Three frameworks of the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy

Name: Three frameworks of the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy
Uploaded: 2022-10-24T03:24:32Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Big news refers to information on social and natural events that is newsworthy and impactful. They occur suddenly for the press.

Big news refers to information on social and natural events that is newsworthy and impactful. They occur suddenly for the press.

Ashadi Siregar

· 5 minutes read

Hence, if such events occur at night, there are challenges in reporting it, since newspapers typically have narrow deadlines for coverage and printing.

Such was the case for the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy in Malang regency, East Java, on Saturday (1/10/2022). The match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya, which was held at night, was not prioritized to be reported in the newspaper the following day. No one could have known that the match would end in a tragedy that claimed hundreds of lives. The following day, the Sunday edition of the Kompas had not yet reported the tragedy.

However, Kompas.id published an article on Sunday (2/10) at 1:35 a.m. On that day, 21 news stories were published, excluding the live reports that were released at around 7:26 a.m. in the form of a timeline that was updated every 10 minutes. In this case, no less than 47 pieces were published before the evening.

also read:

> Now or Never

> Subculture of Football Supporters

On the following Monday (3/10), the Kompas front page was published in black and listed the identified victims (name-age-gender) along with the headline “Tragedy”. The headline was accompanied by two titles: “The Kanjuruhan Stadium Tragedy, When Soccer Turns Into Heartbreak” and “Hopefully, It Will Be the Last Tragedy”. The edition also contained other news and an opinion article from other writers.

However, printing hastily and prioritizing speed can potentially lead to dissatisfaction.

Considering the newspaper’s editorial management, Monday’s news and opinion articles were produced relatively quickly. However, printing hastily and prioritizing speed can potentially lead to dissatisfaction. Claiming that Arema FC supporters were disappointed and stormed the pitch, for example, was deemed offensive by some. If this was the case, Kompas’ expression of sympathy by conveying mourning on the front page was overlooked.

The Kompas Ombudsman discussed the Kanjuruhan Stadium incident with its editorial staff on Friday (21/10), which was also attended by Anton Sanjoyo (JOY), a former Kompas sports journalist who is known for his expertise in soccer and happens to be a member of the joint independent fact-finding team. It would be beneficial to collect and republish JOY’s pieces on statutes and regulations, competition standards, athlete development, fair-play principles and others for reference.

Do not fall victim to sensationalism

It can be said that Kompas has reported the news accurately and completely without falling victim to sensationalism. Because the public does not only rely on the newspaper edition but also stays updated with Kompas.id, regret of the judgements made on Monday’s news articles will be mended. Likewise, serial reporting at least until Friday (21/10), at the time of writing, showed that Kompas (newspaper, e-paper and Kompas.id) is still shedding light on the event.

However, an abundance of news articles does not guarantee an informed audience. The completeness of an article alone is not enough, especially when the audience is bombarded with unorganized news articles. The tragedy experienced by spectators and police officers at the Kanjuruhan Stadium was not an ordinary sporting event. Even the government deemed it a political, legal and security issue by having the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister chair the fact-finding team. For the media, it no longer only concerns the sports desk when the government formed a fact-finding team just to uncover the events at the Kanjuruhan Stadium.

The team’s findings can become newsworthy for the media, specifically concerning the causes of the victims’ deaths and recommendations for future security measures in the implementation of soccer matches. However, the issue must not end there because Kompas is not a public relations agency for the fact-finding team or the government. The support of competent editorial staff can provide Kompas with comprehensive coverage of crucial cases in accordance with its vision and mission as a humanitarian and nonviolence-oriented media.

The government, civil society organizations and the media have labeled the events at Kanjuruhan Stadium a tragedy. Thus, the phrase “Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy” will be added to the long list of similar phenomena in Indonesia. The treatment of Kanjuruhan Stadium will later taint the memories of other tragedies. Kompas is expected to remain one with civilians by investigating and advocating for the victims and their families.

As a tragedy, it certainly contains elements of drama with actors that play crucial roles, both as perpetrators and victims. The media is prone to dramatization due to sensationalism. Perhaps as is the custom of the media industry, such big news will be forgotten once another big newsworthy event occurs. However, Kompas must use Kanjuruhan as a basis for determining the editorial strategy for future coverage.

For this reason, the projected grand framework includes three things: first, preparedness for big news; second, concerning soccer itself; and third, violence against the masses. First, editors must always be on guard for big news that can occur at any given time. This means that there needs to be a working procedure concerning the criteria and anatomy of big news, which requires a strategy of deploying editorial staff in the style of an “army” on standby and supplying data at the headquarters.

Second, regarding soccer, it must be considered that the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy was just the tip of the iceberg in Indonesian soccer, which concerns two issues: first, physical facilities, athletes and organizations; and second, the public as consumers of the soccer industry.

For this reason, it is necessary to pay attention to supporting factors, such as the threat to the disruption of the public’s right to watch a fairly played soccer match as well as facilities that are conducive to enjoy the event.

also read:

> Tragedy

> FIFA Oversees the Transformation of Indonesian Soccer

Third, the phenomenon of violence against the masses highlights that riots involving crowds often occur, not only during events, but also in protests. Quite a number of cases have been reported due to the excessive management of security apparatus. On one hand, it is necessary to encourage humanist standard procedures for security personnel. On the other hand, victims of violence, both from Kanjuruhan and past acts of violence committed by security forces, need Kompas’ attention.

If there is further feedback concerning Kompas coverage, please send an email to ombudsman@kompas.id.

Ashadi Siregar

Kompas daily Ombudsman

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.

Editor:

YUNAS SANTHANI AZIS

editorial kanjuruhan stadium tragedy kompas ombudsman editorial management