Metro TV’s Mata Najwa is one of the most popular TV talk shows in Indonesia today. The talk show discusses various topics related to political issues in every week. It is aired every Wednesday night at 08:05 pm to 09:30 pm based on the schedule listed on Jadwal Acara TV website. Due to its popularity among the viewers, Metro TV also reruns the show every Saturday night at 08:30 pm. The show’s five-year success in continuously attracting audiences cannot be separated from some notable points that make this talk show unique and distinctive in comparison with other similar programs.
Najwa Shihab as the host of the talk shows plays a significant role to bring this show to be this so popular. She does not only host the show but also acts as the producer of the show. Her experience as a senior journalist and her strong character make the show appealing and more dynamic to the audiences. It would not be surprising; considered that she is well educated, experienced, and has won a couple of prestigious awards as a journalist. She has received various national and international awards; such as Young Global Leader 2011 by The World Economic Forum, National Award for the Journalistic Contribution to Democracy from The Indonesian Association of Journalist and Australian Alumni Awards for Journalism and Media in 2010. Mata Najwa won as Runner Up/Highly commended for The Best Current Affairs Presenter at Asian Television Award in 2009 and 2007, and she was also nominated as Indonesia’s Most Favorite News Presenter at Panasonic Gobel Awards in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Besides the host, another important aspect of the show is its consistency in discussing hot (and often sensitive) issues with high-profile and credible guest speakers. Some of Indonesian key figures have been invited to speak on Mata Najwa, for example Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, Jusuf Kalla, Dahlan Iskan, Joko Widodo, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, and Tri Rismaharini. In one of its episodes, “Penjara Istimewa”, Najwa even presented exclusive coverage from the inside of Sukamiskin Prison and Cipinang Penitentiary Institution where she interviewed some famous corruption convicts, such as Gayus Halomoan Tambunan, Adrian Waworuntu, Agusrin Najamuddin and Anggodo Widjojo. Each episode is always closed with the host reading a poetic and deeply meaningful conclusion about the issue where each sentence is designed to end with a rhyme. All of this aspects results as an extraordinary talk show program that can’t last for such long time and become one of the most inspiring television program up until now.
In 2010, “Separuh Jiwaku Pergi”was nominated for the Best Current Affair Program in the 15th Asian Television Awards. One year later, the show was named as the Most Inspiring Talk Show in “Dompet Dhuafa Award” and nominated for the Best Talk Show in KPI Award. In marketing area, the show was awarded The Word of Mouth Marketing Award in 2011. Despite of all the awards and the high rating, the show still receives some critics from the viewers. Metro TV, as the television channel owned by Surya Paloh, the leader of Indonesian National Democrat Party, makes many people see Mata Najwa show to have political affiliation, tendencies, and agendas behind the curtain. During this time, both Metro TV and Mata Najwa received many critics regarding their commitment to provide objective and unbiased information to the viewers. Some people do not like Najwa’s style to interview her guest speaker and consider that as rude.
Others say that on the one hand, she shows disrespect to some guest speakers (such as Angel Lelga or Farhat Abbas) but on the other hand, she behaves differently and more politely when asking questions to more important figures like Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie or Joko Widodo. As the result, some controversies arose in the social media. Regardless of all the critics and supports the program gained from its viewers until now, the show has proved itself to be one interesting and effective way to educate people to become aware of the important issues that are happening in their country. As long as the program management crews are able to consistently keep the uniqueness, elegance, and integrity of the show, they can always expect Mata Najwa to be at the top of the list of the viewers’ favorite talk shows.