Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman saya bilang kebebasan pers penting supaya jurnalis bisa menulis apa yang mereka temukan tanpa takut. - My friend says freedom of the press is important so that journalists can write what they find without fear.

bilang – informal, very common in spoken Indonesian.
- Teman saya bilang… = My friend said…
berkata – neutral, a bit more formal, common in writing and news.
- Teman saya berkata…
mengatakan – more formal and often used with bahwa.
- Teman saya mengatakan bahwa…

In this sentence, bilang makes the whole sentence sound conversational.

Why is it Teman saya and not saya punya teman?

Teman saya literally means my friend and is the normal way to say it before you describe what that friend did.

Teman saya bilang… = My friend said…
Saya punya teman = I have a friend…

Saya punya teman is used when you want to introduce the existence of a friend, usually followed by additional info:
Saya punya teman yang bekerja sebagai jurnalis. – I have a friend who works as a journalist.

In this sentence, we’re talking about a specific friend who said something, so Teman saya is natural.

Why is it kebebasan pers penting instead of kebebasan pers itu penting or kebebasan pers adalah penting?

All of these are possible, but they differ in style:

kebebasan pers penting – very natural; adjective directly follows the noun.
kebebasan pers itu penting – adds emphasis or “that particular freedom of the press is important”.
kebebasan pers adalah penting – grammatically possible but sounds stiff or textbook-y here; adalah is usually used before nouns, not adjectives.

So the most natural everyday form is simply kebebasan pers penting.

What exactly does kebebasan pers mean, and why pers and not media?

kebebasan = freedom
pers = the press (news media, especially journalism)

So kebebasan pers = freedom of the press, a set phrase in Indonesian.

media is broader (media in general), so kebebasan media would be more like media freedom in a wider sense. For the specific political/rights concept, kebebasan pers is the standard term.

What is the function of supaya here, and how is it different from agar or untuk?

supaya introduces a purpose: so that / in order that.

…penting supaya jurnalis bisa menulis…
= “…is important so that journalists can write…”

Compare:

supaya / agar – both mean so that / in order that.
- agar is a bit more formal; supaya is more common in speech.
untuk – means for / to, usually followed by a verb in basic form:
- penting untuk melindungi jurnalis = important to protect journalists.

Here, because the clause has its own subject (jurnalis) and verb (bisa menulis), supaya (or agar) is the natural choice.

Why is bisa used instead of dapat?

Both bisa and dapat can mean can / be able to, but:

bisa – more common in everyday speech; very neutral.
dapat – a bit more formal or written, though also common.

So you could say:

…supaya jurnalis bisa menulis… (neutral, conversational)
…agar jurnalis dapat menulis… (slightly more formal)

The meaning is basically the same.

How does apa yang mereka temukan work? Why do we need yang?

apa yang mereka temukan literally: what that they find.

Structure:

apa = what
yang = marker introducing a relative/defining clause
mereka temukan = they find

So apa yang mereka temukan = what they find / what they discover.
yang marks that mereka temukan is describing apa. Without yang, it would be ungrammatical:
✗ apa mereka temukan (wrong in this context)
✓ apa yang mereka temukan (correct).

Why is it mereka and not mereka itu or para jurnalis again?

mereka refers back to jurnalis (journalists), and it’s enough on its own:

jurnalis… mereka temukan → “journalists… they find”

You could say:

para jurnalis – emphasises plurality (the journalists as a group).
mereka itu – “those people / they (in particular)”, adding emphasis or contrast.

But in a neutral statement like this, plain mereka is the most natural choice.

What does tanpa takut literally mean, and why not tanpa rasa takut or tanpa ketakutan?

tanpa = without
takut = afraid

So tanpa takut = without (being) afraid / without fear.

Other options:

tanpa rasa takut – literally “without a feeling of fear”; slightly more formal.
tanpa ketakutan – “without fear / without fearfulness”; also sounds more formal or dramatic.

tanpa takut is simple and very natural in everyday language.

Is this whole sentence formal or informal? How would it look in more formal Indonesian?

As written, it’s informal–neutral because of bilang and the simple structure.

A more formal version could be:

Teman saya mengatakan bahwa kebebasan pers itu penting agar para jurnalis dapat menulis apa yang mereka temukan tanpa rasa takut.

Changes:

bilang → mengatakan
adding bahwa
supaya → agar
bisa → dapat
adding itu, para, and rasa for a more polished, formal tone.

The original sentence is perfectly fine for speech and most informal writing.