<![CDATA[The development of mass media has significantly influenced character building and students' critical thinking skills. One television program that consistently presents public discussions on social, educational, political, cultural, and humanitarian issues is Mata Najwa. This program not only provides information but also reflects various character and religious values that can be utilized as learning resources in educational settings. This study aims to describe the character and religious values contained in the Mata Najwa program and examine its potential as teaching material to develop students’ critical thinking skills. This research employed a qualitative approach using content analysis methods. Data were obtained from selected episodes of Mata Najwa discussing social and educational issues. Data collection techniques included observation, documentation, and note-taking. Data analysis involved data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results indicate that the program contains character values such as honesty, responsibility, hard work, tolerance, discipline, democracy, social care, and patriotism. In addition, religious values including religiosity, justice, trustworthiness, deliberation, tolerance, and compassion were identified. These values can be integrated into critical thinking-oriented teaching materials through activities involving analysis, evaluation, interpretation, and argumentation. Therefore, Mata Najwa has strong potential as a contextual learning resource supporting character education and critical thinking development.]]>
