Media trends feed insensitivity<\/p>\n
By Akhmad Zaini Abar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Goenawan Mohammad, one time chief editor of the
\nnow defunct Tempo magazine, says "blank spot cultivation" has
\nbecome a major objective of politics.<\/p>\n
This strategy causes people to become unmindful of past
\nincidents, behavior, activities and mistakes. Its purpose is to
\neradicate common knowledge of historical slights, so that the
\npublic loses its sensitivity to the significance of events and
\nthus its analytical memory.<\/p>\n
Goenawan, who quoted heavily from the writing of Milan
\nKundera, said it is imperative to fight the blank spot strategy
\nbecause its leads to disregard of important objectives and an
\nimpervious insensitivity in society.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, the printed media functioned as memory aids,
\nways of focusing public opinion.<\/p>\n
In communication terminology, the theory of "agenda setting"
\nexists in relation to mass communication.<\/p>\n
This theory has it that the media can list various subjects
\nthat are, broadly speaking, close to the public. Focusing on
\nthese subjects means that what is important to the media, the
\nview the media take of events and situations, will soon become
\nvitally important to the public. On the other hand, what the
\nmedia deem unimportant will sooner or later become insignificant
\nto the public.<\/p>\n
This has made the media a powerful shaper of public opinion, a
\nforce to be reckoned with from the political point of view.<\/p>\n
However, a new trend has developed which, surprisingly, has
\nits roots, not in politics, but in the field of multi-media,
\nwhich covers both the press and the electronic media.<\/p>\n
A problem to be confronted if this trend continues is that the
\nfocus created by the traditional media list is lost. Reports
\nappear in newspapers, magazines and on television and radio,
\nwhich hop from one issue to the next without pause or much
\nanalysis. Incident after incident, personality after personality
\ncome into the spotlight of the media only to fade and be replaced
\nby some other topic.<\/p>\n
For instance, for well over a year we have been assaulted with
\na rapid barrage of subjects in the local media. We have read
\nreports on both cement and paper price hikes, immediately
\nfollowed with news of the demise of a famous star, then reports
\nof murder and gang rape, as well as the illegal distribution of
\nthe drug Ecstasy.<\/p>\n
Then more reports, each on a vastly different subject in rapid
\nsuccession, such as the release of political prisoners and the
\nrevival of the old revolution fund rumors. Then there was the
\nmedia uproar over "formless organizations" and the new left, not
\nto mention the news of promotions and other changes within the
\nstructure of the Army, reports on the political atmosphere among
\nthe elite and the degeneration of sports nationwide.<\/p>\n
Then there were reports on natural disasters, corruption, the
\nfertilizer crisis, daily workers' wages, the conflict within
\nNahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, the
\nintroduction of a "national car" and the formation of the
\nIndependent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP). The list is
\nendless.<\/p>\n
Note the sudden switch from subject to subject, giving the
\npublic hardly any time at all to digest the news, or to evaluate
\nthe significance of issues, or incidents. Note also, the lack of
\nconsistent concern about these events voiced in the media.<\/p>\n
The periods of attention and concentration spent on any
\nsubject by the public are equivalent to the time spent on
\ncompiling the story. The media gauges the public's attention and
\nconcentration on a given subject. This is then reflected in the
\nintensity of story coverage.<\/p>\n
The above illustrates that the media no longer functions as a
\nnews channel and opinion maker. Instead, the media has been
\ntransformed into a mechanism, which creates and nurtures blank
\nspots in the collective mind and memory of the public. Issues
\nemerge and fade, information is widely available, but there is no
\nfocus or analysis and, thus, no solid memory of major problems,
\nissues and incidents. People no longer find their concerns voiced
\non the pages of daily newspapers and they lose focus on important
\nissues.<\/p>\n
To quote Goenawan Mohamad again, the social implication of
\nthis trend is that the media will no longer be capable of
\ncreating social solidarity. On the contrary, it will feed the
\nsense of indifference in society. The view that the media is a
\nmeeting ground for various individuals, living geographically
\napart under different socioeconomic conditions, should be
\nreconsidered.<\/p>\n
The media, which used to have a positive hand in molding the
\nopinion of the people, is now creating a public infested with
\nblank spots in its collective memory, a public which does not
\nfocus on or remember problems, issues, incidents, nor concerns.
\nIn short, the public opinion being formed by the media now is apt
\nto be a vacuous one, holding no memory of history. The public
\nwill grow ahistorical.<\/p>\n
People who exist on an elevated economy level, and those who
\nenjoy a higher education and belong to an affluent society, have
\nmore access to the media. They are well read, they own a radio
\nand television. Part of this group has access to Internet. It is
\na group that could be called "media people" due to extensive,
\nimmediate access to all sorts of information.<\/p>\n
They are categorized into the middle level income range and
\nare often said to be strategically vulnerable to change. But, can
\nthis presumption be maintained if this group of people, wittingly
\nor unwittingly, has become ahistorical?<\/p>\n
Now it seems that no political knowledge is necessary to
\ncreate a blank spot infested public. All that is necessary is to
\nwiden the media's opportunity to file reports on an endless
\nstream of topics, issues, incidents, or prevailing concerns.<\/p>\n
The result will be a mockery of liberated mass communication.<\/p>\n
The writer is a researcher on press affairs at the Yogyakarta
\nInstitute for Research, Education and Publishing.<\/p>",
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