The sustainability of mass media cannot be separated from the discipline of media workers in maintaining and improving professionalism and the quality of content.
Participants of the national mass media convention in Although, Monday (7/2/2022). This activity, which is part of a series of National Press Day, was held in a hybrid manner to anticipate the surge in Covid-19 cases.
KENDARI, KOMPAS — In the digitalization era, quality content is an absolute requirement so that mass media can be sustainable. This is important so that the public has more confidence in the press.
This was raised during the National Mass Media Convention with the theme “Building Media’s Relative Independence amid Digital Platforms”, which was held in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Tuesday (8/2/2022). This hybrid convention was part of the 2022 National Press Day commemoration.
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD was the keynote speaker and opened the second day of the convention. Besides Mahfud, there were also Kompas Gramedia Group media CEO Andy Budiman, CT Corp CEO Chairul Tanjung and Uni Zulfiani Lubis, chief editor of IDN Times. Also present were the chief editor of Kumparan Arifin Arsyad, deputy president director of PT Emtek Sutanto Haryono and member of the Press Council, Agus Sudibyo.
Mahfud said that if media wanted to continue to be sustainable and be trusted by the public, the press should not practice journalism that oversimplified the process and reduced quality. For example, writing without confirmation, writing as they like or not covering both sides, giving the wrong meaning to an event, choosing sources that are not credible and the practice of chasing clicks (clickbait) by writing sensational news headlines that deviated from the article’s content.
"Actions like this are practices that slowly but surely erode the level of public trust in the media, which actually distances all of us from trying to build a sustainable mass media model," said Mahfud.
If the mass media are able to carry out their duties properly and professionally and if journalists can create a civilized public space, the press will be more vital. This is because people always need reliable information.
“Mass media is an entity that works in stages and has maintained ethical and quality standards. In addition, [articles] also go through a verification process so that they can be accountable. On the other hand, social media, which is expected to be a space for positive social interaction, has in fact often become a large space for people who often ignore public ethics, and it is not uncommon for [such sites] to become a forum for the widespread dissemination of fake news," Mahfud explained.
KOMPAS/RENY SRI AYU ARMAN
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD was present virtually and spoke at the National Mass Media Convention in Kendari, Tuesday (8/2/2022). This activity is part of the 2022 National Press Day series..
Hoax
In his presentation, Mahfud quoted the Edelman Trust 2022 survey, which was released in January 2022. "The good news is that in this survey, Indonesia ranks second in the world in terms of trust in the media. First China, third place Thailand. The survey shows that the level of Indonesian public trust in the media reaches 73 percent. This figure is up 1 percent from the previous year," he said.
However, in another survey, Indonesia ranks second in terms of the level of public anxiety about fake news.
“Public anxiety in our country reaches 83 percent. This number seems to give recognition to our concern about the phenomenon of the spread of hoaxes in Indonesia in recent years. This must be tackled together, both by the government and the press," he said.
In line with Mahfud, according to Andy Budiman, the future of the media is content. This is mainly in terms of how to create content that is relevant to the dynamics of society.
In addition, the media also needs to increase direct relationships with readers or advertisers. To support sustainability, the media needs to adopt diversification of income to non-advertising sources.
Meanwhile, Chairul Tanjung said that apart from content, winning the market, especially millennials, was no less important. In terms of demographics, the population of millennials is higher.
Agus Sudibyo said that a study conducted by the Press Council showed that digital transformation had also caused disruption to the mass media, especially related to income and advertising. Of the existing problems, media leaders agreed, strengthening the quality of content and developing a media ecosystem were important to ensure the sustainability of the media.
Honesty is very important in realizing quality journalism. With such conditions, how can the media still monitor the government.
Separately, in the discussion called "Building Quality Journalism in the Era of the Information Technology Revolution" held by the Editor-in-Chief Forum, media observer Ignatius Haryanto argued quality journalism was needed to convey useful information to the public. In addition to being informative, quality journalism also offered problem solving for problems faced by society.
Ignatius Haryanto highlighted the phenomenon of advertising presented as a news report. According to him, media had to be honest about admitting this was paid content.
“Honesty is very important in realizing quality journalism. With such conditions, how can the media still monitor the government?” he said.
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