Metta Dharmasaputra

Background

About Metta Dharmasaputra

Metta Dharmasaputra is an investigative journalist and writer who specializes in economic and business issues. Metta began his career as a journalist in 1998, working as a research assistant for Asiaweek’s Jakarta Bureau for one year, after which he moved to Bisnis Indonesia daily until 2001. He is now Chief Executive Officer of KATADATA (katadata.co.id), Indonesia's news media company specializing in the economy and business, which he founded in 2012. He served as Editor-in-Chief until 2018. Previously he worked at Tempo Media Group from 2001 to 2012 in many positions, such as Executive Editor of Koran Tempo Daily Newspaper and Managing Editor of Tempo Magazine. Born in Cianjur, West Java, in 1969, Metta completed high school at Regina Pacis in Bogor. He then graduated from Economics and Development Studies at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and obtained a Master’s degree in Strategic Management from Prasetiya Mulya Business School in Jakarta. In 2008, he took part in a Jefferson Fellowship for Asia-Pacific Journalists at the East West Center in Hawaii. Metta has conducted some investigative reports. One of the biggest cases he investigated was indications of bribery and tax evasion by the Asian Agri Group (2006-2007) with estimated a loss to the state of at least Rp 1.3 trillion (around $108 million). The Supreme Court finally sentenced Asian Agri to pay a fine of Rp 2.5 trillion (around $227 million), the largest ever in the nation’s history. In 2014, Metta launched his book “Saksi Kunci” (Key Witness, English version in 2015) containing the full story of this case, which he wrote for six years. For his investigative coverage of the Asian Agri, he received the Udin Award from Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in 2008 and was declared Journalist of the Year for 2007 by the Reformed Indonesian Journalist Association (PWI Reformasi). His latest book entitled "Mengejar Fajar"(Chasing Dawn)(2018), tells the story and facts behind the Century Bank bailout case that he wrote for eight years. Metta is now also active in several non-profit organization as a member of the Supervisory Board of Transparency International Indonesia, the Advisory Board of the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers), the Ethics Committee of The Indonesian Cyber Media Association (AMSI), and the Advisory Board of Pulau Imaji Foundation. He is also founder of Muarojambi Preservation Association and initiator of the MediaLawanCovid19 movement to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.