Internet inroads challenge print media<\/p>\n
By Rachmat H. Cahyono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The revolution went on without any fuss,
\nammunition or firearms. It was a direct challenge to the
\ncontinuity of a more than 200-year-old tradition. The cause of
\nthe revolution were developments in information technology;
\nshifts which have been rapid and have penetrated into even the
\nmost intimate room in our life.<\/p>\n
Don't get it wrong. The reality is not that menacing. It is
\nnot about a threat of revolution in Indonesia. Now we are
\nentering a new phase of hope with the election of Abdurrahman
\nWahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri to the national leadership. It
\nis only a story about how the Internet became a new protagonist
\nin the development of information technology. Its presence
\nimmediately opened Pandora's Box. The face of the world has
\nchanged.<\/p>\n
Just read how the Internet conducted the silent revolution.
\nNewsweek in its Oct. 11, 1999, edition wrote a special report on
\nhow the Internet has changed our lives. Living, thinking,
\ncommunicating, expressing love, studying, earning one's bread,
\nfollowing the chances of our presidential candidate. It also is
\nrelated to smaller matters such as finding a good dentist or
\npediatrician. In short, the global phenomenon has brought us to a
\nvirtual reality that was formerly unimaginable.<\/p>\n
It is estimated that 200 million people currently surf the
\nInternet on a daily basis. In the U.S., 80 million people use the
\nInternet. China has 1.2 million Internet followers. And there are
\nestimates that subscribers in China will reach the 5 million mark
\nin 2000. In 2003, the total amount of surfers in the world will
\ntriple and become 600 million. Currently, Indonesia has only
\n250,000 Internet subscribers.<\/p>\n
A simple calculation assumes that one subscription is used by
\nthree or four people. That means in Indonesia there are only
\nabout one million Internet users. This total will increase
\nsharply in the next years. The presence of the Internet in the
\npast few years has also led the media to adopt a new term: media
\nonline. It is a new media form that uses the Internet as its
\nmedium. News can be read not only from the print media or heard
\non electronic media such as radio and television. The Internet
\ncan instantly report on the sad story of refugees in Kosovo and
\nEast Timor directly into your bedroom to give you gloomy dreams.<\/p>\n
Two or three years ago the online media here was looked upon
\nwith distrust. But today, many people rely on the sites. Some
\nwebsites like Detik.com, Mandiri-online and Kompas.com are even
\nvisited by tens of thousands of people every day.<\/p>\n
Before it goes on line, Mandiri circulated for a short time as
\nan evening newspaper under the management of The Indonesian
\nObserver, but it did not survive the competition among the
\nprint media in the post-reform period. Mandiri then started a
\ndaily on the Internet. This step proved to be correct. As
\nMandiri-online, the media outlet has subsequently progressed.<\/p>\n
Once again, the revolution of information technology through
\nthe Internet did shake the tradition of the print media, which
\nwas already unsteady on account of the development of electronic
\nmedia such as radio and television. The print media, whether they
\nlike it or not, must redefine its 200-year grip on news
\ndissemination because they are no longer the leaders in the
\nfield.<\/p>\n
The traditional institution of journalism like newspapers and
\nmagazines must inevitably watch the invasion of the \"new player\".
\nThe development of online media in the United States is
\nconsiderable -- at least if it is measured from the dwindling of
\nadvertisement revenue in the print media. A report in The
\nEconomist (XVII edition, July 1999) says that revenue from
\nadvertisements -- the backbone of U.S. newspapers -- amounted in
\n1998 to 43.9 billion dollars, an increase of 6.3 percent compared
\nto the previous year. However, the advertisement cake for the
\nwhole print media on the whole declined, from 24.4 percent to
\n21.5 percent from 1993 to 1998.<\/p>\n
The drop in newspaper circulations took place not only in
\nIndonesia, where new licenses were delayed in the wake of the
\ncollapse of the Soeharto government. Kompas reported on Oct. 3
\nthat in Britain newspaper circulations have been dwindling
\ncontinuously for the past 35 years. The same applies to France in
\nthe last 30 years. Back to the U.S.. In 1977, 67 percent of
\nAmericans read the newspaper routinely. Twenty years on, the
\nnumber was registered at 51 percent, according to a Media Usage
\nStudy conducted by the Newspaper Association of America in 1998.<\/p>\n
Considering the growth in the number of Internet users, it is
\npossible that the online media will further develop. Mainstream
\njournalism cannot disregard the readership potential from
\ninteractive media.<\/p>\n
An increasing number of young readers do not have a tradition
\nof reading the whole content of newspapers and magazines. When
\nthey do read newspapers they belong to the group of headline
\nreaders -- like many of us.<\/p>\n
This condition cannot be qualified as a bad dream for the
\nprint media. The easiest way to overcome the problem is to make
\nuse again of the developments in the available information
\ntechnology. The way out is that traditional press institutions
\nlike newspapers should also convey the contents of their
\npublications through the Internet.<\/p>\n
The model of traditional journalism still retains an
\nadvantage, though not in absolute terms. A media institution with
\na good reputation, when using the Internet, will be sought after,
\ninstead of the journalist born directly through the Internet.
\nAnother advantage is that a local newspaper making use of the
\nInternet expands its reach on a global scale. Although not
\ndirectly connected, the online media apparently subscribe to one
\nof the ideas of the green revolution: think globally, act
\nlocally.<\/p>\n
Let the online media develop. But whatever the media, the old
\nvalues of journalism should not crack in the heat, nor become
\nmoldy by rain. \"If news can no longer be trusted,\" political
\nexpert Harold J. Laski warned, \"sooner of later the people will
\nhave no basis for freedom\".<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, \"freedom\" and \"trust\" have recently become ours
\n(again). Therefore the task of the media has remained the same:
\nGive room for speaking to those who are weak and weaken those who
\ndominate the people's room for speaking.<\/p>",
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