Homeward-bound travel

Homeward-bound travel

From Media Indonesia

The media often say that one minute of television broadcast costs several thousand U.S. dollars, emphasizing that television reports must therefore be useful and efficient. What you actually see on television tells a different story.

Every year, two weeks before and after the holidays (Christmas, New Year and Idul Fitri) television stations broadcast special reports on homeward and city bound travelers on a daily basis. Each television station must spend more than one hour a day on such programming.

What is the use of such reports? It is a waste of time on things people already know. Everyone knows that every year during those holidays the flow of travelers going to their home towns and returning to the city is enormous, so it is always difficult to find tickets for buses and trains. There is really nothing new to report.

I have observed that one of the television stations is very fanatic in presenting this stale news. By its concentration on those homeward bound travelers it neglects the great number of news items which are more useful for viewers. This station may think that this is too much like hard work, and that it is much easier to cover the movements of the travelers.

From the aspect of broadcasting it is inefficient and unprofessional. In this globalization era efficiency and professionalism are absolute requirements for survival.

M. TANJUNG

Jakarta