Internet News and Media in Indonesia

Do you often read news on internet? I bet you do and most of you say yes about this question. Based on survey "Habits of Reading Indonesian News 2017" held by Jajakpendapat.net, the majority of Indonesians get their information via internet. Whether it’s through an application on a smartphone, or by accessing news websites and social media. Another data from Aseanup.com which states that internet user are prioritizes mobile devices reaching 61%, and note around 75.6% of mobile internet users in Indonesia read news on cellphones.

Due to the research, this morning I would like to share 3 factors that make online news website is not reliable.

The first reason is hoax. In this development era, a lot of people search some news through internet because they can access it very easy. Unfortunately, Indonesian society prefers up to date news with bombastic headlines. Therefore, there are many hoax news spread on social media because Indonesian society do not filter the news that is obtained and directly share the social media.

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According to DailySocial.id, respondents shared more article links online via Facebook (44.86%) and WhatsApp Group (28.85%), rather than via Twitter (11.76%). Some of them even just read the headline without seeing the news content before sharing it to social media. Furthermore, hoaxes can be utilized by a group of people to spread false news. Therefore, some online news website take advantage of this opportunity to gain profits and soared the name of website that they built. The second reason is Indonesian culture that lazy to read.

Reading is one activity that can improve people’s mindsets to be step ahead. However, most people in Indonesia are lazy to read books.

Nowadays, our generation wants everything to be fast or instant and begin to do not appreciate the process. According to Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), that released the literacy ratings of world countries in March 2016, Indonesia was ranked 60 out of 61 from countries that surveyed. Indonesian people mostly read news in the media without verifying and confirming the truth of the news. Therefore, Indonesian people easily believe in hoaxes that uploaded in the media. The third reason is most media reports the news upload exaggerated. Nowadays, online news website now offers some news that makes people interested reading the news. Moreover, lots of news circulating in the media and some articles have title that are not related to the content of the news itself or called click bait, there are also news that still false alarm. Likewise, many journalists who are less able to write accurate information and data, even add author’s opinion that are not actually in the data. Sometimes, online news did not include the name of the news writer. It aims to attract people’s interest to read the news that made, so that people are trust the news.

To summarize the 3 factors mentioned above, the majority of news portals are oriented to bring as many visitors as possible, and it is undeniable that articles with bombastic and provocative titles are one of the best-selling types of news on the market. Therefore, news today is hard to believe. Even though, people in this era must be smart to choose the news that is presented. Society should not take it raw without looking at the background of news issues. It can be hope for journalists to improve their competence in writing and try to think objectively when posting some news in media.