Indramayu Journalist Forum Versus Regent and Its Political Implication Space
By: H. Adlan Daie
Political and socio-religious analyst
The demonstration by a number of journalists gathered in the Indramayu Journalist Struggle Forum (FPWI) to the “regent’s office” hall (“medialiputan6”, 3/7/2025) could cause “turbulence” and political shocks that are not simple – if faced with arrogance, or underestimated.
Teddy Roselvet, US President, early 20th century, illustrated the journalist profession as “the bully pulpit”, a bully pulpit, in addition to its natural function of spreading news, it can also disturb the peace of arrogant rulers with unexpected political implications.
The “bully” function above does not die no matter how much the era of social media narrows their public space. The latest case is the near fall of Hasan Hasbii, Head of the Presidential Communications Office, because he was arrogant and haughty in facing the “Bocor Alus” Journalist of “Tempo” Magazine.
The arrogant communication model is indeed the nature of power as Lord Acton’s dictum, “power tends to currop, absolute power, couurp absuktely”, always tends to be corrupt and excessive in wanting to “eliminate” political rivals, including the journalist community who are not his supporters.
The order letter from the Indramayu Regional Secretary (of course with permission, maybe even on the orders of the Regent) to “vacate” the Graha Pers Indramayu (GPI) Building in Noams Chomsky’s political communication theory, is a way for the authorities to show arrogance of power in political relations with the Indramayu journalist forum.
Moreover, the Lucky Hakim regime’s political communication method in dealing with diverse and different political views is very bad. Critics are always assumed and framed by supporters who act as “buzzers” to stigmatize the losing party in the regional elections to be eliminated.
Apart from the alleged political “revenge” because some journalists in the 2024 regional elections did not support Lucky Hakim, this arrogant way is what shifts the technical issue of the “Building” into an issue of resistance in order to maintain the honor and dignity of their profession as journalists.
In the history of modern politics, the function of journalism, citing the historical experience of Cultural Figure Mochtar Lubis, will never die because it is trampled on by arrogant rulers, it can actually die because it becomes an excessive “mouthpiece” of the ruler.
In that perspective, the method of anti-political communication must be carried out patiently, “smartly” and dialogically, especially with the journalist community. Journalism can be taken over its organic clothes but its spirit has never died in the history of its time.
We live in an era when information flows as hard as rain. Power will not be able to hire a crowd of “buzzers” to become “rain shamans” to prevent the flood of information.
The only way is to build communication channels so that the rain of information does not become a flood that hits the walls of power. Ambyaaar !!! **
Indramayu, July 7, 2025
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