By: Ignatius Haryanto, journalism lecturer at Nusantara Multimedia University, Serpong, Indonesia.
The next generation of news consumers in Indonesia do not trust the media. Fixing these problems may require rethinking how news is written and delivered.
Almost four out of ten people avoided the news. Some don’t use news at all, while others limit themselves to certain topics. People who avoid news prefer more positive journalism, or solution-based journalism, and are less interested in news.
In Indonesia, the exclusion of news is also happening. Looking at the cause and effect that democracy will have if it continues is a fascinating question.
Indonesia has a literacy rate of 96 percent. But fewer read the news. A survey found that 43.52 percent of household members read newspapers or magazines and only 22.05 percent read news or articles on electronic media/internet.
In the context of the Edelman Trust Barometer 2024, Indonesia has 70 percent trust in the media. It will be considered less.
The report highlights that active media is not trusted by the public and most institutions, including the media, are not trusted to introduce innovations to the public. Therefore, the level of trust of 70 percent falls below the desired threshold for instilling trust and accepting innovation, but it is still good enough for news to be a reliable source of information.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also contributed to the suppression of news. With the outside world largely closed off, people spend more time in front of screens. This has created news fatigue itself, with mainstream media and social media.
Indonesia does not just avoid the news. The Digital News 2022 report states that the phenomenon of news avoidance is increasing in many countries. In Brazil and the UK, the figure has doubled (54 percent in Brazil and 46 percent in the UK) over the past five years. Many of the surveyed respondents mentioned that the news has a negative effect on their mood.
The same report also states that young people and people with no formal education say they avoid the news because it is difficult to understand. This suggests that the media should simplify the language they use when writing news or the news should be better explained, perhaps by contextualizing complex stories.
Meanwhile, the Digital News Report in 2021 stated that the avoidance of news in the US increased significantly after the election of President Joe Biden as the American president, especially from conservatives.
We often hear “the media is the fourth pillar of democracy”, and the reader is one of the life supporters of the media. Journalism and democracy are intertwined. Therefore, the presence of news readers is part of the equation to maintain democracy.
Avoiding the news is a phenomenon that should be taken seriously because the media is considered irrelevant by those who avoid the news.
To stay relevant, the author of Avoiding the News mentions five suggestions for editors: Check how the news is received by consumers; take community and identity more seriously; pay attention to packaging and distribution issues for those who avoid news; improve literacy on the importance of news and the value of journalism; and again emphasize the value of newsrooms and maintain professional standards.
So, the blame is irresponsible for the young audience that avoids the news, but this is a good moment for the media to pay attention to young people, in terms of the choice of topics raised and also the way the news is reported. given to them.
When these two things are fixed, it is possible that news evasion will decrease in the future and democracy will be secure.
Originally published on Creative Commons by 360info™.
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