UNAIR NEWS Arts, culture and local wisdoms should be given special place in public mass media. Not only in public broadcasting institution but also in all platform of mass media, including digital media.
It was stated by Dr. Suko Widodo, Drs, MSi after defending his dissertation entitled Colonization of Public Sphere in Public Broadcasting in Indonesia, Case Study of Local Public Broadcasting in East Java (TVRI Jatim and ATV Batu) in the open doctoral exam in FISIP UNAIR, Thursday, September 7, 2017.
Suko explained that the public sphere where people interact, share information, express their aspiration and communicates must be provided by the mass media, especially mass media included as public broadcasting institution.
淯nfortunately, we still don檛 have the ideal form of it, even in local public broadcasting institution, there檚 still limited content produced solely for the community, said the man.
Suko gave example that in some dialogue program on farming, the speaker mostly from public officials when in reality community should be given more opportunity to speak.
The program, from public broadcasting institution especially, should give more aspiration channel not only place for public officials creating their image. If it happens, it means the local public institution is already colonized by special interests.
淲hen, local public broadcasting institution must be independent, said the man known as political communication expert.
Furthermore, Suko said that public sphere must be filled with content on arts, cultures and local wisdoms, either in national mass media or regional and local. Arts, cultures and local wisdoms must be prioritized because it is where our nationalism maintain and developed. Mass media should allocate the public sphere for local content.
淢ass media in East Java for example, must give space for Tengger, Osing, Madura and other tribes in East Java to express themselves. Their cultures must be introduced to the wider society. On the other hand, local content like this can strengthen our ties as nation, said the man who had ever been in short course program in the USA (2003) and Holland (2004).
The positive contents will reduce other negative contents which are happening and even become business like Saracen.
If the arts, cultures and local wisdoms structurally and continuously put forward, hoaxes, speech of hatred and garbage information will be prevented. The government and society must create synergy to do it because the aspiration to create ideal public sphere in mass media is our responsibility. (*)
Author: Rio F. Rachman
Editor: Defrina Sukma S
