the news media ecosystem. We truly appreciate this," said Suwarjono.

Equipped with the teaching methodology (pedagogical skills) and technical expertise gained over the two days, the ToT graduates are expected to be at the forefront of disseminating these vital skills to other journalists across Indonesia.