This study seeks to portray the partnership between local media and local governments and assess whether such a partnership disrupts press freedom, particularly issues related to the local government. The aim of this research is to analyze press freedom in the context of partnership. This research uses the perspective of the political economy of communication, assessing the process of commodification, spatialization, and structuration of the media. The research uses case study methods, with two local media in West Java as the cases. The research shows that the local media that are partners of the local government have turned into government’s speakers, reducing the room for news that serve public interest. Furthermore, the local media have lost their control function and failed to be the alternative voice. The local media, in the end, fail to exercise the press freedom. Meanwhile, press freedom is one of the indicators of democratic decentralization. © 2025 Asian Media Information and Communication Centre.