Persma

“(When we are) in The Circle of Media Effect” 1

Perlu +1 fu'ah DIMENSI

Rabu, 17 Mar '10 00:13

Bernard Cohen, "[The press] may not be successful much of the time in telling its readers what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about"
By: Nunung Afu'ah*)
During ‘reformation' era is begun in 1998, ‘democratization' begins to be grown up more in our country. Mass media tried to be more open minded in receiving what actually occur in the society. If we did not see much good and ‘balance' information in previews regime, a time nobody could not express their feeling freely, it would not happen in ‘reformation' era. Many people try to pay what they could not do before.
The euphoria of the freedom of expression became larger and larger in many parts of Indonesia. It is not only in mass media, but also in the society. It also happened at student (i.e. mahasiswa) that wants to express their feeling about what actually society want about their government's policy. As we know, reformation not only brought the effect to the media, but also to students. Even, the fall of Suharto's authority was because of the struggle of them. They tried to share what actually government was, so by the time, students accepted it happily.
The most significant effect of their struggle is, what I've said above, the freedom and opportunity of public share their feeling according what they feel or what they are expect to. This phenomenon became so easily be understood by mass media, they try to be what society want after the mass illness of previews regime.
Society Mind's Today
By the time of the reformation, the globalization also make many people nowadays like to spend their time by watching Television, reading newspaper, magazine, or listening radio or even browsing to the internet. It means that information is a primary need in their daily life. In the fact, many mass media, not only electronic but also published, are becoming common. We can see it from how many mass media sell in many places of book store are, or how much television reporting a same issue in a day is.
Based on William L. Rivers, and friends, USA government thinks that it is so important doing reporting in mass media. We can say it by look at their financial in mass media activity. It is written that $ 400 million each year. Even, executive spent much for reporting or investigating a special thing. It seems that mass media exactly have a significant role.
Indonesia, as I mention before, became the next developing country that try to be more independent and democratic. As the fact, nowadays, when mass media talk about an issue, for example Century Case, the society try to discuss it as public issue, even they have a good respond for a newest thing, but the impact, they even don't have any ‘right' to talk about their own idea. The government just tries to make legal their own policy, whether it is appropriate or not to the society, by using mass media. Society don't realize that even they are in the freedom, as the impact of ‘reformation' era, they actually still in the huge, hegemonic and systematic authority. What the government wants is implied in many of mass media and the society receives it just taken for granted.
According to Maxwell Mc Combs and Donald Shaw, this phenomenon can be analyzed by Set Agenda theory. Set agenda is one of the several theories that explain the powerful of mass media. According this theory, issue, that having more attention from media, will be closed and be important issue for public.
Society today becomes more ‘passive' and just to be listener. They don't have any choice on their own life. Mass media, both electronic and published, tell them what they have to think or even what they have to do. Media brought it to be what they want. It means that mass media bring the mind of public to be what they want, it depends on the owner of the mass media, this is we talk about the ‘invisible hand' as the owner of many mass media.
According to Kenneth Janda and friends, mass media have five specific function in political system; "reporting the news, interpreting the news, socializing citizens about politics, influencing citizens' attitudes and behaviors, and setting the agenda for government action".
What we can see is, it's so complicated thing to define the actually society wants when they their selves don't have a right to decide what their need, even ‘grass root' society. They (grass root) become more marginalize. The government just has much intention to make public believe their successful by using media, even when they try to make a ‘choice' among many choices for grass root, it is like something absurd, because it seems like ice berg. It is I called by ‘circle of mass media effect'. We are in it, we don't have a choice. If we want to hit it, we will be broken by the system. So, what we do is making a good way to reconnect between government and grass root society. Once, we are so impossible to hit the system, but we have to have an alternative to make it more easily.
Students' Press as the Alternative Choice.
A good or bad the academic system of education based on what university students think. A changing is depending on them, because they have a social control and change role which brings out them to the center position between society and government. This big duty always be redefined and fulfilled in many places of university students' discussion. Soe Hok Gie, was popular by his word "lebih baik diasingkan dari pada menyerah pada kemunafikan", for the example of this case, he tried to share what actually society wants by discussion over and over, or we can look that he tried to write down his radical and critic of government policy at that moment in many column news paper, so that the government would understand well about it. A critic is needed for them (i.e. government) in order to make good governance as what many people think about it.
According to Lukman Hakim, ex-1998 activist, university student is an intellectual person not ‘road' person. It means that university students have to be what actually they are, intellectual person. As an intellectual person we talk about above, they bring many positive effect based on their background of study. The hope to make a good society based on what they think is a must to be done. This big hope can be done if many of students' elements in many parts have a same idea, a change.
An ‘invisible hand' that appears in many mass media can be completely broken by media also. As the student, we can call it be student press. Many students' press built in many universities as the social control not only local issues, university or local place, but also national issue. So that what happen in university, as the first place for student to make a social and academic change, and local area in each become an issue that important to be thought in national level.
It is so impossible to be done when student don't blow it into media, either electronic or published. As the choice, they choose student press as the other ‘movement'. It can be analyzed like Kenneth Janda and friends, "Although more people today depend on television than on newspaper for news, those with more education rely more on newspapers. Newspapers usually do a more thorough job of informing the public about politics." It is almost like what William L. Rivers and friends said.
The students' movement nowadays to bring the grass root issue is not relevant anymore when they did it in the ‘road'. As the intellectual person, as mention before, student's press, or something in written about the critic and aspiration of grass root, will be more relevant to do than that. Many discussion about grass root need also needs a same place to break the circle of media effect, created by the government or it can called by the ‘invisible hand'.
It can be more simply as, first: the student movement needs the unity of the issue, not partial. Many discussion places of them need a place to break the system, mass media effect. Second; student's press must be more attention to blow up local issue, especially grass root issue, marginalization, subordination, unfair etc. Third; the student's feeling about change just need to be unity, backed up by student's press, as the balance tool to break up the system, if it's not, we will just in the circle without knowing how to get out from the effect. Finally, "jika hatimu bergetar melihat penindasan, maka kita adalah kawan", salam persma!
(*Pemimpin Redaksi LPM DIMëNSI 2008-2009

Tag: Persma, media
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