andini effendi
Apowerful presence on screen and off, 36-year-old Andini Effendi has become a household name in the media industry. Known as one of Metro TV’S most renowned news anchor and journalist, her story began by carrying wardrobe items and rolling cables as the company’s production assistant intern during her university years.
“Not long after graduating, there was a time when I worked at other media companies. However, I’ve always wanted to be a news anchor at Metro TV and when I finally joined it in 2007, I was told I couldn’t do it yet,” she reveals. Prior to being entrusted with hard news, Andini was once the face for sports news and Metro TV Surabaya Bureau. It was during her time at Metro TV that she grew to be the dedicated journalist she is.
The statuesque scholar found a mentor in Andy Noya, a disciplined journalist and reporter who forbid her to say: “I don’t know” or “I can’t”. Like her colleagues, she was pushed to always find ways to achieve her goal—a habit that has led her to see great success and fame .
Along with the knowledge she gained from her mentors, Andini remained light on her feet, leaping at every chance to go on work trips. “If my bosses said I had to go in two hours, I went, even if it meant having to go for three months with only two days’ worth of clothing,” she says. Her thirst for more knowledge and experience was also what led her to apply for a master’s degree in global affairs at New York University (NYU).
In an interesting twist, when the NYU admission’s call got through to Andini in
2011, the last thing they expected was for the interview to be interrupted by explosions. Called to action, Andini excused herself to report the incident and asked that they call again in two hours.
“I was already rejected thrice by NYU before I was sent to cover the Libyan conflict for Metro TV. Luckily, my friend David Kirkpatrick from The New York Times was also in Libya with me and I asked if he could help reach out to them to tell them about our working experience together,” explains
Andini. Looking back, she chuckles at how the interruption became the main reason she got in, specifically the way they were both worried and impressed by how she had leaped to go live in the midst of explosions. But similarly, at the time there were others who worried for her safety back in Indonesia.
“My dad, for example, would never say no to what I do but he would call a million times to ask when I’m coming home. I never felt unsafe or thought that I should run for my life. I had a duty to fulfil and that became my only concern,” she smiles. Her father, along with the nation, could only sit in front of the TV with breakfast in hand the same time Andini was pulled from her slumber by those explosions and rushed to go live at 2am.
Fast-forward eight years later, and Andini now sits in her pristine dress with Indonesia Tatler to represent the new wave of hope that continue to improve the country. When we congratulate her for winning Best Current Affairs Presenter at the Asian Television Awards 2019, she admits to still having a long way to go. She laughs, “I’m still crawling. Success is a journey that I’ll never claim to have reached.”
The same need for progress can be said about gender equality, a topic Andini wishes would ignite more discussion. “Every day is a struggle,” she says, “Whether it’s the difficulty of obtaining bank loans as an unmarried woman or loss of citizenship upon marrying a foreign husband, a woman’s identity is still valued differently than how society would a man’s. This mindset is so embedded in our society that we’re rarely free to talk about these things in the open.”
In addition to the issues at hand, the vocal presenter is working on a new documentary to alleviate misconceptions about Indonesia and its people. “In my journeys, there were those who were shocked to hear that I was a Muslim Indonesian. They expected Indonesians to fall into a stereotype that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she says. Through her works, the strong-willed woman hopes to create new behaviours in people. If Andini’s way of changing the world is by using her power of writing stories and provoking people to do something about it, what is yours?”