Connecting Indonesia’s environmental stories to millions

Before dawn breaks over Surabaya, Indonesia’s “City of Heroes,” Akhyari Hananto has already begun his day. After morning prayers, he opens Google Analytics to scan real-time graphs showing how Mongabay Indonesia’s readers moved through the night—what stories caught their attention, which posts resonated, and where curiosity waned. “That information often determines how I’ll prioritize my work for the rest of the day,” he says. By the time most people are pouring their first cup of coffee, he has already drafted ideas to re-energize audiences across the country.

As Multimedia Manager for Mongabay Indonesia, Hananto sits at the intersection of creativity, data, and strategy. His job blends newsroom production, design, and analytics. On any given day, he may be editing multimedia, managing the outlet’s social media presence, or translating insights from Google Analytics into tactical decisions for Mongabay’s headquarters. “Everything I do connects to one central mission,” he explains, “ensuring that Mongabay’s environmental journalism reaches, engages, and resonates with audiences across Indonesia.”

That mission has become increasingly important in a nation whose 280 million people live amid some of the planet’s richest biodiversity—and where forests, peatlands, and coral reefs are rapidly disappearing. For Hananto, who joined Mongabay in 2014, making environmental issues accessible is not just professional work; it is personal. “As an Indonesian, it’s impossible not to care,” he says. “These issues are not distant or abstract—they’re unfolding right here, on our own islands.”

Hananto’s path to journalism was far from conventional. As a university student in Yogyakarta, he fronted a rock band inspired by the grunge explosion of the 1990s, with Pearl Jam as his lodestar. After graduation he entered banking, then shifted to humanitarian work after a devastating earthquake struck his hometown in 2006. Later, he joined the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya as an economic specialist. Each role, he says, taught him to analyze, adapt, and communicate with precision—skills that would later shape his journalistic instincts.

The turning point came in Kalimantan, when he witnessed an orangutan shot repeatedly with an air rifle. “That moment stayed with me for days,” he recalls. “It made me angry, sad, and deeply unsettled.” When he later saw an opening at Mongabay, he left his secure, well-paid post without hesitation. “I knew I wanted my work to have meaning,” he says. “And I knew this was where I could find it.”

A decade on, Hananto has helped build Mongabay Indonesia’s digital presence from the ground up. When he started, the outlet’s strong investigative journalism needed a bridge to reach wider audiences. His solution was to experiment—merging visuals, accessible writing, and strategic distribution across new platforms. The results speak for themselves: millions of Indonesians now encounter Mongabay’s stories each month, many of them through social media. “We already had great stories,” he says. “What we needed was a bridge to connect them to people’s daily lives.”

For Hananto, data is not merely about numbers; it is a way of listening. “I’ve learned that analytics help us understand what resonates,” he explains. “They show us how to make our work more meaningful.” His team’s reports reveal which stories inspire public debate and which topics prompt other Indonesian outlets to follow suit. “That’s when I know we’ve done our job,” he says, “not just informing readers, but (hopefully) shaping the national conversation.”

Despite his influence, Hananto resists calling himself a leader. “Whatever I’ve managed to do has only been possible because of the people around me,” he says. He values the trust and creative freedom Mongabay affords, and the shared mission that unites its global newsroom. “The environmental crisis demands urgency,” he reflects, “but lasting change happens when people work together and stay committed over time.”

His advice to aspiring journalists sounds more like a philosophy of life: cultivate curiosity, take risks, and know why the work matters. “Skills matter,” he says, “but purpose gives them direction.” For Hananto, that purpose remains clear. Each morning, before the sun rises over Surabaya, he checks the data not simply to measure traffic, but to trace connection—a digital echo of Indonesia’s collective concern for its forests, seas, and future.

An interview with Akhyari Hananto

Mongabay: Please introduce yourself and your position at Mongabay.

Akhyari Hananto: My name is Akhyari Hananto, and I serve as the Multimedia Manager for Mongabay Indonesia, based in Surabaya, often called the “City of Heroes.” My role is quite dynamic and touches many areas of our work, but everything I do connects to one central mission: ensuring that Mongabay’s environmental journalism reaches, engages, and resonates with audiences across Indonesia.

While I oversee our overall multimedia strategy, my position remains very hands-on. I manage the creation and curation of images and videos, but I also step in personally when there’s a need for design work or special projects. I collaborate closely with the editorial division, contributing popular articles on a near-daily basis to help strengthen our website’s visibility and reach. Another significant part of my work involves data management. I analyze performance metrics from Google Analytics 4 and all our social media platforms, then compile and interpret those insights into regular reports for Mongabay’s headquarters. In short, my role is…perhaps the intersection of creativity, data, and strategy.

Mongabay: And what does your day-to-day work at Mongabay look like?

Akhyari Hananto: My days begin very early. Usually after morning prayers around 4:30 a.m., the very first thing I do is open Google Analytics and check our social media dashboards. I want to see how our articles performed during the night and what kind of audience engagement we achieved in the last several hours. That information often determines how I’ll prioritize my work for the rest of the day.

After helping my children get ready for school, I sit down and assess the site’s overall performance. If I notice that traffic is slowing down, I start brainstorming ideas that could “reenergize” our audience. Sometimes that means identifying trending environmental topics and spending the next hour or two drafting a new article from scratch.

From there, I move on to my regular tasks, manually publishing new Mongabay Indonesia articles across our social media channels such as Facebook, X (Twitter), Bluesky, Threads, and LinkedIn. Before sharing, I always make a point to read each article, even if only briefly. These moments are enriching because they allow me to stay closely connected to our journalists’  incredible works and continuously learn from the stories they produce.

Throughout the day, I keep a close eye on our digital performance using the Google Analytics app on my phone. If I spot a spike in engagement or an unusual traffic trend, I immediately share it with the editorial team. I also check in regularly with the multimedia team, sometimes to brainstorm ideas, sometimes just to make sure they have everything they need.

In between all this, I manage our official company email account, sorting through messages that range from story submissions and environmental inquiries to internship applications and general correspondence. I forward them to the right people so they can be handled quickly.

My evenings usually include one last round of content sharing. After 6 pm, I’ll often repost relevant older articles to maintain engagement through the night. And my day always ends the same way, checking Google Analytics one final time before bed to get a full picture of how we performed that day.

Mongabay: What did you do before you joined Mongabay?

Akhyari Hananto: During my school and university years, I was deeply influenced by music, especially American rock and metal bands like Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Warrant, and Van Halen, among others. Then came the grunge era, and that’s when everything changed. The real turning point was the first time I heard “Black” by Pearl Jam. While most Indonesians were swept up by Nirvana’s explosion, I was one of the few who became an early Pearl Jam fan. The emotion, the structure, the sound of “Black”, especially the layered guitar work and Eddie Vedder’s free, almost improvised vocals, made me want to understand how something that powerful could be created.

That passion led me to form a band while studying in Yogyakarta, my hometown, a mid-sized city in Central Java. I was the lead vocalist and guitarist, and we played in cafés and small venues. Eventually, we were opening for professional bands, which was an incredible experience, and getting a small pay, just enough to buy gas for our motorbikes.

After graduating, I began focusing on a professional career and stepped back from full-time music. I moved to Jakarta, the capital city,  and started working, but music never left my life completely. I continued to play occasionally at night or on weekends.

Professionally, I spent three and half years in the banking industry. It was stable, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. Everything changed in May 2006, when a devastating earthquake struck Yogyakarta. Witnessing the destruction and suffering in my hometown was a life-altering moment. I quit my banking job and joined Muslim Aid, a London-based humanitarian organization, to work directly on the post-disaster recovery effort. That experience grounded me and gave my career a new sense of direction.

Later, I joined the U.S. Consulate General in Surabaya as an Economic Specialist. My job was to provide insights into economic developments in eastern Indonesia. It sharpened my analytical skills and deepened my understanding of how policy and economics shape people’s lives.

Each of those experiences (music, banking, humanitarian work, and policy) led me here in Mongabay.

Mongabay: Why did you decide to get into journalism?

Akhyari Hananto: My path into journalism wasn’t traditional. I never studied writing formally, and I never really saw myself as a writer. But I’ve always believed that anyone can write if they have something to say.

My real passion started with visual storytelling (design and video editing using Adobe tools). Over time, I pushed myself to write more, and I began to enjoy it. Eventually, I realized that when you combine strong visuals with good copywriting, you can reach people on a completely different level, in this digital era.

I tested this idea by managing several social media accounts and creating a mix of written and visual content. I was driven by constant curiosity, experimenting constantly to see what resonated with people. The response was incredible, many of the contents I created reached millions. That experience showed me the power of storytelling in the digital space, and it became the foundation of the skill set I brought to Mongabay.

But skills alone weren’t enough. What really moved me came about eight months before I joined Mongabay in 2014, when I witnessed an orangutan in Kalimantan being shot many times with an air rifle. That moment stayed with me for days. It made me angry, sad, and deeply unsettled. When I later saw that Mongabay was hiring, I didn’t think twice. I left my secure, well-paying job at the U.S. Consulate General and applied immediately. I knew I wanted my work to have meaning. and I knew this was where I could find it.

Mongabay: Why do you care about the issues Mongabay covers?

Akhyari Hananto: As an Indonesian, it’s impossible not to care. These issues are not distant or abstract, they’re unfolding right here, on our own islands.

The incident with the orangutan opened my eyes to the bigger picture. I realized that what happened to that one animal was connected to much larger issues, deforestation, corporate decisions, government policies, and the rights of Indigenous communities. The health of our oceans affects coastal livelihoods, and the condition of our peatlands impacts global climate. Everything is connected.

For me, this work is about justice. Justice for wildlife that has no voice, and justice for the people whose lives depend on a healthy environment. I also think about my children (three wonderful kids) and what kind of planet they’ll inherit. That sense of responsibility keeps me going.

Mongabay: What do you most enjoy about your work at Mongabay?

Akhyari Hananto: From the very beginning, what I’ve appreciated most is the trust and creative freedom I was given. Mongabay allowed me to experiment and combine my skills, writing, design, and video, to explore new ideas and reach new audiences. I truly believe that freedom has been essential in helping Mongabay Indonesia grow its national reach and reputation.

On a personal level, I also value the connection I feel with colleagues around the world. We come from different backgrounds, but we’re united by a shared mission. That sense of purpose makes the work deeply fulfilling.

Mongabay: What motivates you?

Akhyari Hananto: My motivation works on two levels. On a daily level, I’m driven by results. As someone who works with data, I find energy in seeing tangible outcomes, when an article reaches hundreds of thousands of readers or when a video sparks meaningful public discussion. Those moments remind me that our work matters.

But on a deeper level, what truly motivates me goes back to why I joined Mongabay in the first place. I want to make sure stories like that orangutan’s never happen again. That belief (that journalism can help prevent future tragedies) is what keeps me grounded, especially on difficult days.

Mongabay: What are you most proud of when it comes to your work?

Akhyari Hananto: I’m proud of how our team has built Mongabay Indonesia’s digital presence and audience from the ground up. When I joined in 2014, one of my goals was to take our strong, in-depth journalism and make it accessible to millions more Indonesians.

We already had great stories; what we needed was a bridge to connect them to people’s daily lives. Through experimentation; combining strong visuals, social media strategy, and approachable writing, we managed to expand our reach dramatically.

The numbers themselves are impressive, but what they represent means even more: millions of Indonesians who are now more aware of the environmental challenges our country faces. We’ve helped spark a national conversation, and that’s something I’ll always be proud of.

Mongabay: Is there a particular project or story Mongabay has produced that you’re especially proud of? Something noteworthy or impactful?

Akhyari Hananto: Not in particular. For me, it’s more about a pattern of impact. One of the things I’ve focused on is bridging important global environmental stories into the Indonesian context. I often take key international reports (most of which are only available in English) translate them, and then rewrite them with local relevance so they truly resonate with readers here.

The results have been powerful. Many of these pieces go viral, and one of the best feelings is when I see my own friends (or even strangers) sharing them on social media without realizing I wrote them. It shows the story has taken on a life of its own.

Even more rewarding is when these stories influence other media. Often, after we publish, major Indonesian outlets pick up the same topic and write about it. That’s when I know we’ve done our job, not just informing readers, but (hopefully) shaping the national conversation.

Mongabay: You’ve become a prominent leader at Mongabay. Do you have any reflections on leadership?

Akhyari Hananto: I don’t think of myself as a leader in the traditional sense. Whatever I’ve managed to do has only been possible because of the people around me. Mongabay has such a strong, supportive ecosystem that allows everyone to learn from one another and grow together.

Coming from outside journalism, I was encouraged to experiment and find new ways to connect design, data, and storytelling. That openness, both from the organization and from colleagues, made all the difference.

I’ve also learned that data isn’t just about measurement; it’s a way to listen to our readers. I’ve learned that analytics help us understand what resonates. They show us how to make our work more meaningful.

If there’s one thing this journey has taught me, it’s the importance of patience and teamwork. The environmental crisis demands urgency, but lasting change can only happen when people work together and stay committed over time.

Mongabay: Is there any advice you’d give to someone who wants to follow a similar path?

Akhyari Hananto: From what I’ve seen, the people who make a difference in this field usually bring together different skills. Many of them move naturally between writing, visuals, video, and data. That mix helps them tell stories in ways that reach more people, and with the tools available today, learning across those areas is easier than it used to be.

In my own journey, curiosity has always been the main driver. I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, but that’s how I learned. No one ever really feels “ready,” and that’s okay. What matters is being willing to try, to keep learning, and to stay open.

Above all, I think it’s important to know why you’re doing this kind of work. Skills matter, but purpose gives them direction. For me, that sense of purpose came from witnessing environmental destruction firsthand. For others, it might come from something else, but when it’s genuine, it keeps you going through the hard days.

Credits

Rhett Butler Editor

This story first appeared on Mongabay

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