Year of Journalism at Stake

HANDINING

Bestian Nainggolan

Much is at stake for every quality-oriented media fulfilling their journalistic missions and visions in 2023. The press faces problematic challenges in carrying out its economic and social functions.

On the one hand, in order to survive, the press must work hard to fulfill its economic function in the demanding media industry. What lies ahead is no simple matter. There is a succession of obstacles to overcome. After the developments in media technology, which disrupted the media’s audience, market and advertising, came the Covid-19 pandemic, which constricted the space for the industry’s economic progress. The impacts of the pandemic have not yet subsided, while the new threat of global economic instability awaits.

It is easy for the press to become partial and, at the same time, disregard its editorial vision.

On the other hand, the social function of journalism is reflected in the press’ increasing dedication to attention. However, the issue that arises amid the information overload is: Can the press still be trusted? The credibility of the press in carrying out its social function is under threat.

The 2024 general election, a political process that will only grow more intense in 2023, will be one way to determine whether the press can still act independently and be trusted. Amid the increasingly heated competition for political power, there is a high chance that the press will be dragged into the vortex of partisan interests. It is easy for the press to become partial and, at the same time, disregard its editorial vision.

Also read:

> Media, the Year of Politics and Games

> New Dynamics of the Press

In the coming year, maintaining this dual social and economic function will only grow more challenging. Journalism, especially Kompas’journalism, is at stake. As evidenced by Meyer’s (1991) thesis on social influence, Kompas also believes that the quality of the content that a media produces will strengthens its credibility, and that solid credibility will strengthen its social influence. In turn, strong social influence will fulfill the media’s economic function.

In order to maintain and strengthen its quality, Kompas Ombudsman, which was formed more than two decades ago (2000), routinely reviews feedback from readers and the public and evaluates the quality of journalism. At the same time, it also makes recommendations and offers insights on each journalistic practice and/or ethics.

Maintaining this level of quality is no easy task. Reflecting on the year-end Ombudsman discussion forum held on Friday (16/12/2022), many editorial issues from 2022were raised and debated. In dealing with the issue of the country’s recurring natural and environmental disasters, for example, it is no longer enough to only report what happened, what caused it and who the victims were. In such cases, there must be efforts to reconstruct the event from the top down, featuring perspectives and future predictions of environmental quality and disasters. By using this formula, disasters will no longer be interpreted merely as events that have occurred, but as a potential problem that can be anticipated.

Positioning the problem and weighing it against a variety of select, updated perspectives that align with the vision of the Kompas editorial team were also concerns of the Ombudsman and the editorial team, when evaluating reports on various humanitarian tragedies, such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Papuan conflict and the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy. The human element that manifests in considerations of justice as regards the victims never gets old, as illustrated by cases involving the abuse of power by security forces.

In practice, efforts to maintain the dignity of quality journalism are no longer enough to guarantee the production of comprehensive Kompas news. This is also the case for the creative capital of journalists, who rely on their “nose for news” to judge the newsworthiness of an event or to produce news drawn from the pattern of interrelated comments made by their sources.

In the past year, the Ombudsman has observed the editorial team trying to standardize interpretive news models in journalism data packages, which attempts to extract the meaning of an event by processing information, known as data-driven journalism.

Also read:

> Revealing Things that Have not been Revealed

> Efforts to Enforce Fair Journalism

In the effort to maintain quality journalism, there have also been criticisms from readers and the public. Through the [e-mail] email, for example, some readers questioned the perspective Kompas hadadopted in reporting on foreign news, especially the Russia-Ukraine war, or to look at China’s foreign policy on Taiwan’s existence.

Regarding other rubrics, the Kompas editorial team’s stance on certain controversial cases was also questioned, such as the use of nuclear energy as a power source. This was also seen in the results of the Kompas public opinion survey, which aggregates the opinions of people across the country and was alleged to be inaccurate.

It is possible that more criticisms of this kind will occur in the coming year, as there will be more political events.

There was more sensitivity regarding political issues, especially about the work of public figures. There were complaints and protests about everything, from the news material to headings, and from sentence structure to the news angle. Even the photos, which should only be interpreted denotatively, prompted complaints that they held connotative meanings.

According to the Ombudsman’s observation, it is possible that more criticisms of this kind will occur in the coming year, as there will be more political events. However, for Kompas, the criticisms of its readers and the expectations of the public remain an inseparable part of its commitment to maintaining quality journalism. This is why in 2023, when journalism will be at stake, the Ombudsman will continue to oversee and advise the Kompas editorial team on the paths to take.

If you have any opinions or feedback regarding the Kompas daily, please email [e-mail].

Bestian Nainggolan, Kompas Ombudsman member

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.