Author: Jacob Ereste
Freelance Journalist
The phenomenon of the bankruptcy of mainstream media is indeed worrying for the establishment of democracy, not only in Indonesia. This is because the decline in reader interest in mainstream media has indeed occurred throughout the world. Therefore, the shift in reader interest from mainstream media to digital-based media should be responded to more wisely. Unfortunately, the competent party for the main media, the Ministry of Communication and Digital in Indonesia, seems to have no special attention to development efforts to advance digital-based media as the best alternative to replace the function and role of mainstream media.
Efforts to foster, train and develop a digital-based media governance system are increasingly urgent so that it does not develop wildly, causing unproductive — negative — access so that not only is it not optimal in providing benefits to the people, but it must be anticipated immediately before it causes many victims. And the rampant hoax news, online gambling, fraud and various crimes committed through digital media have disturbed the community. Therefore, prevention efforts must immediately become the government’s concern, especially from the Ministry of Communication and Digital which seems to be doing little.
The wave of layoffs (Termination of Employment) of a number of mainstream media workers can have a serious impact, as shown by media workers who act as buzzers as suspected by the Attorney General’s Office of obstructing the ongoing investigation and law enforcement process. From empirical experience like that, it would be good for the Ministry of Communication and Digital to seek a way out to play an active role in overcoming the problem of layoffs of press personnel by utilizing professional workers in the press sector to fill the public relations formation – communication, publication and information from various ministries and institutions in the government, so that the public’s right to obtain information – as well as publication and community can continue to be healthy and provide many benefits.
The Ministry’s website in the Red and White Cabinet is clearly not enough to provide much information, especially for the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Communication and Digital which can be checked until today do not provide much information that can be obtained.
What seems very excessive since 2024 is the news from the Police. Starting from the central level (Headquarters) to the lowest level unit in the sector (Babinsa) who also participate in people’s activities in the villages. Starting from Posyandu, joint harvesting and cleaning water channels for rice fields are boisterous on internet-based social media.
It seems that the real steps of the Ministry of Communication and Digital need to initiate new breakthroughs to empower human resources who have been laid off from press companies to strengthen the public relations sector of various ministries and institutions within the government, as an effort to help overcome the problem of layoffs that have occurred in almost all companies due to economic pressures that have not improved. Apart from that, the Ministry of Communication and Digital needs to make some kind of refreshing effort in the media sector which is continuing to shift from the old model — maenstrem — to internet-based digital (online) media governance which needs to have a new format and management system.
At least, so that the general public does not need to ask uncertainly about the function and role of the Ministry of Communication and Digital which is very much needed for the community to get real benefits. Especially in the bankruptcy of the mainstream media which also adds to the wave of layoffs in the current uncertain economic conditions to enter the era of internet-based digital media as we are forced to choose now.
Banten, May 15, 2025
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