Vol. 4, No. 2, November 2015 ISSN InterAct. Journal on Communication

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1 Vol. 4, No. 2, November 2015 ISSN InterAct Journal on Communication Penasihat Dr A. Prasetyantoko, M.Sc Pemimpin Redaksi Dr. Nia Sarinastiti, M.A. Editor Drs. Embu Henriquez, M.Si Natalia Widiasari, SIP, M.Si Satria Kusuma Fajar Mahardika, S.Sos, M.Si Isabella Astrid Siahaya, SE, M.Si Sekretaris Andina Dwifatma, M.Si Mitra Bestari Prof. Dr. Aloisius Agus Nugroho (Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Jakarta) Prof. Dr. Herbert W. Simmons (Temple University, Pennsylvania, USA) Dr. Tanete A. Pong Masak (Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Jakarta) Dr. Y.M. Dorien Kartikawangi, M.Si (Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, Jakarta) Dr. Ir. Firman Kurniawan, M.Si (Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta) Dr. Hifni Alifahmi, M.Si (Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta) Dr. Phil. Lukas Ispandriarno, M.A. (Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta) Alamat Redaksi Fakultas Ilmu Administrasi Bisnis dan Ilmu Komunikasi Program Studi Ilmu Komunikasi Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya Gedung C Lantai 1 Jalan Jendral Sudirman Kav. 51, Jakarta, Indonesia Telp./Fax: (021) komunikasiuaj@gmail.com/ sarinastiti@yahoo.com Website:

2 DAFTAR ISI Measuring the Relationship Maintenance Strategies through PT Pertamina (Persero) Website: Marsefio Sevyone Luhukay The Impact of Diversity in Information Society to Consumers...25 Rahmanita Ginting The Role of Social Media in Developing Nonprofit Brand: A Case Study on Akademi Berbagi...42 Danasmoro Brahmantyo Analisis Semiotika Roland Barthes pada Jurnalisme Online...61 Dudi Sabil Iskandar dan Rini Lestari The Utilization of Media Advertising of Giant Supermarket as an Information Source...88 Erna Mariana dan Bida Sari The Modernization of Election Campaigns and Its Research Opportunities in Indonesia s Direct Elections Era...98 Salvatore Simarmata Interact - Journal on Communication, terbit dua kali dalam satu tahun yaitu bulan Mei dan November. Tahun pertama terbit adalah Diterbitkan oleh Program Studi Ilmu Komunikasi, Fakultas Ilmu Administrasi Bisnis dan Ilmu Komunikasi

3 Measuring the Relationship Maintenance Strategies through PT Pertamina (Persero) Website: Marsefio Sevyone Luhukay ABSTRACT Internet, as a two way communications media provides an interactive and easier way for Public Relations to reach their public. Starting from the internet, , website, blog, were created, and so did the social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Path, Instagram. Social media helps people to create, share, and publish various contents through online media. Social media also provides people to communicate in two way, maintaining their relationships. To maintain the relationships with the public, Public Relations needs to create a certain way of communicating that will show their good intent. Linda Hon and James Grunig (1999), created a theory about relationship maintenance strategies for Public Relations in order to create and maintain the relationship well. We could see the relationships between Public Relations and their public through the website. This research explains the website contain of PT Pertamina (Persero), The Best BUMN Website of To be specific, this research s main topic is Measuring the Relationship Maintenance Strategies through PT Pertamina (Persero) Website. This Research using quantitative content analysis method with the Holsti Formula. The results was measured by the indicators as following: (1) Access, (2) Positivity, (3) Openness, (4) Assurances, (5) Networking, (6) Sharing of Task. Those six indicators used to help Public Relations shows the corporate consistency in maintaining relationships with its differences publics through the internet including the corporate website. Keywords: Content Analysis, Corporate Website, Public Relations, Relationship Maintenance Strategies, PT Pertamina (Persero) Interact: Vol.4, No.2, Hal November 2015 Prodi Ilmu Komunikasi, Unika Atma Jaya The paper won the Corporate Communication category at the 2015 International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communication (ICCOMAC) conducted by the School of Communication, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in October The writer is a Communication Science Lecturer at the Faculty of Communication Science, Petra Christian University, and can be reached at marsefio@petra.ac.id. t Studi Ilmu Komunikasi, Fakultas Ilmu Administrasi Bisnis dan Ilmu Komunikasi 1

4 1. INTRODUCTION Website is one of the communication media to bridge functions of communications or deliver a message from the organization to its public. The Role of Public Relations Practitioners is highly demanded at this time to master the cyber technology. The presence of the Internet has made the world no longer in a distance. Its presence changes the way audience use the media. This opens up a new understanding of conditions for business and Public Relations practitioners, to reinvent how to manage and maintain reputation. This approach named as Cyber PR. Using the internet technology, it presents media with other platforms, namely online media. So, PR professionals now use digital media, which is electronic media with internet network as a medium to organize communication, build and maintain relationships with their public. In a thesis entitled Can PR 2.0 Be Explained?, explains that PR 2.0 is a practical way for professional Public Relations in creating social networks by utilizing an Internet-based electronic media (Popova, 2012). PR 2.0 exists when the creations of new tools to reinvent how companies communicate and affect directly at people with multimedia (Solis and Breakenridge, 2009). This progress is not just talking about changing PR s way to communicate from traditional to digital way, but also implies the fact that everyone can have a profile on the internet that is unique and dominant. The Internet is a two-way communication media, so it can reach the public more easily and improve the relationship for the better (Breakenridge, 2008, p.13-14). Starting from the internet, then came e - mail, web, blog, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter and so on. Social media can be classified as communications media person to create, share, and publish an online content (Solis and Breakenridge, 2009). Social media also has the capacity of two-way communication, enabling users to establish relationships in both directions. Online Public Relations (PR) is a Public Relations practice, which involves digital media with Internet technology to manage communication and to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics (Heath, 2005). The new digital media have dialogical, interactive, relational, and global properties that make them particularly suitable for strategic management paradigm of Public Relations (Grunig, 2009, p.6) Public Relations who use Internet in their PR activities, will able to reach a wider public. Besides, the element of transparency would also be raised too. Each side of the company can be known by the public with ease, especially if the company already has its 2

5 own website or corporate website. The public will be able to actively and freely understand the company profile and better control of product knowledge of the company. In contrast, conventional manners can only be performed, limited to events or special events held which have limitations in time interaction between the public corporate parties. There are several benefits of online media presence-based digital communication is for Public Relations, among others: Real time, because the communication activities can be done quickly, communication is constant, because the use of the Internet and the Internet can be equalized to a secretary who never slept for 24 hours and with a potential target audience worldwide, Interactive, due to the use of digital communication allow two-way communication, because the public can provide feedback directly and quickly, No boundaries, because there would be no communication within the limits of digital communication so that it can connect to anywhere as long as there is internet network, Multi-media, digital communication can present information to the public by combining a variety of media such as writing (script), pictures (graphics), and sound (audio), even the audio-visual (movie, video) in one unit. Economical. Communication using the Internet to reach out to a broad public is cheaper than conventional media. 2. LITERATURE AND THEORY 2.1. Relationship Maintenance Strategies in Public Relations Perspective In the realm of Public Relations, Relationship maintenance strategies can be used as one way to measure or evaluate the work of public relations practitioners. Relationship Maintenance strategies is one of the core research on the relationship that explains the communication methods used by public relations to build a new relationship with the public and face the pressures and conflicts that occur in all types of relationships ( Grunig and Hon, 1999, p ). Two PR figures namely Hon and Grunig (1999) outlines some of the indicators in relationship maintenance strategies, namely access, positivity, openness, assurances, networking, sharing of tasks Website Websites or sites can be defined as a collection of pages that are used to display text information, images, animations, sounds, or a combination of all of them, whether they 3

6 are static (stationary) or dynamic (moving) to form a series of interrelated, each of which is connected with tissues pages (Hidayat, 2010, p. 2). Web sites or can be defined as a collection of pages that are used to display information, images, motion pictures, sound, or a combination off all, whether they are static or dynamic that formed a series of interconnected buildings where each connected by links. In the era of the web allows the message is no longer running in the same direction but it is interactive. Through online, good or bad image can be displayed and any person or institution can suddenly attacked or also received support from the public. The benefit of web for Public Relations is able to perform searches directly and immediately about what is done by competitors, knowing the opposite opinion and the opinion of the public. Additionally PR can also use virtual web for marketing, distribution, , discussion group, discussion among fellow internet users like a discussion between the members of the PR profession. 3. METHOD 3.1. Research Aim and Objectives Value Assessment. The coding results of all categories in relationship maintenance strategies was based on the sum of the values obtained from each of the above categories. Number of displayed features in the website and a statement in the article websites which become the indicator in measuring the categories above was be calculated and summarized. The results of the assessment show how PT Pertamina using relationship maintenance strategies in the website to communicate with the public and whether this corporate website has been able to serve as a bridge of communication and a symmetrical two-way between the company and the public. The type of this research is descriptive research with quantitative content analysis method. According to Ulber Silalahi (2009, p.28), descriptive research is research that accurately describes the characteristics of a phenomenon or problem studied, as well as trying to uncover how it came to convey the facts with clear, thorough, and complete data. Descriptive research related to the frequency, number, and characteristics of the phenomenon under research. Descriptive research only describes a situation or event and does not look for explanations of the relationship, and does not test hypotheses or make predictions (Ardianto, 2010, p. 49). Puspowarsito (2008) concluded that the purpose of descriptive research is to 4

7 create a picture of systematic, factual and accurate information on the facts and the properties of an object of a particular research (p. 30). Mayer and Greenwood (1983, p.52) distinguishes descriptive quantitative research with qualitative descriptive. According to them, quantitative description presents a more advanced stage of observation, measuring the properties of members of specific groups with the help of statistical techniques. Meanwhile, according to Ardianto (2010), descriptive research is a research that simply provides a description or a description of the variables of a phenomenon under research (p.48). The method used in this research is descriptive content analysis method, this methods used to research and analyze communications systematically, objectively and quantitatively to the message shown (Berelson and Kerlinger in Macnamara, 2005, p.2) Unit of Analysis The unit of analysis is the smallest unit in the content analysis research to be analyzed. Determination of the unit of analysis in content analysis research is very important because the unit of analysis determines what aspects of content viewed, studied, and used to infer the contents of the text (Eriyanto, 2013, p.59). The analysis unit consists of two major parts, namely the sample unit and the recording unit. The sample unit is part of the object chosen by the researcher to be explored. While the recording unit is part of the content aspect relied upon in recording the contents (Eriyanto, 2013, p.61). This research used a sample unit in the form of website content While the recording unit is relationship maintenance strategies in a feature appearance and content of information on the corporate website The analysis of the features of relationship maintenance strategies was performed on the home page. Recording unit can be divided again into five types of units of analysis. The type of recording unit in this research is thematic analysis unit. Thematic Unit is a unit of analysis is seeing a theme or topic of a text. In her analysis, the researcher associated between one and another word, sentence and other sentences, and the linkages between paragraphs so that it can conclude the notion or idea of a text. In order to reduce the difference between the coder assessment, the researchers split the text into several sections, namely in the form of sentences and paragraphs fit different themes in the text (Eriyanto, 2013, p. 85). 5

8 3.3. Data Collection Technique In this research, researcher used data collection techniques by observing the content of the corporate website of PT Pertamina ( Observation method is a method of data collection used to collect research data through researcher s observation senses. This research used this type of observation structured or systematic observation, where the researcher has to know what aspect or activity was observed, and relevant to the issues and research purposes. With a structured observation method, researchers can more freely determine what behavior was observed at the initial stage of observation so that the problems can be solved (Ardianto, 2010, p. 165). Researcher also collected data through research documentation to find the data in the form of notes, transcripts, books, newspapers, magazines, and so on, including through the relics of written archives and data of other literary reference related and useful in this research (Nawawi 2005, p. 133) Data Analysis Technique The process of analysis or data processing is the process of simplifying and organizing the raw data into a form that is easy to read and understand (Silalahi, 2009, p. 319 ). Stages of data analysis in this research is as follows: a. Classify websites into subject categories, namely the type of information displayed b. Analyzing each element in the elements of the website and sort by category that have been made in the sheet coding. Coding or coding were done by giving the numbers in each category indicator where the purpose of coding is to facilitate data analysis using statistics and computer. c. Researcher combined the data findings in the form of graphs and tables that can be more easily understood and then draw conclusions from these findings Reliability and Validity Test Reliability is an index that indicates the extent to which a measuring instrument can be trusted or relied upon (Ardianto, 2010, p.189). A research said to be reliable if the same measurement on the same data would lead to the conclusion or the same end result. There are two ways to test the reliability of the content analysis, namely the reliability of intracoder and intercoder reliability (Wimmer & Dominick, 2005, p.159). Intercoder reliability refers to the degree of agreement between two independent coders to code the same content using the 6

9 same coding instrument. Results were tested in the coding formula calculation reliability. While intracoder reliability refers to the reliability test conducted by the researchers themselves with coding data that has been found twice at different times (Wimmer & Dominick, 2005, p.159) This research used intercoder reliability by appointing a judge. Judges who have been going to test the reliability of the categories in the coding sheet that has been determined is the same way that has been done by researchers. Then from both the reliability test results were known how many were approved jointly by investigators and judges (Bungin, 2001, p. 216). According to Kaid and Wadsworth (1989), the criteria of the selected judges must have experience in conducting research and analysis of the contents come from the same educational background with researchers (in Eriyanto, 2013, p. 285 ). The researcher was coders A and Indira Siedharta, Fikom 6th semester student, who has made several studies of quantitative content analysis was coder coding B. Results of investigators and judges were tested using formula Holsti (in Eriyanto, 2013, p. 290 Formula Holsti introduced by Ole Holsti (1969) was chosen by the researcher because the formula allows the possibility of similarity between the coder. In formula Holsti minimum tolerable reliability figure is 0.7. So, if the calculation results of reliability test scores of 0.7 or greater, then the measuring instrument in this research can be said to be reliable (in Eriyanto, 2013, p.290). In addition to reliability test, researchers also need to test the validity of the content analysis research. Validity is a research degree to which an instrument can actually measure the concept to be measured (Wimmer & Dominick, 2005, p. 159). Validity is very important in the analysis of the contents because the validity guarantee whether measuring instrument used is valid and can assure the quality of research findings. In content analysis, the validity of the test is closely related to procedures performed in the research. This research used a face validity or the validity of the advance, which assumes that if the categories set researcher compliance, defined satisfactorily, and content analysis procedures carried out appropriately, the research declared valid. Validity advance to make sure that the measures being taken in accordance with what is to be measured. To determine whether the measuring instrument used in this research has met the elements of validity of advance or not, the researcher could see and check in books, journals, and conferences organized by the scientific community in the areas studied, and as certain whether the measuring instruments 7

10 used have been received by the scientific community as a valid measuring tool (Eriyanto, 2013, p. 262). 4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION 4.1. Findings This research takes the subject content of the website of PT Pertamina (http: // which is one that won the award for the state-owned enterprise (BUMN) that has the best web communication for the category in ( This research was conducted over three months, in June, July and August Website content five things seen through the content, navigation, accessibility, aesthetics, and Actuality. Through content analysis method to contribute to the field of public relations in order to determine the application of theory to practice in more detail. Krippendorff and Eleey said that content analysis can provide advice to forward to the company, and can help improve the effectiveness of the strategy (Panvlik, 1987; Widodo, 2005). Starting from the concept research of interpersonal relationships, Hon & Grunig (1999), and then apply them to maintain relationships with the public organizations in the context of public relations communications are symmetrical Content Analysis of Pertamina Website ( Figure 4.1 The Top Panel on Pertamina s Website Homepage (September 2015) - Flash Banner (A collection of images which can scroll through automatically based on the settings) 8

11 Figure 4.2 The Flash Banner on the Main Page of Pertamina s Website (September 2015) - The Mid Panel Figure 4.3 The Mid Panel on the Main Page of Pertamina s Website (September 2015) - The Bottom Panel Figure 4.4 The Bottom Panel on the Main Page of Pertamina swebsite (September 2015) 9

12 Pertamina s Website has two languages, namely Indonesia, and there is an option for English. Analysis starts from the Indonesian version because of the direction the home page of this website are directed straight to Indonesian version as follows: Version Indonesian: Display which dominates the upper-middle presented with Flash Banner (A collection of images which can scroll through automatically based on the settings). Flash Banner contains three programs namely Ayo Kerja, Achieve energy independence for 70 Years of Indonesia Independence, Recruitment Fraud Alert Notices on behalf of Pertamina, and Wins 4 Proper Emas Ciptakan Lingkungan Selaras. There are 3 sides (top, middle, bottom) panel in order to orientate to the information, programs, certain products. In the researcher s search, the mid panel directs to Highlight, Our Business and Investor Relations. Highlight display the price of LPG filling plant station / agent, BBK price list, a list of gas stations Test Market Pertalite. On Our Business featuring the upstream, downstream and consumer products. While on the Investor Relations provides information on the company's financial and operating performance. All can focus well on this panel. In the bottom panel shows about contact Pertamina consisting of Pertamina official telephone number ( ) as well as Pertamina s official social media Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Additionally at the bottom panel is also divided into several types of navigation menu choice that leads to our website, Tool, Announcement, Network and Career. Our Website menu consists of the Terms & Privacy, Privacy Policy, Beware of Fraud, Social Media and Public Information. For Privacy Policy, Beware of Fraud and Public Information can be directed to the either page related information. But the Terms & Privacy and Social Media cannot be directed to the either page related information. Tools menu consists of Webmail, I-Serv, gas stations s applications, Pertamina Clean and HSSE Database. For Webmail, Application filling stations, Pertamina Clean and HSSE Database can be directed to the page related information. But the I-Serve cannot be directed to the page related information. Announcement menu consists of Pertamina s info, Procurement, Notifications, and E-Procurement. For Pertamina s info, Procurement and E-Procurement can be directed to the page related information. But the notices cannot be directed to the page related information. 10

13 The Network menu consists of the Company Subsidiary, Cooperation Operation, Address, and Product Distribution. For submenu the menu this network can all be directed to the page related information. Career menu consists of Working at Pertamina, Why Pertamina and Career Opportunities. For submenu on the menu this career can all be directed to the page related information. Figure 4.5.Pertamina s Company Profile Website (September 2015) The second Sub Main Panel on the Company Profile Is: - Visi dan Misi (Vision and Mission). Both Indonesian and English versions on the sub panel appears properly managed in accordance with the relevant information. The third Sub Main Panel on the Company Profile is: - Sejarah Pertamina (Pertamina History). Both Indonesian and English versions on the sub panel appears properly managed in accordance with the relevant information. The fourth Sub Main Panel on the Company Profile is: - Pedoman Tata Kelola Perusahaan (Corporate Governance Guidelines). Both Indonesian and English versions on the sub panel appears properly managed in accordance with the relevant information. The fifth Sub Main Panel on the Company Profile is: - Manajemen (Management). Both Indonesian and English versions on the sub panel appears properly managed in accordance with the relevant information. 11

14 4.2. Discussion From the content analysis performed quantitatively on the Pertamina s website content, on six indicators namely Access, Positivity, Openess, Assurances, Networking and Sharing of Tasks, following results are obtained: Tabel 4.2. Researcher s and Judge Codings PT PERTAMINA Indicator Frequency Sum A+B Coder A Coder B * Access Positivity Openness Assurances Networking Sharing of Tasks Frequency TOTAL 300 *Coder B as judge The coding results of researcher and the judge tested with the Holsti formula (in Eriyanto, 2013, p. 290): Explanation: CR = Coefficient Reliability or reliability between coder M = The amount of approved statement by Coder A and Coder B N1 = The amount of coding statement which Coder A give N2 = The amount of coding statement which Coder B give 12

15 Thus, from the calculations of the two tables above, the researchers conducted Holsti reliability test with the following formula: Coefficient Reliability = 2 (The amount of approved statement by Coder A and Coder B) Coding Summary of Coder A + Coder B = 2 (147) 300 = 0,98 Reliability coefficient results from the calculations of Holsti Formula is The figure exceeded the minimum reliability tolerated in formula Holsti, namely 0.7. That means measuring instrument or coding sheet compiled by the researcher considered reliable. This means that if the same category used to analyze the same message, gave the same results with what the researcher obtained Data Analysis Table 1: Data Analysis Results Indicator Dimension PERTAMINA Frequency A B Access: Impartial Communications Channel Date Update 0 0 Search Feature 1 1 Language Options 2 2 Address Telephone 1 1 Fax 0 0 Facebook 1 1 Twitter 1 1 Other Social Media 1 1 Streaming

16 Whistleblowing System 1 1 Call Center Question and Answers 1 (Handled by VP, Corpcomm, Appear repeatedly) 1 (inside the magazine) 1 (Handled by VP, Corpcomm, Appear repeatedly) 1 (inside the magazine) Direct Face to Face 0 0 Positivity: Positive items shown Online Newsletter 0 0 Press release Video 1 1 Photo Service Shown 2 2 Product Displayed 3 3 Company s Philanthropy 0 0 Company s Publication 1 1 Openness: Openness of mind and feeling with the public Logo Meaning 0 0 Organization Profile 1 1 Organization History 1 1 Organization Activities (calendar of event) 0 0 Annual book report 1 1 Assurances: Things that has been done to show commitment Tagline 0 0 Organization Vision and Mission 1 1 Organization Structure 1 (Anonymous) 1 (Anonymous) Good Corporate Governance 4 4 The Guarantee Given to Public 5 5 Values 6 6 Networking: Network build with Public Figure 0 0 Investor Relations

17 the public Stakeholder Placement in website tab menu 1 1 Shows Program with stakeholders 0 0 Sharing of Task: Together in problem solving Resolves Communities Issues 3 3 Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility s Report 0 0 Provide works 3 3 Company Product / Service Innovation 2 2 Generate Profit Access In this research Access is a feature provided by the Company or public relations or senior managers to provide impartial access to the public to be involved in the decisionmaking process. Dimensions: Update date, Feature Search, Language Options, Address, E- mail, Telephone, Fax, Facebook, Twitter, Social media, Streaming, Whistleblowing System, Call Center, Question and Answers, Direct Face to face. Example of Access on PT. Pertamina s Website: 2. Positivity Any public or organization do will make the relationship will be more convenient for both parties involved. Application of the strategy ever undertaken by the agency's CEO is to be the source of all of the public in various ways, shapes, and text. They 15

18 do provide a newsletter on the website, the services provided inside, and the interaction with the public or the public. All is done to try to become a trusted information provider for anyone. Positivity is a motivating factor the emergence of trust, quality control, and a sense of love in a relationship. Positivity is also a factor that encourages the emergence of trust, quality control, and a sense of love in a relationship (Hon & Grunig, 1999, p. 14). Dimensions: online newsletter, press release, Videos, Photos, Services Shown, Products displayed, Company s Philanthropy, Company s Publications. Example of Positivity Placement: Press Release 3. Openness Through the openness of mind and a feeling of freedom of a relationship of related parties. This indicator becomes the main character in communication behaviors that can build trust in both the internal and organizational relationship with the public. In its application to the realm of public relations, this strategy includes openness about the condition of the organization, something of value to the public such as profiles, activities, annual report. Essentially the organization s two-way communication indicates the openness of the company to the public and businesses to attract the public openly about their thoughts and feelings. 16

19 Dimensions: Logo meaning, organization s profile, organization s history, organizational activities (calendar of events), Annual book report. Example of Openness Placement: (Annual Report) 4. Assurances Efforts of relationships maintainer to ensure other parties that their interests are legitimate and logical. This strategy also includes party trade shows maintainer relationship to commit to maintaining existing relationships. In practice, these efforts will result in the public commitment of the organization as well. Dimensions : Tagline, Organization s Vision and Mission, Organization s Structures, Good Corporate Governance, Guarantee Given to Public, Values 17

20 Example of Assurances Placement: 5. Networking The organization build a network coalitions with groups involved or interested, such as the environmental groups activities, labor groups or community organizations. The example of this strategy is to lead or support the community in some way to be able to be better. Dimensions: Public Figures, Investor Relations, Stakeholder Placement in website tab menu, Shows Program with stakeholders 18

21 Example of Networking Placement: 6. Sharing of tasks Organizations and the public share the way out or solving problems together. Such as resolve the issues of the community, providing jobs, generating profit, and retain business, or other matters of public concern and the organization. Dimensions: Resolve Communities Issue, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Provide works, Company Product / Service Innovation, Generate Profit. 19

22 Example of Sharing of Tasks Placement: 4.4. Research Results From the results of research showed that the highest points are obtained from indicators: Positivity namely by 58 and sharing of tasks by 58 also, then Assurances 17, Access, Networking and last 5 Openness as much as 3. These results differ from the findings in the research of Bortree (2007) who conducted research on relationship maintenance strategies non-profit organization committed 20

23 to the teenage public. Through the results of his research, Bortree explained that the positive perception obtained by the public organizations affected most strongly by Assurances strategy, when organizations explain their interests and when organizations listen and consider the wishes and needs of the public (p. 147). Corporate factors caused a sense of love or positive feelings from the public is far more important. In addition, interestingly, sharing of tasks are also needed, which means that the public requires good will of the company to show attention to issues of social problems, but it also showed a new innovation in the company. It is for PT.Pertamina associated with some product-related information and new innovations from the company. Meanwhile, Openness factor is the smallest gain only as much as 3, which means that the company does not require a strong effort to demonstrate to the public about the company's performance. It can be assumed that PT Pertamina as State- Owned Enterprise has been trusted by the public as an organization that is in the part of the government, which runs the lives of many people. Figure 4.6 Coding Results Figure 4.7 Number of Coding 21

24 5. CONCLUSION Thomilson (2000) in a paper entitled Social Media and Organization-Public Relationships: Bridging Interpersonal Communication Theories with Public Relations Practice, created by Amy Reitz and which was presented at The Annual Meeting of The NCA 96th Annual Convention, Hilton, San Francisco (13 November 2010) define relationship, as : A Relationship has been defined as a set of expectations two parties have for each other s behavior based in their interaction patterns (2010, p.7) From the definition above, it can be seen that there is a set of expectations in the relationship between the two parties in the interaction that exists. Furthermore, Berko R., L. and L. Rosenfeld Samovar (1997) in the same student paper defines relationships with a wider and incorporate the concept of interaction, exchange and influence and suitability, namely: The connection that exists when the interactants are aware of each other and take each other into account. There is some exchange of influence and there is some agreement about what the nature of relationships is and what the appropriate behaviors are given the nature of relationships (2010, p.7). Grunig and Hon (1999) continued to conclude the organization - public relationships, which can only be started when there are consequences made by the organization to influence the public, or when the public attitude has an impact or consequences to the organization. Moreover, Hung (2005) states that the organization - public relationships arise when organizational and its strategic public depend on each other and the dependency produces consequences or impact on each other (in Reitz, 2010, P8). Grunig and Hon of the statement, as well as the Hung concluded that the organization and its public influence each other through their attitude. In this research, a fairly high dependence between the organization and the public is located on the indicator (1) Positivity, Whatever public organization or do will make the relationship will be more convenient for both parties involved.(2) Sharing of Tasks, organizations and the public to share the way out or solving problems together. While (3) Assurances, (4) Access, (5) Networking and (6) Openness are parts that need to get protrusion of information as well. Drawings or photos of a large company in a website not only to add to the beauty of the website, but preferably gives the up to date information activities of the company and lays information to related photo images of activities together with stakeholders, philanthropy programs with the public directly, photos of CSR activities should be displayed too. Although Pertamina is a well- 22

25 known company and already has a powerful name in the public mind, but it should also strengthen the information on to the last four indicators so that the public can be more aware, understand, and increasingly believe in the products, services and the services of PT Pertamina. Thus, the relationship that exists will be stronger; henceforth will generate a positive image in the eyes of the public on the company's reputation. REFERENCES Ardianto, Elvinaro. (2011). Handbook of Public Relations: Pengantar Public Relations Komprehensif. Bandung: Remaja Rosdakarya Bandung. Botan, Carl.H., & Vincent Hazleton. (2006). Public Relations Theory II. United State of America: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Bortree, D.S. (2005). Presentation of self on the Web: An ethnographic study of teenage girls' weblogs. Education, Communication and Information(ECi), 5(1), Breakenridge, Deirdre. (2008). PUBLIC RELATIONS 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Bungin, Burhan. (2005). Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif: Komunikasi, Ekonomi dan Kebijakan Publik Serta Ilmu-ilmu Sosial Lainnya. Jakarta: Kencana Dennis L. Wilcox, Glen T. Cameron, Phillip H. Ault, Warren K. Agee, (2005), Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, 7th edition. Pearson Education Inc. Eriyanto. (2011). Analisis Isi: Pengantar Metodologi Untuk Penelitian Ilmu Komunikasi dan Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial Lainnya. Jakarta: Kencana. Grunig, James & Linda Childers Hon. (1999). Guidelines for Measuring Relationship in Public Relations. Institute for Public Relations. Relations.org Grunig, J. E. (2009). Paradigms of global public relations in an age of digitalisation. University of Maryland, Public Relations 6(2) content/uploads/2010/10/grunig.pdf Health, Robert. L (Eds). (2005) Encyclopedia of Public Relations(vol. 2). Sage Publications, Inc. Krippendorff, K. (1993). Analisis Isi Pengantar Teori dan Metodologi. Jakarta : PT. Raja Grafindo Persada. Krisyantono, Rachmat. (2012). Public Relations & Crisis Management: Pendekatan Critical 23

26 Public Relations, Etnografi Kritis & Kualitatif) (1th ed.). Kencana, Public Relations Media Group. McNamara, Jim (2005). Public Relations Handbook (5 Th Edition). Archipelago Press, Sydney Nawawi, Hadari. (1995). Metode Penelitian Bidang Sosial. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press Popova, Diana. (2012). Can PUBLIC RELATIONS 2.0 Be Explained?. Burgas Free University pova.pdf Samovar, Larry A dan Porter, Richard E. (1985). Intercultural Communication: A Reader. California: Wardsworth Publishing Company. Silalahi, Ulber. (2010). Metode Penelitian Sosial. Jakarta: Refika Aditama Solis, Brian. & Deirdre Breakenridge. (2009). Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Bussiness of Public Relations. Pearson Education Inc. Wimmer, R. D. & Dominick, J. R. (1997). Mass Media Research: an introduction (5 th ed.). California: Wadsworth. 24

27 The Impact of Diversity in Information Society to Consumers Rahmanita Ginting ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of diversity in information society as consumers. The society we currently live in is an information society, because our economy primarily depends on the production and consumption of information. Today the media are changing our world in many ways, in the rise of the internet, the integration of communication technologies, shifting media empires, new lifestyles, challenging career, changing regulations, shifting social issues and a new dynamic of power in society. The source of the dynamic of social change, the diversity impact and what are seen as epochal and global transformations in the structure of the economy, in social stratification, politics and culture is a technological paradigm based upon a cluster of innovation in information and technological paradigm. The transition to an information society is driven in part by rapid changes in technology such as computer and digital television. We should no longer think about the various media of communication as completely distinct entities. Why do the media exist? Do the media shape culture or does culture shape the media? Information technology and media are converging in the information society. Technological change is increasingly shaking up conventional media and now the old mass media are responding with the innovation of their own. When new media enter our homes, media consumption patterns tend to change. In one survey of Pew Research Center, a quarter of Internet users said they watched television less since going online. Consumer s differences improve or affect the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) among socially inclusive communities. Keywords: Information Society, Information Communication Technology, Media Interact: Vol.4, No.2, Hal November 2015 Prodi Ilmu Komunikasi, Unika Atma Jaya The paper won the Marketing Communication category at the 2015 International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communication (ICCOMAC) conducted by the School of Communication, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in October The writer is a lecturer at the Communication Postgraduate Program of Muhammadiyah University of North Sumatra (UMSU) and can be reached atrahmanitha@yahoo.com 25

28 1. Introduction We live in a society that is saturated by media. Since reformation era, we have been living in media industry. Now we are living in the era of television-booming and new media. There are many television channels and new media come to our home everyday. Of course, we as the consumers of media- are given various programs. Consumers have benefited from the revolutionary growth in the number of TV and radio channels, magazines, newspapers, outdoor media and new media in recent decades. However, the time devoted to a single medium constantly shrinks, and the complexity of the media landscape undermines the stability of media habits. As the attention of consumers is spread over more media categories than ever before, only one conclusion is possible: an effective media strategy must take a multimedia selection approach (Franz, 2000).The media mix decisions, a unique case of a resource allocation problem, is a complex multi-faceted decision (Dyer, Forman & Mustafa, 1992 in Chang, 2012: 297). Selecting the best media requires considering not only cost and the number of readers, but also the efficiency with which the medium reaches the target audience. These developments have influenced the media usage habits of target audiences as well as the fit between the product and the characteristics of the medium. The way we see the world is colored by the experiences and influences we absorbed as children (Mannheim, 1952). People of all ages act according to how they reacted to childhood experiences and assumptions as they entered their twenties. Now in their twenties and older, the current workforce perceives work and work performance differently. Many factors impact on the way people world-wide collaborate, interact and perform in the work environment. A condensed list of diversity factors includes culture, race, age, gender, socioeconomic status, literacy, physical ability and legacy. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) should be seen both as a pedagogical tool and as a discipline in its own right for the development of effective educational services. These technologies are not merely tools, they inform and shape our modes of communication and our thinking and creativity processes. How should we act so that the benefit of this ICT revolution accrues to all mankind and does not become just the privilege of a small number of economically highly developed countries? How can we ensure access for all to these information and intellectual resources, and overcome the social, cultural and linguistic barriers to participation in knowledge societies? How should we promote the online publication of content that is increasingly more diversified and potentially a source of enrichment for the whole of humanity? From the privacy rooms to the public 26

29 forums of presidential debates. the media serve as the informational network connecting the many elements of our society. There is no doubt that the media are significant and worth studying. 2. Theoretical framework Information Society An information society is a society where the creations, distribution, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic, political, and cultural activity. The aim of the information society is to gain competitive advantage internationally, through using information technology (IT) in a creative and productive way. The knowledge economy is its economic counterpart, whereby wealth is created through the economic exploitation of understanding. People who have the means to partake in this form of society are sometimes called digital citizens. This is one of many dozen labels that have been identified to suggest that humans are entering a new phase of society. The markers of this rapid change may be technological, economic, occupational, spatial, cultural, or some combination of all of these. Information society is seen as the successor to industrial society ( Figure 1: Media Convergence, Information technology and media are converging in the information society (Straubhaar, et.al. 2012: 5) 27

30 It is possible to distinguish analytically five definitions of an information society each of which presents criteria for identifying the new. These are technological, economic, occupational, spatial and cultural (Webster, 2005: 7).Media technology changes with every generation. Conventional media forms are combining with new ones in ways that changes our media consumption patterns, our lives and the societies in which we live. New media technologies impact our culture by offering new lifestyles, creating new jobs and eliminating others, shifting media empires, demanding new regulations and presenting unique new social issues (see Figure 1). The changes are not only purely technology driven. Our individual creativity and our cultures push back against the technologies and corporations that deploy them to redefine their uses. Big media corporations now contend with citizen journalist, Facebook network, garage bands and amateur video producers on the Internet. The digital domain now encompasses nearly all radio, television, film, newspapers, magazines and nooks with an ever-narrowing list of exceptions. To catch up with the times the old media have responded with the digital innovations of their own. Now exciting new digital media form have emerged, ranging from video games to social networking to texting (Straubhaar, et.al, 2012: 4-5). In our contemporary life, the media is undeniably a part of society. Through media information, ideas, entertainment and educational materials are exchanged, which contributes to the development of society. Modern life is also closely connected with the media, as it becomes part of almost all social affairs. At the individual level, media, through the presence of diverse platforms, has worked its way so profoundly into the construction of each of our daily lives. Tufte (1996) shares the same opinion, that the mass media plays a fundamental mediating role between public and private spheres, between tradition and modernity, between urban and rural, and between the individual and the collective. We admit that the idea of investigating content production is not entirely new. Several scholars and writers have attempted to uncover the meaning of television production, particularly in the Indonesian context (Kitley, 2000, Arps and Heeren, 2006, Heryanto, 2014) but have mainly done so in the cultural realms and textual interpretation of TV program. In fact, there are a variety of approaches in analyzing media production, with two strands dominating existing debates. The cultural studies approach focuses on the questions of superstructure and ideology, while the political economy underlines questions of ownership, institutions and regulations. This 28

31 eventually led to a division of labor: political economy was mostly used to study production, while cultural studies focused on. Participatory Communication Unlike other mass communication theories which deal with the effects of the few and powerful on the masses via vertical diffusion, the participatory communication approach focuses on the effects of individuals on mass communication with special emphasis placed on the development of the third world. The study of participatory communication emerged as a counterbalance to theories such as cultural imperialism. It was formulated through a disconnected group of scholars and practitioners from around the world searching for something to replace the modernization paradigm or cultural imperialism approaches. While cultural imperialism focused on the ability of the powerful to influence cultures and economies around the world, advocates for participatory communication sought to describe the power of the individual to influence the world and to find ways to further advocate and enrich such action with the ultimate goal residing in a utopian scenario of positive development for all and better inter-cultural understanding. Dervin and Huesca (1997: 46) state that participatory communication is understood as being at the heart of what it means to be human, to have an identity, and to possess a sense of belonging vis-à-vis humanity, nature and God. Participatory communication thrives on input from people from all walks of life and of every socioeconomic sphere. In application towards the development of nations in the southern hemisphere, this change of thought is a shift of understanding aimed at not simply studying indigenous communication from an outside, social scientific, or even imperialist perspective, but instead delving into the point of view of native people on their own terms, looking at their culture, and issues that they consider relevant. In doing so, one of the primary concerns is the language used to describe the people and cultures of third world countries (McPhail, 2009: 26). Globalization isn t only about what is out there, remote and far away from the individual. It is an in here phenomenon too, influencing intimate and personal aspects of our lives (Giddens 1999: 12). Globalization can be understood as a multi-dimensional, complex process of profound transformations in all spheres technological, economic, political, social, cultural, intimate and personal. It has been variously conceived as time-space 29

32 compression (referring to the way that instantaneous electronic communication erodes the constraints of distance and time on social organization and interaction); accelerating interconnectedness (understood as the intensification of worldwide social relations and consciousness of world society); action at a distance (the actions of social agents in one locale can come to have significant consequences for distant others). Globalization suggests the expanding scale, speeding up and deepening impact of interregional flows and patterns of social interaction (Held and McGrew, 2003). It has been influenced above all by developments in systems of communication (Giddens, 1999: 10); there is no globalization without communications media. Contemporary individuals, subject to an extraordinary diversity of information and communication, can be influenced by images, concepts and lifestyles from well beyond their immediate locales. Globalization affects the basic identities of individuals who now live with a partial and precarious integration of the multiple dimensions of cultural referents (Castells, 1997).Discussions of globalization gain by being grounded in the detail of particular cultures and by considering the particular complexities of global encountering in specific social, historical, and everyday experience (Robins in Kim, 2008: 27). What happens to our sense of our own lives when globalization confronts our everyday experience? How deeply do we feel this? What are these main transformations, and what is the role of the global media in this transformative process? Reflexivity is increasingly understood, in recent social theory, to be central to the constitution of subjects under conditions of global modernity. Globalization, in the simplest and most common connotation, means that certain global values political, economic, and cultural have been so thoroughly circulated that ultimately national borders are dissolved and local cultures are homogenized. These global values, are legitimately referred to as Western values and culture (Cvetkovich and Kellner, 1997). Thussu (1998) argued that even through the imagination of consumers worldwide, the virtual empires of the electronic age could have a profound effect on national media systems and cultural sovereignty. Hall (1994) designates popular culture as the political arena that encompasses all the everyday life cultural practices of the masses in contradistinction to and contestation with the elite culture of a society. Consumer communities of imported pop culture are often confronted with an overwhelmingly bigger non-consumer community. In such confrontations, the non-consumers readily use their overwhelming demographic majority to anoint themselves as the people and turn the contest into one of defending the national 30

33 culture against foreign cultural invasion or imperialism, often with the complicity of not only local pop culture producers but also the state. The Social Construction of Media Technologies A sociological approach emphasizes that media technologies are embedded in ongoing social processes that affect their evolution. For example, the Internet is subject to social forces that help to shape how it functions and how it is used. These forces include legal regulations, social norms, and market pressures, as well as the medium's inherent technical properties (Lessig, 1999, 2006). Together these forces-law, social norms, market pressures, and technological architecture-have shaped the Internet, just as they have shaped every other communications medium. The development of media technologies entails thinking simultaneously about the technological and the social (Bijker and Law, 1992). To understand the relationship between media and society, the most important question is not. "What does a new technology do to people?" but, instead. "How do people use the new technology?" Scholars have documented the importance of these forces to the introduction and evolution of various new media technologies (Croteau, 2012: 291). Birkerts (1994 in Croteau, 2012:307) concerned that new media would squeeze out prior cultural forms including reading and rigorous thinking. It's hard not to think of this sort of concern today when observing a group of people in a public space, all engrossed with their laptops and smartphones-and all ignoring each other. Jackson (2008), argues that our embrace of new media has produced a sort of attention-deficit culture, expressed through the presence of constant stimulation, interruption and multitasking. This fleeting culture of distraction. Such a culture undermines our ability to focus, concentrate, and attend to the deeper and more substantive issues in life that are the bedrock of intimate social relationships, wisdom and advances in culture. Powers (2010 in Croteau, 2012: 307), a journalist who covers technology issues, considers what he calls the conundrum of connectivity. The technology allows us to connect to information and people from anyplace 24/7 is an awesome achievement. But history suggests that wisdom, insight, and perspective are gained from being disconnected; by creating time and space for solitude and contemplative thought. Carr (2008, 2010) argues that the fragmented, transient, and hyper-stimulative environment of the Internet and other new media contributes to ways of perceiving and thinking that are similarly fragmented and shallow. Carr (2010) turns to experimental evidence from neuroscience 31

34 showing that surfing the Internet indeed develops different neural pathways in the brain than does reading a book. The constant stimulus, fleeting distractions, frequent interruptions, and pervasive multitasking that characterize the contemporary media environment help produce a decline in people's ability to focus, concentrate and engage in serious thought. The ability to concentrate, think seriously, read deeply and follow an argument are not instinctual. The younger generation that has grown up with new media is less informed, less literate, more self-absorbed and more depressed than any that has preceded it (Bauerlein, 2008; Twenge 2006). They point to the popularity of social networking as one source of the problem. The immediacy and personalized nature of social networking, emphasizes the value of newness and facilitates an extreme focus on the self and immediate networks of friends. The result is a worldview that promotes entitlement and self-centeredness, what Twenge (2006) dubbed "Generation Me" (Such entitlement, meets reality soon enough and younger people have higher levels of dissatisfaction with their jobs and lives than earlier generations). The trend toward briefer instantaneous messages not only threatens thoughtful communication, but it even promotes the erosion of traditional spelling grammar, and punctuation that have long served as a useful foundation for serious communication (Bauerlein, 2008). Neuman (in Croteau, 2012: 308) used the metaphor of a tug-of-war to describe the push-and-pull between the technical capabilities of new media and other social forces. We have already seen how various media, including the Internet, were affected by social forces as they were developed and deployed. 3. Discussion Our media and our society as we know it fused: media/society. One way to recognize the importance of the media in our lives is to imagine life without the media. Imagine that you wake up tomorrow in a sort of twilight zone parallel universe where everything is the same except that media do not exist: no television. no movies. no radio, no recorded music, no cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no books, magazines or newspapers (Croteau:2012: 5). The forces of globalization and technology development are paradoxical by nature, offering both threats and opportunities for cultural diversity. Yet the information society is currently perceived only as an economic imperative in a new environment shaped by rapid information technology developments, based on visions shaped primarily by technologist and 32

35 business concerns and priorities. The prevailing options embedded in these visions, such as globalization based on cultural homogenization, are questionable not only from a political and social standpoint, but also in economic terms. In the final analysis, information society developments will hinge on political and social acceptance, for better or worse. Recognizing cultural diversity encourages community participation in the definition of a sustainable information society. Social participation is important for achieving a sustainable information society, where future communities will be both geographical and virtual. The culture of each community differs as it defines the negotiation space between individuals -with capacities, aspirations and values and communities. Social participation therefore requires multi-cultural approaches. Recognizing cultural diversity will make it easier to develop communication capabilities to address social exclusion in the information society. Communication capability is a key factor of integration or exclusion. It depends upon motivation, competence and access. Approaches that respect cultural diversity and develop these three components in a balanced manner will reduce social exclusion in the information society (Marsh, 2001: 8-10). Medi a Mess age or Produ ct Read ers/ Audie nce Social world Medi a Indus try Techn ology Figure 2. Simplified Model of Media and the Social World (Croteau, 2011: 24) One of the central tenors of contemporary everyday life in Asia is the increasing role of global Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and negotiation between online and offline spaces. In the region, divergent uptake and characteristics can be noted, with each location demonstrating that the global media is far from homogenous. The cultural significance of such mediated spaces as the Internet makes it an apt symbol for discussion of the issues of globalization, democracy, capitalism, individualism and redefinitions of place. The various nodes of consumption and production of media cultures in the region have notably changed since the 1997 financial crisis. Far from the homogeneous global village Marshall McLuhan (1964) detailed, the global space of the Internet is giving rise to multiple 33

36 and divergent formations of what it means to be co-present (virtual and actual, here and there) and how this reflects offline notions of community, mobility and locality (Chua, 2000). The Never-Ending News Cycle A society's dominant media help set the rhythm of social life. Media technologies have also given users more control over time. To watch or listen to aparticular program, traditional broadcast media required audience members to tune in ata time determined by the broadcaster. Time shifting refers to the practice of recording or downloading media content to watch or listen at a later time that is more convenient for the audience (Croteau, 2012: 301). Meyrowitz (1985) recognized that television compressed distances and transcended physical boundaries by allowing us to see things that were far away. Television transcended social boundaries as well. In earlier eras, children would have to know how to read and be sophisticated enough to understand the content of adult-oriented print media to access adult social life. But as avisual medium that does not require literacy, television allows children to see parts of the social world that were previously hidden or difficult to access, thus "blurring" childhood and adulthood. The result is thatan important boundary between adults and children, which in the past was reinforced bydifferent levels of reading skill, no longer holds. (This may have a good deal to do with thepopular belief that children grow up faster today than they did in the past). Media in a Changing Global Culture McLuhan believed that the rise of electronic media marked a new phase in human history. For the first time physical distance was no longer a barrier and instantaneous mass communication across the globe was possible. McLuhan's notion of the "global village," in which the people of the world would be brought closer together as they made their voices heard. Such an information environment compels commitment and participation. We have become irrevocably involved with and responsible for each other (McLuhan and Fiore 1967 in Croteau, 2012: 325). In fact, the trends in media globalization are marked by distinct ambiguity and contradiction. Some developments seem likely to produce positive changes of the sort envisioned by McLuhan; others seem cause for alarm. New media technologies are also making content from many countries more readily available online for those who have access 34

37 and who make the effort to seek them out. The trends in global media are mixed. The ability to innovate and adapt quickly to changing social and cultural tastes favors decentralized locally produced products. Many developing countries came to understand it as privileging the First World's market-driven perspective of information flow. Developing nations, which did not have the private investment needed to support major commercial media, looked to their governments to nurture media that served public (Croteau, 2012: ). Localism and Virtual Communities Media technologies have altered our sense of space and place in other ways as well traditional media tended to be rooted in a particular physical location. By affecting our sense of place, media technologies have also altered our sense of community.birkerts (1994 in Croteau, 2012: 302) notes that new media technologies created an entirely new social space, cyberspace, which allows for new forms of interaction with little connection to the physical world. The concept of virtual community (Rheingold, 2000) suggests that communities no longer need to be geographically based. People all over the globe can become "virtual" neighbors through the space-bridging technology of the Internet. By "friending" others on Facebook, joining discussions in chat rooms or online forums and playing in virtual worlds, users can employ the Internet to connect with others. Rheingold(2000) stated the Internet can constitute a powerful antidote to the loss of traditional community values and can help reestablish social ties. Finally, the loss of media rooted in distinct physical places has been accompanied by the loss of media content that is located in distinct social spaces. For example with the Internet and mobile media, the distinction between public and private has become blurry, and this process is intensified by new forms of mobile media (Ling and Campbell, 2009). Castells (2001) provocatively claimed that "the network is the message. The Internet is the technological basis of a new organizational form, the network. The boundaries between network as a form of social organization and network as a technological infrastructure are blurred. Our perception of time is modified by the immediacy of communication technologies. Time is "dissolved," and this process has been accelerated by wireless and mobile technology (Castells, et al. 2006). Castells (2001: 5) recognizes the role of human agency in shaping media technology. The Internet is a particularly malleable technology, susceptible of being deeply modified by its social practice. Three independent processes in the last quarter of the 20th century 35

38 contributed to the rise of the network as a new organizational form and its technological counterpart, the Internet: (1) pressure from the corporate sector to globalize capital, production. and trade; (2) citizen demands for individual freedom and open communication; and (3) unprecedented advances in the telecommunication and computing fields which paved the way for the microelectronic revolution. The Internet works as a lever for the transition to a new form of society, one in which the power of information and therefore the possibilities of participation, are potentially distributed throughout the full range of human activity. Competition and market forces influenced the rise of the never-ending news cycle. Users chose to have more control over when and where they watched and listened to media contentoften to the dismay of traditional media companies. In this digital age, where data seem almost limitless, Birkerts (1994 in Croteau, 2012: 306) argued that our waysof thinking are changing. The abundance of information now available electronically and the complex ways of storing and manipulating it put a premium on a new set of skills-retrieving and referencing, rather than understanding. Active Citizenship and the Participatory Public Sphere Based on Dewey s conception of an intimate linkage between participation and reciprocity, whereby each person has to refer his own action in relation to that of others and to consider other s action as providing purpose and direction for one s own, the idea of the media as a space for active citizenship contrasts with the notion of mediation as authoritative dissemination. At least four developments in the late twentieth century began to give credibility to the idea of a participatory public sphere. The first was a growing sense that a new contract needed to be forged between authoritative institutions (governments, broadcasters, public services) and their users and supporters. Secondly, as the concept of empowerment came to dominate policy discourse in a range of contexts from the treatment of school students to global transitions to a post-colonial order the impact of institutional arrangements upon civic culture was much debated. At stake here was a conception of media citizenship which sought to transcend the binaric division between the production and the consumption of public knowledge. Thirdly, visions of a more participatory media culture were indirectly strengthened as scholars abandoned the simplistic media-effects models that had dominated communication studies. The public increasingly receives and sends its messages through mediated channels, from phone-ins to s to reality television votes, it comes to look remarkably like an active audience. Manin s notion 36

39 of an audience democracy is relevant here. Fourthly, new forms of media production emerged that challenged the claim of mainstream media to constitute the only effective model for public communication. Commercial Interests and User Habits New media give users the opportunity for more control and more choice, which can lead to increased content diversity and a shift of power from media corporations to users. However, other social forces-especially commercial interests and user habits-often pull in the opposite direction, leading to sameness and conformity. Most users have deep lying rained media habits that do not change dramatically simply because of new technological capabilities. These media conglomerates also had the extensive investment capital needed to launch risky online ventures and the traditional media venues (newspapers, television, etc.) to advertise and promote them (Harmon, 2001 in Croteau, 2012: 309). Consumers: Victims or Informed Choosers? The views of the likes of Milton and Locke are correct in that truth will prevail in an open marketplace, in part because autonomous and rational individuals will be able to discern the difference between truth and falsity. This belief in the rational abilities of the people who receive media messages is directly responsible for such precepts as caveatemptor. Buyer beware assumes that an intelligent consumer will be able to discern nuances in messages - nuances that the designer of the message may have intentionally obscured. Why do those advertising and public relations practitioners who say they believe in the intelligence of the average consumer try so hard to cloud their messages? Could it be that, like Plato, they really believe that the masses are easily deceived by the shadows on the cave wall? Recent years have witnessed the rise of new media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Twitter, which enable customers to take a more active role as market players and reach almost everyone anywhere and anytime. These new media threaten long established business models and corporate strategies, but also provide ample opportunities for growth through new adaptive strategies(bivins, 2004: ).Media use among young people is even more extensive has been increasing significantly in all forms -except for reading., which has found that, by 2009 in US, young people 8 to 18 years of age devoted the significant increase in media use over a 10 years period was due largely to the growth of the mobile media devices - 37

40 especially cell phones, MP3 players and laptop computer which made it easier to access media products anytime, anywhere (Rideout, Foehr and Robert, 2010). Popular social media are more easily accessible from smartphones than from traditional desktops as many people have 24/7 access to smartphones. Beyond Technology: From Public Participation to Self-Organization ICT, social media and mobile technologies alter the larger context of public participation because they open up new possibilities for policy-makers, but perhaps more importantly, they empower and foster the self-organization of citizens. Social media are a powerful tool for citizen mobilization (Reinout, 2015: 240).The ability of the Internet to make vast quantities of information readily available to users also suggests some consumer protection solutions in the form of disclosures, selfpolicing, and consumer education. The information society promises to provide many benefits to consumers. It also presents some difficult consumer protection issues and consumer education efforts should be emphasized (Starek, 1996). 4. Conclusion Cyberspace not only carries and distributes information but is also a vehicle for communication and the exchange of views. The wealth of information about different cultures and values available on the Internet enables an individual to remain based in his or her own culture while becoming exposed to and influenced by others. One problem is that the information and services available on the Internet are usually written in the world s most dominant languages. If this state of affairs is not changed it could quickly lead to the erosion of cultural and linguistic diversity and accelerate the extinction of languages, customs and traditions (Unesco, 2003). Today, we are witnessing the rapid installation of the complex systems that will become the technological and commercial foundations of a "global information infrastructure". Interactive communication space will doubtlessly function as a powerful tool in the service of the economy, but it will also be at the centre of radical and far-reaching changes in our societies. Among the undeniable responsibilities of public authorities are the protection of essential community functions against possible encroachment and the promotion of the enormous potential of these new technologies for the cultural and social development of all our societies. The market is developing exponentially and is marked by cutthroat competition between strategic alliances and mass buyers at the centre of a rapid convergence of three previously separate sectors: audio-visual, computer technology and telecommunications(serexhe, 2000). 38

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44 The Role of Social Media in Developing Nonprofit Brand: A Case Study on Akademi Berbagi Danasmoro Brahmantyo ABSTRACT Social media as a form of development in information technology and communication has open doors for all kinds of innovations to emerge. Initiatives from the society which are present in social media have similar characteristics with the medium that forms social media, which are: open, participative, accommodating two way conversations, and focusing in the connectivity between communities. Social media encourages the formation of identity and image of nonprofit brands as representations of movement/social organization in the era of information. Through a single case analysis case study on Akademi Berbagi, it was found that the values that are formed as a result of the interactions within the community of social movement activists become the foundation for forming and dispersing nonprofit branding messages that are genuine which comes from, made by and directed to its activists. By optimizing social media, the nonprofit branding delivers a result that is low cost and high impact. The characteristics of Akademi Berbagi as a nonprofit brand can be said to be similar to the characteristics of social media which are mentioned by Mayfield (2008), which are: openness, participation, two way conversations and focusing on community and connectivity. As a brand that focuses on community, Akademi Berbagi has functioned as the former of social connection and reputation both for individuals and the managing volunteers through conversations and an ability to share in the internet society and the era of information. Keywords: social media, community, nonprofit brand Interact: Vol.4, No.2, Hal November 2015 Prodi Ilmu Komunikasi, Unika Atma Jaya The paper won the Media and Communication category at the 2015 International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communication (ICCOMAC) conducted by the School of Communication, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in October The writer is a lecturer at the Politeknik Negeri Media Kreatif, and can be reached at dbrahmantyo.polimedia@gmail.com 42

45 1. Introduction The era of digital information which was pushed forward by Internet 2.0 has brought various options of new media. This circumstance has given opportunities for ideas from anywhere to meet and bring about innovations. Cross-disciplinary collaborations happen across the world. Human interaction is no longer limited by time and space. Manuel Castells in his book, The Rise of The Network Society: The Information Age - Economy, Society and Culture (2010), reveals that the development of communication and information technology prompted the birth of a new society with different characteristics to those of the society in the previous era. This new society is called network society. This concept describes the current form of social structure in the era of information with three main characteristics: informational, global and networked (in Firman Kurniawan, 2013). Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein (2010) state that social media is a group of Internet based applications which are built based on the ideology and technology of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Nielsen states that in 2009 social network site users all over the world on average spend more than 5.5 hours a day to access services like Facebook and Twitter. Edelman (in Entherlab, 2010) says that there are four main factors that make Twitter to be a social media that is liked by the public: influence, popularity, engagement and trust. GlobalWebIndex (18/4/2013) states the daily consumption of digital media in Indonesia exceeds the world s average at 7 hours per day. Meanwhile the consumption of nondigital media reaches more than 4 hours per day. As in a real society, a virtual community is also built through social interactions between the virtual society members. The requirements of social interaction in a real society are social contact and communication. These requirements are also primary the social life of a virtual community. The era of information has encouraged a paradigm shift in marketing from product-centric to consumer-centric and now we are entering the era of value-drivenmarketing. Kartajaya (2010), says that new-wave technology, as a form of development of information technology, encourages a major change in consumers, markets and marketing. This new type of information technology covers three major powers: computers, mobile communication devices and cheap and open source internet. This 43

46 technology turns the consumer into a prosumer, the combination between a producer and a consumer. We can see the development of new-wave technology through the use of social media. As a tool to communicate with the public, brand transforms, more than just a visual identity: a name, a logo and a graphic design used by an organization. A brand is a psychological construct which presents in the mind of everyone who is aware of the existence of a product or a service, a person, an organization or movement (Kylander and Stone, 2012). In a 2004 report, Edelman presents the trends of changes in communication which is applicable globally: two way communications, which are becoming more apparent as a product of globalization; digitalization and social change. At a time when social networking is a necessity for a brand, both new and established, it is no longer appropriate for brands to keep some distance to their customers. Sharing is an ideal form to disseminate ideas of a product and it becomes essential for communication strategy. Billet (2002), and also Jenkinson and Sain (2004), contended that choosing an efficient medium will help in financing, target achievement and communication effectiveness. The use of social media is considered low cost-high impact because both promotion and engagement activity can be carried out online, offline or a combination of both. It is interesting to know what the role of social media is in creating and developing a nonprofit brand that emerges from the initiative of a volunteer based virtual community. 2. Concepts Social Media Miles, Rice and Barr in Media: An Introduction (Flew, 2008) state that New Media is a media that is a product of integration and combination between several aspects of technology which are, among others, computer and information technology, communication network and digital information message and media. According to McQuail (2010) the characteristics of new media are, among others, interactivity, sociability, media richness, autonomy, playfulness, privacy and personalization. Marshal McLuhan (1960) said in his aphorism that themedium is the message which 44

47 is elaborated by Meyrowitz (2009) that a message is significantly influenced by the medium. Jansen (2009) said that Social media is a sociological and technological combination which is dialogical (many to many) and sums up the importance an interaction for consumers and society, where people find, read and share news, information an content to other people. Social media has several basic characteristics, which are 1) openness, 2) participation, 3) conversation, 4) community and 5) connectedness (Mayfield, 2008 in Nugroho, 2011). Conventional media, such as broadcast media and mass media usually need a financial model which is quite expensive to publish information (Principato, 2009). The popularity of social media is caused by the strength of relationship, communication and interactivity which is felt by the user. Social media users utilize social media for personal relationship with friends, for political interest and to support the success of certain business, or the core of the business is social media itself (Solis, 2009). Seven functions of social media according to Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy and Silvestre (2011) are: 1. Identity; this function describes how far social media users reveal their identity in an interaction. The difference in preference of social media use of each user will become clear and will become one of the elements in forming their identity. 2. Conversations; this function describes the interaction between social media users. Many platforms of social media are designed to help users have conversations. Erik Qualman (Socialnomics, 2012) mentions two types of conversations in social media: designated and organic. 3. Sharing; represents how far users share information, distribute and receive content. The term social often implies an exchange between users, as Paul Watzlawick says, One cannot not communicate, and the related idea that one cannot not influence. 4. Presence; is tied to the closeness between interacting users. Social media presence is influenced by intimacy and closeness, and a higher level of social media presence is tend to make conversations influential. 5. Relationships; represents how far user can get connected with other users. Connected means users has a place to interact, communicate share social objects, meet up or just get to know each other as friends or fans. 45

48 6. Reputation; social media gives a new definition about reputation for the user, as a person, as an institution and as a brand. In the beginning of the trend to use Twitter as an interaction channel interpersonally and between a person and institutions or brands, the number of followers becomes a simple reference to measure the level of social power represented by that account. As time goes by, the number of followers is no longer the only valid and reliable indicator. 7. Group; represents so far social media users can form a community in the development of their interaction process. The community that is formed in social media can be organic and planned for certain purposes. Social Network, Community, Social Capital and Volunteerism Little John (2005) says that in order to be considered having quality, a social network must have at least three characters: 1) the size or number of members; 2) interconnectivity/relationship, having a reason to be connected to other networks; and 3) a possibility to influence thought and behavior. Kartajaya (2010) defines community as a group of people who cares about one another more than it should be. Within the community there are tight personal relations between the community members because of similarities in interest and values. According to Komninos (2002), a virtual/online community is a learning and innovation environment on real and virtual levels, and is a center of knowledge, information, technology and innovation. There are various reasons for someone to join a virtual/online community. The most cited reason in literature is to access information (Furlong, 1989; S. G. Jones, 1995; Wellman, et al., 1996). A virtual/online community is also considered to have a distiction compared to traditional/conventional community, especially in the strength of the weak ties related to relations with strangers or acquaintancesto get useful information though online network (Constant, Sproull, & Kiesler, 1996). Flew (2005) believes that as communication and information technology develops, which encourages the strengthening of networks and the forming of communities, there is a connection between the Internet and social capital. Jaan van Dijk (2006) states that, The Internet is a powerful tool that supports both those who are rich and poor in so-called social capital. It supports those already strong in social contact, civic engagement and sense of community and enables those weak 46

49 in these things to further isolate themselves and to be excluded from the many opportunities the new media have to offer. Hodgkinson (2003) says that Volunteering means conducting work with no pay". While the UNDP in the book, Mengembangkan sebuah Infrastruktur Relawan (2005), says that volunteerism is a form of social behavior that is done voluntarily, which merits the community and society as a whole and the individuals themselves, and it is not driven my monetary reasons. Voluntarism must be open in order to benefit people from various backgrounds so they can be involved in a meaningful way. Putnam (1993) says that one of the key to understand the role of volunteers in increasing social capital is their role in a volunteer association and the strengthening of horizontal network between civil societies. Social Marketing: Nonprofit Branding Different to commercial marketing whose main goal is to gain optimal financial profit from consumers, social marketing s goal is to market ideas. Public as consumers are stimulated to stop a bad habit or behavior and/or to start a good habit. According to Kotler and Lee (2008) social marketing is a comprehensive activity in transaction of selling and buying social products which are not profit oriented, directed to change attitude and behavior. Social marketing is a combination of the application of communication principles and marketing techniques to deliver various social products. In commercial marketing, the main goal is the financial aspect, while in social marketing, the social aspect (the movement and/or social change) is the main goal. Factors that influence marketing communication are a) Source; b) Message; c) Channel; and d) Receiver. Pine and Gilmore in Authenticity (1998) contend that nowadays consumers can determine if a brand is fake or real, especially in the context of promise from the brand. Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan in Marketing 3.0 (2010) introduces the concept of 3Is: brand identity, brand integrity, and brand image. Kotler (2006) conveys that branding in the context of nonprofit is a process of forming the desired brand identity. Brand image is how the nonprofit organization wants the brand to be perceived in the minds of the target audience. Daw and Cone (2011) says, 47

50 Effective brands create an emotional and personal connection that brings people together around shared interests, values, and aspirations and inspires action. Breakthrough nonprofit brands are well owned, well understood, and celebrated. They walk and talk differently than traditional nonprofit brands. They share ownership of the organization s essence and put their constituents at the center of their brand. Rice and Atkin (in Metzgers; Media Effects in the Era of Internet Communication, 2009) find that the communication of a campaign will become more effective if using various types of communication to approach the audience and especially in using peer-to-peer based communication. Buchanan and Luck (2006) say that the trend in nonprofit institution communication shows that the use of Internet and mobile-technology will become one of the important aspects in encouraging the development of nonprofit institution communication. They also say that viral marketing is one strategy that can be utilized by a nonprofit institution of movement. Rowley (2010) adds, social media provide nonprofits with an opportunity to create a dynamic online presence and potentially increase their brand awareness with limited resources while still remaining connected to members, volunteers, and the public on a personal level. Kylander and Stone (2012) say that the strongest identity of a nonprofit brand is when both the internal identity and external image of the organization are consistent and parallel with its values and mission. When the people who are involved, both the staff, volunteers in the nonprofit organization can embrace the general identity of the brand, there is cohesion in the organization which builds focus and strengthens shared values. Lucky, Shannon and Rathi (2012) state that a nonprofit organization that use social media should combine the strength of the staff, members and volunteers to increase its existence through increasing the frequency of information dissemination (posting)which at the same time can also build a conversation between followers or friends on social networks. The following figure is a frame of thought as a synthesis of concepts used in researches to understand the role of social media in developing a nonprofit brand. 48

51 Figure 1 Social Marketing Model in the Era of Social Media The model above can be described as follows: a. The intersection between community and social media forms a networked virtual community and creates a social capital. The ability of social media to connect individuals with the same interest and to increase interactivity between the users encourages a closeness between each other. b. The intersection between social media and nonprofit organization forms a breakthrough in social marketing which encourages a more effective social media branding for nonprofit. Other than to form an image, social media enables identity formation of social movements which is common to be initiated in the era of information. c. The intersection between community and nonprofit organization forms a volunteer community. d. The intersection between social media, community and nonprofit organization forms the concept of nonprofit branding in the networked society in the era of information. 3. Research Method Qualitative research methods are used in this research to enable the writer to study certain issues exhaustively and in detail because the data collection is not limited to certain categories. Qualitative research methods are also chosen to be able to understand various human problems in a social context by creating a whole and complex picture 49

52 that is presented, to report a detailed view of the information sources. To answer the research question, the writer will use a research strategy through study case to gather detailed and rich information, covering the dimensions of certain cases or several small cases, in a wide span. This research will use the instrumental study case method because the goal is to evaluate the role of social media in developing a nonprofit brand which is volunteerand community-based, in this case Akademi Berbagi. The writer will use single case study design with single analysis. Single case study means choosing a case to see the role of social media in developing a nonprofit brand which is volunteer- and community-based. In this research, the data will be collected through: 1. Documentation through pictures and videos of activities and publication materials of Akademi Berbagi and news coverage on Akademi Berbagi in the mass media; 2. Collection of archival records in the form of a list of names of volunteers who manages Akademi Berbagi; 3. Direct observation and participative observation in various activities held by Akademi Berbagi, and 4. Structured interview to collect data that not only can fulfill the writer s needs to answer the research question but also is valid and reliable. The writer will do the interview using a general guideline in the form of themes and topics with several informant who are considered credible from managing volunteers of Akademi Berbagi, volunteer teachers, to reporters who cover the activities of Akademi Berbagi. The research uses three criteria of data validity: Penelitian ini menggunakan 3 kriteria keabsahan data, yaitu: credibility, dependability, and confirmability. In interpreting and analyzing the data, the writer will try to collect data as complete as possible to piece them together and to find a pattern in the collected primary and secondary data. Then the data will be classified, defined and described. The interpretation of the data will then be compared to theories and concepts to draw a conclusion of the result of the research. Thematic analysis will be used as a foundation of a qualitative research about the role of social media in developing Akademi Berbagi. 50

53 Akademi Berbagi: Nonprofit Brand Born from Twitter Social media brings a new opportunity for nonprofit brands which have constraints in doing conventional branding because of financial factors. Contributions from volunteers who are active in conversation medium in the era of information can produce effective results even though it is relatively low cost. Free social media platforms has become a public space for many opportunities for new types of branding in the era of information today. Akademi Berbagi was established in 2010 as a follow up of a conversation between Ainun Chomsun and Subiakto Priosoedarsono. Free classes are routinely held with the support of volunteers which consists of teachers, students and administrators. The activities are eventually given an identity which is considered consistent with the spirit and the medium that forms it, Twitter. Akademi Berbagi has a logo and tagline which are made by the volunteers. Social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook become complements of the identity as nonprofit organization which develops in more than 30 cities all over Indonesia (Akademi Berbagi, March 2014). Figure 2 The Second Logo of Akademi Berbagi Nonprofit organization can optimize the use of social media for branding that is relatively unlimited by space and time. The role of social movement activator communities which are presented by social organizations is very important, not only in disseminating branding messages, but also in creating those messages. Social movements or nonprofit organizations which are supported by activator communities/sympathizers become brands that are known by the public through interaction on social media, an Internet mediated interpersonal communication medium. The community can be formed as a result of an interaction between active Internet users (netizen) on social media because similarities in interests and interests on certain issues; this is very strategic because it can shorten the time of formation and development. 51

54 Other than presenting new opportunities in forming nonprofit brand activator communities in the era of information, social media has a role in the efforts of forming an identity and an image by the community of activators/sympathizers of the nonprofit brand. Social media also helps the design of digital messages which are interactive and relatively unlimited by space and time. Furthermore, social media helps to strengthen the bonds between administering volunteers. This is important in developing nonprofit organization which has financial constraints like Akademi Berbagi. Ainun Chomsun as the founder of Akademi Berbagi says that everyone who has ever participated in the activities of Akademi Berbagi indirectly is a spokesperson for Akademi Berbagi, furthermore she says, Social media gives a transparent impression. Because of the early activities on social media, if we are being dishonest or doing things that are not appropriate, people will know. Social media helps us to build credibility, because there are live tweets during classes. So people really see that classes actually happen. By informing though social media, everyone can read and know what are the classes like. When the students are satisfied or not, they can just speak up. Furthermore Ainun says that, Social media is very helpful, but to last for four years like this, it is more because of the consistency of the volunteers who are solid. This movement can last long because the concept is easy, suitable for the needs of the society and because of the volunteers. Social media brings new opportunities for nonprofit brands, which rely on the contribution of volunteers who come from different backgrounds of ability and skills. Other than bringing new opportunities in designing digital interactive messages that can attract the public to get to know Akademi Berbagi better, social media also strengthen the bonds between administering volunteers. This was conveyed to the writer as follows In Indonesia social media is also a mean of communication, not just an information disseminator. People can even make arrangements to talk in social media. From there we can greet and remind each other. Social media can bring people together, even though we don t meet physically, we can know the news. To tighten the relationship between volunteers. 52

55 Figure 3 A screenshot of Ainun Chomsun s Facebook Content For #MelawanAsap Campaign The optimization of social media use becomes a step for disseminating publication messages about activities. This motivates the emergence of new Akademi Berbagi in towns and cities outside Jakarta. Coordination in organizing classes and other technical matters related to nonprofit branding are carried out through the interactions of the activators on social network 2.0. This is commonly done by nonprofit organization like Akademi Berbagi which tries to maintain consistency in combining online and offline activities. The intensity of interaction between activators creates a strong bond between the activators who are a part of the virtual community. Ainun Chomsun say in a public narration, Akademi Berbagi: Taman Pembelajaran Untuk Perubahan (2012) Akademi Berbagi is a movement which combines online and offline networks. We communicate, socialize and publicize online. The delivery of classes are carried out offline or face to face. Now Akademi Berbagi is a new platform of learning movement which becomes a conversation subject of many people, both online and on conventional media. The socialization of this activity only uses social media, but the impact is extraordinary. Not just teachers, to get a place to learn and volunteers we also do it through social media. Because of it is simple, everyone can learn and get benefit greatly. 53

56 Various characteristics of Akademi Berbagi as a sample case of nonprofit brand in the era of social media can be said to be similar to the characteristics of social media that are conveyed by Mayfield (2008), which are: openness, participation, two way conversations, focus on community and connectivity. As a brand focusing on community, Akademi Berbagi has function as the shaper of social relationship both for individuals and groups of administering volunteers though conversations and ability to share in the society in the era of information. Figure 4 A screenshot of a Conversation between Handry Satriago and Ainun Chomsun Which is Spread by Bayu Krisnamurti Using the Retweet Feature The flow of information between administrators that is consistent and relatively not constrained by space and time at the beginning was simply designed, and then it developed according to needs organically. This has a significant impact on the development of Akademi Berbagi as a nonprofit brand. Akademi Berbagi not only became a conversation topic in the virtual domain, but also got a chance to perform nonprofit branding on conventional media which is influential in the real domain. News coverage from various conventional media has a huge impact on the formation of public awareness about a brand. 54

57 Figure 5 A screenshot of a Tweet by a Netizen About an Article in a Wanita Indonesia Tabloid, 1255 th Edition, Year 2014, Which Published Akademi Berbagi It can be understood that social media is not just a medium of a message from a communicator to a communicant, but it has an influence on types, forms and how a message is delivered. Social media brought back the nature of interpersonal relationship in the era of information, where the virtual domain is a place that as if were inseparable from the lives of netizen, but also at the same time has a big impact especially in giving an impression in the context of public communication. Various characteristics of Akademi Berbagi as a nonprofit brand can be said to be similar to what Mayfield (2008) said as the characteristics of social media: openness, participation, two way conversations, focus on community and connectivity. As a brand that focuses on community, Akademi Berbagi has functioned as a shaper of social relationships and good reputation both for individuals and its group of administering 55

58 volunteers through conversations and ability to share in the society in the era of information. 3. Conclusion 1. Akademi Berbagi as a nonprofit brand which was born and developed in social media, just as an organism that grows and develops, through the process of conversation that is created by the activators. The activator has given an identity and image of Akademi Berbagi according to their direct experience through involvement in the programs and activities of Akademi Berbagi. 2. Social media as a medium for the birth of the Akademi Berbagi nonprofit brand has given similar characteristics and function to the brand. Akademi Berbagi as a nonprofit brand is open, participative, accommodating two way conversations, and focusing on the community and connectedness among the audience. These characteristics have encouraged the practice of principles such as integrity, democracy, ethics and affinity, which are important to its development in the era of information. 3. Akademi Berbagi has become a nonprofit brand that presents emotional and personal connection which came from interest that inspires concrete action in the audience: volunteers and volunteers to be. The concrete actions are in the form of creation and dissemination of messages that are designed democratically and organically. The consistency of execution and the use of the right tools/medium can have a big influence (low cost-high impact) on the formation of public awareness and brings motivation to participate for volunteers to be. Concepts of collaboration and administering volunteer empowerment gives Akademi Berbagi a chance to grow, develop and survive in the life cycle of a nonprofit brand in the era of information. 4. Discussion It is important for a social movement that is present in the era of the Internet to be able to bring enthusiasm in the public. In this instance, social movement is present as a brand that interacts with its audience through various social media channels which encourages horizontal communication which has the following characteristics: 1. The message is easily dispersed (viral); 56

59 2. The message is easily duplicated in various forms; 3. The message is not constrained by time and space (timeless time). Manuel Castells in Network of Outrage and Hope (2012) states the importance of elevating the enthusiasm of the audience so there is a hope that can bring social movements close together which will be represented by nonprofit brands with audience that is expected to be able to become activators/fans or even brand advocate. For Manuel Castells, identity is a source of meaning that is more powerful than social role because of the process of self-construction and individuation that happens during the formation. Identity can organize meaning. Anywhere anyone who constructs a collective identity will determine the symbolic meaning of the identity (in Firman Kurniawan, 2013). It is interesting for the writer and future writers to extend the topic of identity of social movement that is formed by the initiative of civil society in the era of Internet today; both collective and personal identity of the activators. Questions that can be addressed are: 1. Is the identity universal? 2. Does the context of local culture (high-context culture dan low-context culture) have an influence on the formation of the identity? 57

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63 ANALISIS SEMIOTIKA ROLAND BARTHES PADA JURNALISME ONLINE Dudi Sabil Iskandar dan Rini Lestari I. PENDAHULUAN Media massa mengalami beberapa tahap perubahan, transformasi, dan bahkan metamorfosis. Bermula dari surat kabar, buku, film, radio, televisi, dan internet. Media massa yang terakhir, internet, kemudian mempopulerkan istilah media baru (new media). Kehadiran internet selanjutnya mengubah secara drastis dan dramatis perkembangan media massa. Setidaknya internet memicu dua perubahan mendasar di media. Pertama, substansi media, yaitu proses jurnalistik. Kedua, bentuk atau format organisasi media. Perubahan mendasar pada jurnalisme media lantas memunculkan terminologi mengenaskan bernama krisis jurnalisme meski kata krisis dipandang berlebihan. Krisis jurnalisme didiagnosis meliputi serangkaian masalah, yaitu, yang berkaitan dengan waktu, uang, otonomi, dan perubahan budaya. Dalam era kapitalisme modern, percepatan dan kecepatan sudah merasuk ke semua aspek kehidupan manusia, termasuk dunia jurnalisme. Kecepatan dan percepatan telah menyeret jurnalisme ke dalam pusaran kompetisi global. Di sinilah lidah api kapitalisme menyambar dan membakar jurnalisme. Berita sebagai unsur atau pilar pokok atau inti dari jurnalisme menjadi komoditas. 1 Interact: Vol.4, No.2, Hal November 2015 Prodi Ilmu Komunikasi, Unika Atma Jaya Kedua penulis adalah dosen Fikom Universitas Budi Luhur, Jakarta Selatan. 1 The Death of Media and The Fight to Save of Democracy, Danny Schechter, penerjemah Gita W, Yayasan Obor, Jakarta, 2007:3 61

64 Hingga kini, belum ada tanda-tanda pers menyadari kekeliruannya atau kembali ke jalan yang benar. Bahwa mereka sudah menyimpang dari tujuan awal, sebagai penyampai berita dan pencari kebenaran. Kondisi ini menempatkan masyarakat sebagai tumbal; menerima informasi yang sesat, yang dikonstruksi menurut kepentingan pribadi dan golongan, bukan publik. Menuntut media objektif, netral, independen, imparsial, dan nonpartisan bak berteriak di gurun pasir. Ia akan hilang dengan sendirinya. Singkat kata jurnalisme kita memberikan absurditas! Tanpa makna apapun! Oleh sebab itu, jangan pernah bertanya di manakah nilai berita (news value), kebenaran, kepentingan publik, dan etika jurnalistik, serta nurani wartawan dalam dunia jurnalistik di negeri ini. Sebab semuanya sudah terbeli oleh beragam kepentingan di luar jurnalisme; Jurnalisme diambang kehancuran; atau memang sudah ambruk; tidak menyisakan apapun selain seonggok fakta dan segepok data yang dipermainkan. Ia fakta tanpa makna. Doktrin fact is secred and opinion is cheap dalam dunia jurnalisme kita sudah usang. Fakta diperkosa dan opini diarahkan untuk memuaskan syahwat di luar jurnalisme. Kekuasaan, ideologi, politik, uang, kepentingan! Dalam konteks percepatan produksi berita itulah sesungguhnya profesi wartawan merupakan profesi yang terjajah; profesi yang tidak memiliki pencerahan kecuali bekerja, bekerja dan bekerja; profesi mekanistik; mesin yang harus terus berproduksi karena tuntutan pemodal. Tidak penting wartawan menghasilkan tulisan bagus; memproduksi analisis mendalam kalau tidak laku dijual. Berita buruk atau berita pesanan pun jadi yang terpenting laku dijual; menghasilkan laba; perusahaan untung. Berita jatuh menjadi pendiktean oleh kekuatan modal, hasilnya adalah manipulasi informasi untuk kepentingan masing-masing kelompok. Bukan hanya memberi keuntungan finansial tetapi juga ia memiliki agenda terselubung (hidden agenda). 2 I.a. Rumusan Masalah Berdasarkan latar belakang di atas, rumusan penelitian ini adalah bagaimana analisis semiotika Roland Bathes dalam teks berita jurnalisme online? 1.b. Tujuan Penelitian Untuk mengetahui analisis semiotika Roland Bathes dalam teks berita jurnalisme online. 2 Jurnalisme Era Digital; Tantangan Industri Media Abad 21, Ignatius Haryanto, Kompas Media Nusantara, 2014:71 62

65 II. KERANGKA TEORITIS II.a. Konstruksi Realitas Media Secara historis, pers ideal yang menjadi pilar keempat demokrasi yang objektif, netral dan nonpartisan tak pernah terjadi di negeri ini. Ia pernah dijadikan alat melawan penjajah sebelum Indonesia merdeka; menjadi alat partai politik ketika demokrasi liberal; tangan kekuasaan pada masa Orde Baru; dan kooptasi pemilik modal di era reformasi. Dengan kata lain, pers di negeri ini selalu berpihak. Apapun bentuknya. Dengan kondisi tersebut wartawan tidak memiliki independensi untuk menentukan kebijakan media sehingga ada jarak antara berita sebagai produk jurnalistik dengan profesionalismenya. Yang terbaru adalah pada Pilpres Kita tentu ingat lima hari menjelang pemilihan presiden dan wakil presiden 2014, editorial atau tajuk rencana The Jakarta Post, 4 Juli 2014 menyentak kesadaran publik. The Jakarta Post menulis tajuknya dengan judul Endorsing Jokowi. Sontak tulisan ini mengundang pro dan kontak. Di satu sisi, berargumen editorial adalah tempat media beropini. Di lain sisi, editorial tersebut menunjukan keberpihakan yang tentu saja sangat berpengaruh pada isi secara keseluruhan. Sesungguhnya The Jakarta Post hanyalah satu media yang gentle atau berani mengungkapkan identitasnya. Sebab, pada pemilu lalu tidak ada media yang tidak berpihak; semuanya terbelah mendukung salah satu pasangan calon, Prabowo Soebianto-Hatta Rajasa atau Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla. Media endorsement terhadap politikus dalam tajuk atau editorial, menurut Denis McQuail 3 termasuk dalam kategori media partisan. Alasannya, isi editorial itu dilakukan secara terbuka dengan maksud mengajak masyarakat untuk memiliki pandangan terhadap kandidat tertentu. Sementara itu, Ashadi Siregar 4 menyebut sikap The Jakarta Post sebagai media simpatisan. Sebutan ini untuk membedakan dengan partisan. Media simpatisan memberi ruang bagi kompetitor, sedangkan media partisan menutup ruang pemberitaan bagi kompetitor seperti Obor Rakyat. Media pun bisa mencari alasan mendukung salah satu pasangan tersebut. Ideologi, ekonomi, politik, budaya atau apapun juga. Tentu saja keberpihakan tersebut sangat berpengaruh pada isi berita. Dalam konteks itulah, media memproduksi konstruksi realitas. Media tidak lagi merepresentasikan peristiwa secara utuh. Ia memiliki sudut pandang sendiri yang dianggap penting dan menarik. Perilaku media (wartawan) ketika memproduksi berita seantiasa dipengaruhi kenyakinan, nilai, norma, dan budaya tertentu. Media (wartawan) 3 lihat Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content, Longman, USA, 1996: Kompas, 11 Agustus

66 selalu berada posisi tertentul ketika mencar berita. Dengan kata lain tidak ada berita atau produk media yang bebas nilai; tuna ideologi; nir kepentingan. Perspektif berita sebagai hasil rekonstruksi yang tidak mungkin sepenuhnya netral, objektif, dan berimbang adalah berangkat dari paradigma positivisme. Ia menyimpan berita di luar diri wartawan atau media. Padahal berita adalah realitas kedua (secondhand reality); buatan. Berita hanyalah shadow reality. Bahkan berita adalah realitas yang tidak memiliki jiwa. Mendekati hyperreality versi Umberto Eco atau Jean Baudrillard. Menurut Everette E. Dennis objektivitas dalam jurnalisme adalah kondisi yang mungkin dicapai. Ia berangkat dari standar jurnalistik seperti cover all sides, kejujuran, dan sebagainya. Sebaliknya, John C. Merril membantahnya. Objektivitas tidak mungkin terjadi (mustahil). Semua proses berita (isu, narasumber, kata, kalimat, paragraf, sampai strategi penulisan) merupakan percampuran antara sikap mental, tindakan ideologis, dan kemampuan nalar yang didasari subjektivitas wartawan dan media. 5 Perkembangan proses jurnalistik kontemporer bercerita kepada kita bahwa pandangan Merril sulit dibantah. Berita di situs berita (online), surat kabar, televisi, dan majalah, semuanya hasil konstruksi wartawan dan media. Objektivitas berita sesuatu yang utopis dan berada di dunia lain. Mengikuti teori trias politika, media sering disebut pilar keempat demokrasi selain eksekutif, yudikatif, dan legislatif. Brian McNair 6 mencatat lima peran ideal media untuk mewujudkan kehidupan yang demokratis. Pertama, menginformasikan apa yang sedang terjadi. Kedua, mengedukasi masyarakat ihwal fakta yang ditemukan di lapangan. Ketiga, menjadi wadah diskursus sehingga bisa mempengaruhi opini publik. Keempat, berperan sebagai pemantau kekuasaan. Kelima, berperan mengadvokasi beberapa pandangan politik. Pasca-reformasi hingga kini, perkembangan jurnalisme kita mengafirmasi satu hal. Bahwa produk jurnalistik adalah mitos; sesuatu anggapan yang belum tentu benar. 7 Bandingkan dengan jurnalisme sejati yang pasti mengandung kebenaran seperti doktrin Bill Kovach dan Tom Rosentiel. 8 Jurnalisme sebagai mitos bisa didekati melalui teori yang dikemukakan Shoemaker dan Reese ketika membaca media. Ada dua pendekatan, yakni, pasif (yang menempatkan media melaporkan realitas sosial yang sebenarnya) atau positivistik; dan aktif (media mengkonstruksi peristiwa menjadi realitas media) atau 5 Basic Issues in Mass Communication: A Debate, Front Cover, Everette E. Dennis, John Calhoun Merrill. Macmillan, An Introduction to Political Communication, Routledge, London, 2003 : 21 7 Mitos dalam konsep semiotika Roland Barthes 8 Selengkapnya lihat Bill Kovach, and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism, Three Rivers Press, New York, Amerika Serikat,

67 konstruktivis. Bahkan, teori Shoemaker dan Reese ini perlu ditambahkan dengan pendekatan interaktif; kritis yang mencurigai agenda media di balik berita. Dengan dua pendekatan aktif dan interaktif ini media memiliki perspektif sendiri terhadap realitas yang bakal disajikan kepada publik. Inilah yang disebut berita sebagai manipulasi dalam berbagai bentuk tergantung jenis medianya. Dengan kata lain, pembaca, pemirsa, dan penonton menginterpretasikan pesan dan makna yang disampaikan media dengan penuh kepentingan, bukan kebenaran. Hal ini terjadi karena produksi pesan dan maknanya pun berbanding lurus dengan penerima dan pembacanya. Media (jurnalisme) memiliki agenda sendiri dan mandiri. Ia tidak berhubungan dengan kepentingan publik. II.b. Jurnalisme Online Media yang diyakini muncul pertama kali pada era Julius Cesar. Saat itu ada dua media massa, yaitu, Acta Diurna dan Acta Senatus. Acta Diurna adalah pengumuman dari agenda dan kegiatan kerajaan. Saat ini populer dengan lembaga eksekutif. Sedangkan Acta Senatus merupakan catatan harian tentang agenda dan kegiatan senat atau setara dengan dewan perwakilan rakyat saat ini. Media mengalami beberapa tahap perubahan, transformasi, dan bahkan metamorfosis. Bermula dari surat kabar, buku, film, radio, televisi, dan internet. Media massa yang terakhir, internet, kemudian mempopulerkan istilah media baru (new media). Kehadiran internet selanjutnya mengubah secara drastis dan dramatis perkembangan media massa. Setidaknya internet memicu dua perubahan mendasar di media. Pertama, substansi media, yaitu proses jurnalistik. Kedua, bentuk atau format organisasi media. Jika sebelumnya setiap jenis media massa berdiri sendiri atau memiliki organisasi dan manajemen mandiri, kini mereka bergabung dalam satu kesatuan yang dikenal dengan konvergensi media. Kini, hampir semua media cetak dan elektronik membarenginya dengan bentuk berita online, e-paper, dan live streaming. Perubahan mendasar pada jurnalisme media lantas memunculkan terminologi mengenaskan bernama krisis jurnalisme meski kata krisis dipandang berlebihan. Todd Gitlin, 9 berpendapat dalam kondisi seperti ini istilah krisis yang sangat tepat. Gitlin menunjukkan kondisi krisis jurnalisme ini dengan mengidentifikasi lima indikator. Yaitu, (i) jatuhnya sirkulasi; (ii) jatuhnya pendapatan advertising; (iii) difusi perhatian; (iv) krisis yang berwenang; dan (v) ketidakmampuan atau keengganan jurnalisme mempertanyakan struktur 9 Understanding New Media, Eugenia Siapera, SAGE Publications, California, USA, 2012:127 65

68 kekuasaan semua berkontribusi untuk membawa krisis yang mendalam jurnalisme. Krisis jurnalisme didiagnosis meliputi serangkaian masalah, yaitu, yang berkaitan dengan waktu, uang, otonomi, dan perubahan budaya. Dalam era kapitalisme modern, percepatan dan kecepatan sudah merasuk ke semua aspek kehidupan manusia, termasuk dunia jurnalisme. Kecepatan dan percepatan telah menyeret jurnalisme ke dalam pusaran kompetisi global. Di sinilah lidah api kapitalisme menyambar dan membakar jurnalisme. Berita sebagai unsur atau pilar pokok atau inti dari jurnalisme menjadi komoditas. 10 Dengan menjadi komoditas berita telah kehilangan elan vitalnya. Ia hanya sebagai alat untuk menghasilkan keuangan. Berita bukan lagi sebagai pemproduksi wacana yang mencerahkan; pembangun kesadaran masyarakat; atau lainnya yang mencerahkan kehidupan. Beberapa karakteristik media/jurnalisme online, antara lain, a) Unlimited Space. Jurnalistik Online memungkinkan halaman tak terbatas. Ruang bukan masalah. Artikel dan berita bisa sepanjang dan selengkap mungkin, tanpa batas. b) Audience Control. Jurnalistik Online memungkinkan audiens lebih leluasa memilih berita/informasi. c) Nonlienarity. Dalam Jurnalistik Online tiap berita berdiri sendiri sehingga audiens tidak harus membaca secara berurutan. d) Storage and retrieval. Jurnalistik Online memungkinkan berita abadi, tersimpan dan bisa diakses kembali dengan mudah kapan dan di mana saja. e) Immediacy. Jurnalistik Online menjadikan informasi bisa disampaikan secara sangat cepat dan langsung. f) Multimedia Capability. Jurnalistik Online memungkinkan sajian berita berupa teks, suara, gambar, video, dan komponen lainnya sekaligus. g) Interactivity. Jurnalistik Online memungkinkan interaksi langsung antara redaksi dengan audiens, seperti melalui kolom komentar dan social media sharing. 11 II.c. Teks dan Wacana Perspektif Teori Kritis Ada tiga kunci yang menjadi konsentrasi dalam penelitian ini. Yaitu, teks, konteks, dan wacana. Teks adalah semua bentuk bahasa. Teks bukan hanya yang ada di atas kertas. Ia ekspresi semua bentuk komunikasi. Teks meliputi gambar, suara, citra, gambar, efek dan sebagainya. Konteks berarti memasukan semua situasi dan kondisi yang bereda di luar teks. 10 The Death of Media and The Fight to Save of Democracy, Danny Schechter, penerjemah Gita W, Yayasan Obor, Jakarta, 2007:3 11 Selengkapnya khusus tentang Jurnalisme Online bisa dibaca pada karya Asep Syamsul Romli, berjudul Jurnalisme On-line, Nuansa, Bandung,

69 Ia adalah kondisi yang membentuk teks, baik produksi maupun konsumsinya. Wacana adalah makna dari teks dan konteks secara bersama. Yang menjadi perhatian analisis wacana adalah mendeskripsikan teks dan konteks secara bersama sebagai sebuah proses komunikasi. Dengan demikian dibutuhkan kognisi secara umum dan gambaran budaya yang melingkupinya. Bahasa bukan sesuatu yang lahir di ruang hampa. Ia selalu dalan konteks tertentu. Di situ ada situasi, kondisi, partisipasi, dan intertektualitas. 12 Asal kata wacana (discourse) dari bahasa Latin, Discursus. Artinya dis dari dalam arah yang berbeda dan currere yang berarti lari. Kamus mendenisikan discourse dengan percakapan. Pada awalnya analisis wacana digunakan untuk penelitian linguistik. Ia membatasi pada penganalisaan kalimat. Teori wacana ingin menjelaskan sebuah peristiwa seperti terbentuknya kalimat atau pernyataan. Teks media, misalnya, bukan hanya ada dan membentuk dengan motivasi subjektif tertentu, tetapi juga dapat membentuk aturan-aturan yang dibentuk ruang publik. Menurut Pawito, 13 dalam mengenai beberapa kenyakinan mengapa melakukan penelitian dengan wacana. Yakni, komunikasi terdiri dari tindakan-tindakan kompleks yang kemudian membentuk pesan yang mana mengandung wacana atau wacana-wacana tertentu. Kedua, manusia terikat ketentuan ketika menggunakan bahasa, menggunakan wacana atau melakukan tindakan. Ketiga, komunikator menggunakan wacana untuk mencapai tujuan,dan cara yang ditempuh biasanya terikat oleh ketentuan-ketentuan. Ketiga, kendati bahasa, dan sistem simbol lainnya adalah wujud nyata dari aktivitas komunikasi, wacana yang menjadi materi dari komunikasi. Ibnu Hamad 14 membedakan pengertian discourse dalam dua pengertian. Pertama, discourse (dengan d kecil) yang melihat bagaimana bahasa digunakan pada tempatnya untuk memerankan kegiatan aspek kebahasaan. Kedua, Discourse (dengan D besar) yang merangkai unsur discourse (dengan d kecil) bersama unsur non-linguistik untuk memerankan kegiatan, pandangan, dan identitas. Beberapa bentuk non bahasa antara lain ideologi, ekonomi, politik, budaya, dan sebagainya. Dalam politik, analisis wacana adalah praktik pemakaian bahasa, terutama bahasa politik Guy Cook, The Discourse of Advertising, Raoutledge, London and New York,1994:3 13 Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif, LKiS, Yogyakarta, 2007: Komunikasi sebagai Wacana, La Tofi Enterprise, Jakarta, 2010: Eriyanto, Analisis Wacana, LKiS, Yogyakarta, 2001:3 67

70 J.S. Badudu seperti dikutip Eriyanto 16 secara komprehensif mendefinisikan wacana dalam dua bentuk. Yakni, sebagai rentetan kalimat yang saling berkaitan. Ia menghubungkan proposisi yang satu dengan yang lain sehingga membentuk kesatuan struktur sehingga ada keserasian di natara kalimat-kalimat tersebut. Kedua, wacana sebagai kesatuan bahasa yang tertinggi dan terlengkap. Ia berada di atas klausa dengan koherensi dan kohesi tinggi yang berkesinambungan. Ia memiliki awal dan akhir yang nyata disampaikan baik secara lisan maupun tulisan. Ada tiga strategi yang digunakan membuat wacana. Yaitu, signing, framing, dan priming. Signing adalah penggunaan tanda-tanda bahasa, baik verbal maupun non-verbal. Framing adalah pemilihan wacana berdasarkan pemihakan dalam berbagai aspek wacana. Sedangkan priming berarti mengatur ruang atau waktu untuk mempublikasikan wacana di hadapan khalayak. 17 Analisis wacana merupakan reaksi terhadap pendekatan studi linguistik formal yang lebih memperhatikan pada unit kata, frase, atau kalimat semata tanpa melihat keterkaitan di antara unsur lainnya. Tidak salah bila analisis wacana disebut studi tentang perlawanan terhadap studi linguistik formal yang memusatkan perhatian pada level kata dan kalimat an sich. Analisis wacana merambah berbagai bidang studi (multidisipliner). Politik, ideologi, budaya, sosial, dan seni. Saat ini dikenal tiga pandangan mengenai analisis wacana. Pertama, mewakili kaum positivisme-empiris. Ia menganalisis wacana dengan menggambarkan tata aturan kalimat, bahasa, dan pengertian bersama. Wacana diukur dengan pertimbangan kebenaran atau ketidakbenaran menurut sintaksis dan semantik. Inilah yang disebut dengan analisis isi (kuantitatif dan kualitatif) Kedua, konstruktivisme. Kelompok ini menempatkan analisis wacana sebagai suatu analisis untuk membongkar tujuan dan makna-makna yang tersembunyi. Gank ini berpendapat wacana merupakan suatu upaya pengungkapan maksud tersembunyi dari subyek yang dianggap menyimpan sesuatu. Pengungkapan dilakukan dengan menempatkan diri pada posisi pembicara dengan penafsiran mengikuti struktur makna pembicara. Pendekatan ini dikenal dengan analisis framing. Ketiga, pendekatan kritis. Kelompok ini menggunakan paradigma dengan menekankan konstelasi kekuatan pada produksi dan reproduksi makna. Bahasa tidak dipahami sebagai sesuatu yang netral (tidak mengandung maksud apapun seperti pendekatan 16 Analisis Wacana, LKiS, Yogyakarta, 2001:2 17 Ibnu Hamad, Komunikasi sebagai Wacana, La Tofi Enterprise, Jakarta, 2010:

71 linguistik biasa). Kelompok kritis menempatkan bahasa sebagai representasi dari peran subyek. Makanya analisis wacana kritis bermaksud membongkar kuasa dalam proses berbahasa. Oleh sebab itu, dalam perspektif kritis, analisis wacana gaya ini menamakan dirinya sebagai analisis wacana kritis. Penamaan tersebut untuk membedakan dengan analisis wacana dalam kategori pertama dan kedua. Saat ini, analisis wacana kritis menjadi primadona dalam penelitian teks (media khususnya). Analisis wacana model ini berupaya membongkar maksud tersembunyi dalam satu pernyataan. Doktrin paling fundamental analisis wacana kritis adalah wacana tidak dipahami semata-mata sebagai obyek studi bahasa. Ia merupakan alat dan praktik kekuasaan. Menurut Fairclough dan Wodak, praktik wacana bisa menampilkan efek ideologis dalam memproduksi hubungan kekuasaan yang tidak imbang antara kelas. Pendekatannya berawal dari Marxist. Beberapa karakteristik analisis wacana kritis adalah a) Tindakan. Wacana dipahami sebagai tindakan yaitu mengasosiasikan wacana sebagai bentuk interaksi. b) Konteks. Analisis wacana kritis mempertimbangkan konteks darisebuah wacana. c) Historis, menempatkan wacana dalam konteks sosial tertentu sehingga tidak dapat dimengerti jika tanpa konteks. d) Kekuasaan. Analisis wacana kritis mempertimbangkan elemen kekuasaan. e) Ideologi adalah salah satu konsep sentral dalam analisis wacana kritis karena setiap bentuk teks, percakapan dan sebaginya adalah paraktik ideologi atau efek ideologi. 69

72 III. METODOLOGI PENELITIAN Kunci dari ajaran semiotika Roland Barthes terletak pada makna denotasi, konotasi, dan mitos seperti digambarkan di bawah ini. 1. Signifier 2. Signified (penanda) (petanda) 3. Denotative sign (tanda denotatif) Connotative Connotative signified (konotatif) (petanda konotatif) Connotative sign (tanda konotatif) Gambar 1. Sumber 18 Menurut gambaran Barthes seperti terlihat di atas menunjukkan bahwa tanda denotatif (3) terdiri atas: penanda (l) dan petanda (2). Akan tetapi, pada saat bersamaan, tanda denotatif adalah juga penanda konotatif (4) Dengan kata lain, kata Cobley & Jansz, hal tersebut merupakan unsur material hanya jika kita mengenal tanda singa, barulah konotasi seperti harga diri, kegarangan, dan keberanian menjadi mungkin. Dalam pandangannya, tanda konotatif tidak sekedar memiliki makna tambahan tetapi juga mempunyai kedua bagian tanda denotatif yang melandasi keberadaannya. Inilah sumbangan terbesar Barthes bagi penyempurnaan semiologi Saussure yang berhenti pada penandaan dalam tataran denotatif. Studi Barthes tentang tanda bertumpu pada peran pembaca (the reader). Baginya, konotasi walaupun merupakan sifat asli tanda, membutuhkan keaktifan pembaca agar dapat berfungsi. Secara panjang lebar, Barthes mengulas apa yang sering disebut sebagai sistem pemaknaan tataran kedua, yang dibangun di atas sistem lain yang telah ada sebelumnya. Sistem kedua ini oleh Barthes disebut dengan connotatif yang di dalam Mythologies-nya secara tegas ia bedakan dan denotatif atau sistem pemaknaan tataran pertama. Melanjutkan studi Hjelmslev, Barthes & Jansz Alex Sobur, Semiotika Komunikasi, Remaja Rosdakarya, Bandung, 2009 : Alex Sobur, Semiotika Komunikasi, Remaja Rosdakarya, Bandung, 2003 : 69 70

73 Ia membuat sebuah model sistematis dalam menganalisis makna dan tanda-tanda. Fokus Barthes adalah gagasan tentang signifikasi dua tahap (two order of signification) seperti di bawah ini: Signifikasi tahap pertama merupakan hubungan antara signifier (penanda) dan signified (petanda) dalam sebuah tanda terhadap kualitas eksternal. Barthes menyebutnya dengan denotasi atau makna yang nyata dari tanda. Sedangkan konotasi adalah istilah Barthes untuk menunjukkan signifikasi tahap kedua. Hal tersebut menggambarkan interaksi ketika tanda bertemu dengan perasaan atau emosi pembaca dan nilai-nilai sosialnya. Konotasi mempunyai makna yang subjektif atau intersubjektif. Denotasi adalah apa yang digambarkan tanda terhadap sebuah objek, sedangkan konotasi adalah bagaimana menggambarkannya. Pada signifikasi tahap kedua yang berhubungan dengan isi, tanda bekerja melalui mitos. Mitos adalah bagaimana kebudayaan memahami aspek tentang realitas atau gejala alam. Keseluruhan tanda dalam denotasi berfungsi sebagai penanda pada konotasi atau mitos. Aspek subjektif berkaitan dengan kemampuan artistik dan daya kreativitas yang dibentuk oleh kebudayaan, mitos, kepercayaan, ideologi atau ketidaksadaran itu sendiri. 20 Ada tiga pola yang ditemukan dalam mitos. Yakni, penanda, petanda, dan tanda. Meski begitu mitos adalah suatu sistem yang janggal karena ia dibentuk dari semiologis yang telah eksis sebelumnya; mitos merupakan sistem semiologis tatanan kedua. 20 Yasraf Amir Piliang, Hipersemiotika, Tafsir Cultural Studies atas Matinya Makna, Jalasutera, Yogyakarta, 2008 :

74 Sambil mengutip Engels, Barthes mengatakan kesatuan sebuah eksplanasi tidak bisa didasarkan pada amputasi salah satu pendekatan didasarkan pada koordinasi dialektis terhadap ilmu-ilmu yang digunakan. Sebagai bagian dan semiologi maka mitos merupakan bagian dan ideologi karena ia merupakan ilmu formal, merupakan bagian dan ideologi karena ia merupakan ilmu sejarah, ia mempelajari gagasan dalam bentuk-bentuk. 21 Menurut Barthes dalam Stephen Heath (2010:171) mitos kontemporer menunjuk pada beberapa pendapat ilmuan. Di antaranya, a) Mitos nyaris sama dengan istilah representasi kolektif yang diajukan Emile Durkheim. Ia muncul dalam bentuk ujaran-ujaran anonim dalam media massa, dunia periklanan dan apa saja yang dikonsumsi massa. Mitos adalah sesuatu yang dideterminasi oleh wacana sosial, ia merupakan refleksi. b) Dalam pandangan Karl Marx, mitos terjadi ketika kultur dijungkirbalikan menjadi natural atau sebaliknya ketika kualitas sosial, kultural, ideologis, dan historis terbalik menjadi natural. c) Mitos kontemporer bersifat diskontinu. Mitos ini tidak lagi hadir dalam bentuk narasinarasi panjang dengan format baku, tetapi hanya dalam bentuk wacana. d) Karena merupakan bentuk ujaran, mitos kontemporer masuk dalam cakupan semiotika dengan sistem semantiknya, makna denotatif dan konotatif. 21 Roland Barthes, Membedah Mitos-mitos Budaya Massa: Semiotika atau Sosiologi Tanda, Simbol, dan Representasi, Penerjemah, Jalasutera, Yogyakarta, 2007 :

75 IV. HASIL PENELITIAN DAN PEMBAHASAN IV.a. Objek Penelitian Objek dalam penelitian ini adalah teks berita di 18 media online yang diambil secara acak, baik media maupun tema berita yang diangkatnya. Inilah objek penelitian selengkapnya No Nama Media Judul Berita Edisi Buku Jihad dan teroris Ciputat 6 Januari 2014 Diserahkan ke Komnas HAM 2 Cerai dari Bad Pitt, Begini Perasaan Jennifer Aniston 5 Januari Densus tangkap Teroris di 23 Desember 2014 Banyuwangi 4 Diam-diam Naikan Harga Elpiji 12 2 Januari 2015 KG, Ini Alasan Pertamina 5 Ditanya Soal Bunda Putri, Dipo Aam Sinisi Elite PKS 12 Oktober Dugaan Terkuat Mesin AirAsia 5 Januari 2015 QZ8501 Mati Lalu Menghujam ke Laut 7 Serang SBY, Anas Pertanyakan Surat Dukungan 7 Januari Innalillahi wa inna ilahi rojiun, 26 September 2014 Pilkada Mellaui DPRD 9 Mbah Mijam Kirim Pasukan Ikut 30 Desember 2014 Mencari Korban AirAsia 10 Paranormal : Dalam waktu Dekat 29 Desember 2014 Penumpang QZ-8501 Segera Ditemukan 11 Paranormal Ini Sebut Tiga Kekuatan 29 Desember 2014 gaib Belitung Bisa Cari Air Asia 12 Pelantikan Jokowi-JK Hapus Nuansa 20 Oktober 2014 Kebencian 13 Penerbangan Liar Air Asia QZ Januari 2015 Jadi Sorotan Dunia 14 Premium Turun Diam Diam Pertamina 2 Januari 2015 Naikkan Elpiji 12 Kg 15 SBY dan Ibas Disebut Dalang di Balik 28 September 2014 Pilkada melalui DPRD 16 Tim Sembilan Rusak PSSI, Menpora 4 Januari 2015 Harus Mundur 17 Auditor PBB : Penerbangan Indonesis 2 Januari 2015 m Punya Masalah Kronis 18 Pejuang Turki Tewaskan 24 Anggota ISIS di Kobane 7 Januari

76 IV.b. Hasil Penelitian Berdasarkan hasil penelitian pada 18 berita di media online, ada beberapa temuan penelitian. Antara lain, 1. Banyak penggunaan bahasa dan istilah asing Semuanya menggunakan bahasa asing yang sesungguhnya tidak perlu. Bahasa asing, rata-rata bahasa Inggris, bisa dihindari dan diganti dengan bahasa Indonesia. Penggunaan bahasa asing bisa atau diperbolehkan dipergunakan dalam tulisan media dengan beberapa alasan. Antara lain, tidak ada terjemahan bahasa Indonesia yang tepat dari bahasa asing tersebut. Bahasa asing tersebut terpaksa dipergunakan untuk mengindari kesalahpahaman. Hanya saja dalam konteks penggunaan ini harus diterjemahkan atau dalam tanda kurung dengan sejelas mungkin sehingga makna yang akan disampaikan media dipahami pembaca. Tidak perlu pembaca harus mengerutkan dahi atau mencari kamus terlebih dahulu untuk memahami pesan yang disampaikan media. Di sisi lain, penggunaan bahasa asing sebagai bentuk inferioritas dan mengagungkan bahasa lain, pada pihak yang berseberangan. Bahasa Indonesia adalah identitas nasional. Penggunaan bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar menunjukan kebanggaan warga negara terhadap bahasanya. Banyaknya penggunaan bahasa asing menunjukan tingkat kebanggaan wartawan tersebut terhadap salah satu identitas nasionalnya. Faktor lain banyaknya penggunaan bahasa asing dlam berita online adalah kemalasan wartawan menerjemahkan atau mencari padanan kata yang sama dalam bahasa Indonesia. Hasil wawancara dibiarkan begitu saja. Tidak diolah dengan menerjemahkan ke bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar. Kemalasan ini dipicu oleh adalah rendahnya kualitas wartawan dan desakan untuk mempercepat proses berita. Dalam konteks ini, bukan hanya reporter di lapangan tetapi juga redaktur dan asisten redakturnya yang tidak mau membenahi bahasanya. Dan yang tak kalah pentingnya adalah penggunaan bahasa asing sebagai pengaruh budaya populer biar disebut keren. Diaku atau tidak bahasa keseharian watawan sangat berpengaruh pada penggunaan bahasa tulisan. Celakanya bahasa, termasuk singkatan, keseharian wartawan menjadi bahasa yang disajikan ke pembaca. Tentu saja menjadi sangat berpengaruh kepada kualitas berita yang disajikan. No Nama Media Judul Berita Edisi Bahasa Asing Buku Jihad dan teroris 6 Januari Tadzkirah 74

77 Ciputat Diserahkan ke Komnas HAM 2 Cerai dari Bad Pitt, Begini Perasaan Jennifer Aniston 3 Densus tangkap Teroris di Banyuwangi 4 Diam-diam Naikan Harga Elpiji 12 KG, Ini Alasan Pertamina 5 Ditanya Soal Bunda Putri, Dipo Alam Sinisi Elite PKS 6 Dugaan Terkuat Mesin AirAsia QZ8501 Mati Lalu Menghujam ke Laut 7 Serang SBY, Anas Pertanyakan Surat Dukungan 8 Innalillahi wa inna ilahi rojiun, Pilkada Melalui DPRD 9 Mbah Mijam Kirim Pasukan Ikut Mencari Korban AirAsia 10 Paranormal : Dalam waktu Dekat Penumpang QZ-8501 Segera Ditemukan 11 Paranormal Ini Sebut Tiga Kekuatan gaib Belitung Bisa Cari Air Asia 12 Pelantikan Jokowi-JK Hapus Nuansa Kebencian 13 Penerbangan Liar Air Asia QZ8501 Jadi Sorotan Dunia 14 Premium Turun Diam Diam Pertamina Naikkan Elpiji 12 Kg 15 SBY dan Ibas Disebut Dalang di Balik Pilkada melalui DPRD 16 Tim Sembilan Rusak PSSI, Menpora Harus Mundur Januari Desember Januari Oktober Januari Januari September Desember Desember Desember Oktober Januari Januari September Januari 2015 Headline Tidak ada VP Coorporate Communica tion Tidak ada Stall, upset, spin, track, original track, black box Tidak ada Innalillahi wa inna ilahi rojiun, judicial review Tidak ada Human error, zona Tidak ada Moment of truth, stnding applause, Media outlet Tidak ada Walk out Setback, on the track, urgent 75

78 17 m Auditor PBB : Penerbangan Indonesis Punya Masalah Kronis 18 Pejuang Turki Tewaskan 24 Anggota ISIS di Kobane 2 Januari Januari 2015 Tidak ada Tidak ada 2. Narasumber tunggal dan tidak kompeten Salah satu indikator jurnalisme prasangka adalah narasumber tunggal atau tanpa cover (all) both sides. Dengan narasumber tunggal jurnalisme kehilangan keberimbangannya. Dengan narasumber tunggal, dengan sendirinya prasangka akan muncul. Selain itu, narasumber tidak kompeten juga menimbulkan dugaan ada keberpihakan pada salah satu bagian/pihak. Padahal jurnalisme menjunjung tinggi asas keberimbangan. Narasumber adalah elemen terpenting dari sebuah karya jurnalisme. Wartawan tidak mungkin mengetahui secara pasti suatu peristiwa. Oleh sebab itu, ia pasti mengandalkan tangan orang lain yang bernama narasumber. Makanya, ketika narasumber tunggal, ia kian jauh dari kebenaran. Sedangkan jika narasumber tidak kompeten bukan saja menjauhkan dari kebenaran tetapi menjurus ke arah kesalahan dan kesesatan. Dengan narasumber tunggal dan tidak kompeten, jurnalisme bukan saja menjadi sebuah karya tidak bermutu tetapi ia juga berbahaya. Tidak bermutu hanya berurusan dengan kualitas yang berujung pada ada tidaknya yang membaca dan memasang iklan, tetapi jurnalisme berbahaya sudah berdekatan dengan penghancuran harga diri sebagai wartawan dan orang lain (karena ada transfer makna). No Nama Media Judul Berita Edisi Narasumber Buku Jihad dan teroris 6 Januari Kepala Biro Ciputat Diserahkan ke 2014 Penerangan Komnas HAM dan Humas Mabes Polri Brigjen Boy Rafli Amar 2 Cerai dari Bad Pitt, Begini Perasaan Jennifer Aniston 3 Densus tangkap Teroris di Banyuwangi 5 Januari Desember 2014 (tunggal) Terjemahan dari CBS Sunday Morning dan Daily Mail Kapolres Banyuwang 76

79 4 Diam-diam Naikan Harga Elpiji 12 KG, Ini Alasan Pertamina 5 Ditanya Soal Bunda Putri, Dipo Alam Sinisi Elite PKS 6 Dugaan Terkuat Mesin AirAsia QZ8501 Mati Lalu Menghujam ke Laut 7 Serang SBY, Anas Pertanyakan Surat Dukungan 8 Innalillahi wa inna ilahi rojiun, Pilkada Melalui DPRD 2 Januari Oktober Januari Januari September 2014 i AKBP Tri Bisono Sumiharsi, dan Ketua RT, Asmoro Direktur Pemasaran dan Niaga Pertamina Ahmad Bambang, Vice President Coorporate Communica tion Pertamina Ali Mudzakir Menteri Sekretaris Kabinet Dipo Alam (tunggal) Kepala Penelitian dan Pengemban gan BMKG Prof Edvin Aldrian, Pilot Jeffrey Adrian (tunggal) Twitter Anas, Orang dekat Anas, I Gede Pasek Suardika, Ketua Harian Partai Demokrat Sjarif uddin Hasan Ketua Asosiasi Pemerintah Kabupaten 77

80 9 Mbah Mijam Kirim Pasukan Ikut Mencari Korban AirAsia 10 Paranormal : Dalam waktu Dekat Penumpang QZ-8501 Segera Ditemukan 11 Paranormal Ini Sebut Tiga Kekuatan gaib Belitung Bisa Cari Air Asia 12 Pelantikan Jokowi-JK Hapus Nuansa Kebencian 13 Penerbangan Liar Air Asia QZ8501 Jadi Sorotan Dunia 14 Premium Turun Diam Diam Pertamina Naikkan Elpiji 12 Kg 15 SBY dan Ibas Disebut Dalang di Balik Pilkada melalui DPRD 16 Tim Sembilan Rusak PSSI, Menpora Harus Mundur 30 Desember Desember Desember Oktober Januari Januari September Januari 2015 Seluruh Indonesia, Isran Noor, Twitter Ridwan Kamil (Walikota Bandung) Paranormal Mbah Mijan (tunggal) Paranormal Mbah Warok (tunggal) Paranormal Belitung Timur, Santi (tunggal) Anggota MPR, Jeffrie Geovanie (tunggal) Pakar komunikasi krisis Tom Evrard (tunggal) Direktur Pemasaran dan Niaga Pertamina Ahmad Bambang (tunggal) Direktur Lingkar Madani, Ray Rangkuti (tunggal) Pengamaty Sosial dan Olahraga Umar S. Bakry (tunggal) 78

81 17 Auditor PBB : Penerbangan Indonesis Punya Masalah Kronis 18 Pejuang Turki Tewaskan 24 Anggota ISIS di Kobane 2 Januari Januari 2015 Terjemah dari New York Time dan Reuters Terjemahan dari AFP 3. Penuh prasangka dan tidak ada verifikasi fakta Kejujuran yang utama dari sebuah karya jurnalistik sedangkan verifikasi fakta kata Bill Kovach dan Tom Rosenstiel adalah jantung jurnalisme. Jika kejujuran dan verifikasi fakta sudah hilang dari sebuah karya jurnalistik bisa dipastikan berita itu tidak memiliki orientasi dan bertujan untuk kebenaran. Jurnalistik adalah salah satu metode untuk mencapai kebenaran sebagaimana prinsip atau elemen pertama versi Kovach dan Rosenstiel. Jika kejujuran dalam membuat berita sudah hilang, maka unsur pertama uintuk mencapai kebenaran sudah hilang. Sedangkan jika verifikasi fakta tidak akurat bisa dipastikan karya jurnalistik tidak bermutu. Ia jadi cenderung fitnah dan prasangka. Fakta yang ditemukan wartawan dibiarkan telanjang. Misalnya, fakta tentang terorisme. Verifikasi fakta tidak ada. Siapa terorisme itu? Apa kriterianya? Apa indikasinya seseorang disebut teroris? Bagaimana sosok dan perilakunya? Begitu juga dnegan fakta jihad, buku tadzkirah dan sebagainya. Ia dibiarkan telanjang. Pembaca diharuskan menginterpretasikan masing-masing. Jadilah berita tersebut tidak memenuhi unsur jurnalisme. No Nama Media Judul Berita Edisi Narasumber Buku Jihad dan teroris 6 Januari Penuh Ciputat Diserahkan ke 2014 prasangka Komnas HAM dan tidak bisa diverifikasi 2 Cerai dari Bad Pitt, Begini 5 Januari Tidak bisa Perasaan Jennifer Aniston 2015 diverifikasi 3 Densus tangkap Teroris di Banyuwangi 23 Desember 2014 Penuh prasangka dan tidak bisa diverifikasi 4 Diam-diam Naikan Harga 2 Januari Tidak bisa Elpiji 12 KG, Ini Alasan Pertamina 2015 diverifikasi 79

82 5 Ditanya Soal Bunda Putri, Dipo Alam Sinisi Elite PKS 6 Dugaan Terkuat Mesin AirAsia QZ8501 Mati Lalu Menghujam ke Laut 7 Serang SBY, Anas Pertanyakan Surat Dukungan 8 Innalillahi wa inna ilahi rojiun, Pilkada Melalui DPRD 9 Mbah Mijam Kirim Pasukan Ikut Mencari Korban AirAsia 10 Paranormal : Dalam waktu Dekat Penumpang QZ-8501 Segera Ditemukan 11 Paranormal Ini Sebut Tiga Kekuatan gaib Belitung Bisa Cari Air Asia 12 Pelantikan Jokowi-JK Hapus Nuansa Kebencian 13 Penerbangan Liar Air Asia QZ8501 Jadi Sorotan Dunia 14 Premium Turun Diam Diam Pertamina Naikkan Elpiji 12 Kg 15 SBY dan Ibas Disebut Dalang di Balik Pilkada melalui DPRD 16 Tim Sembilan Rusak PSSI, Menpora Harus Mundur 17 m Auditor PBB : Penerbangan Indonesis Punya Masalah Kronis 18 Pejuang Turki Tewaskan 24 Anggota ISIS di Kobane 12 Oktober Januari Januari September Desember Desember Desember Oktober Januari Januari September Januari Januari Januari 2015 Penuh prasangka dan tidak bisa diverifikasi Penuh prasangka dan tidak bisa diverifikasi Penuh prasangka dan tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Penuh prasangka dan Tidak bisa diverifikasi Tidak bisa diverifikasi Penuh prasangka dan tidak bisa diverifikasi 80

83 IV.c. Pembahasan IV.c.1. Objektivitas versus Subjektivitas Media Secara historis, pers ideal yang menjadi pilar keempat demokrasi yang objektif, netral dan nonpartisan tak pernah terjadi di negeri ini. Ia pernah dijadikan alat melawan penjajah sebelum Indonesia merdeka; menjadi alat partai politik ketika demokrasi liberal; tangan kekuasaan pada masa Orde Baru; dan kooptasi pemilik modal di era reformasi. Dengan kata lain, pers di negeri ini selalu berpihak. Apapun bentuknya. Dengan kondisi tersebut wartawan tidak memiliki independensi untuk menentukan kebijakan media sehingga ada jarak antara berita sebagai produk jurnalistik dengan profesionalismenya. Yang terbaru adalah pada Pilpres Kita tentu ingat lima hari menjelang pemilihan presiden dan wakil presiden 2014, editorial atau tajuk rencana The Jakarta Post, 4 Juli 2014 menyentak kesadaran publik. The Jakarta Post menulis tajuknya dengan judul Endorsing Jokowi. Sontak tulisan ini mengundang pro dan kontak. Di satu sisi, berargumen editorial adalah tempat media beropini. Di lain sisi, editorial tersebut menunjukan keberpihakan yang tentu saja sangat berpengaruh pada isi secara keseluruhan. Sesungguhnya The Jakarta Post hanyalah satu media yang gentle atau berani mengungkapkan identitasnya. Sebab, pada pemilu lalu tidak ada media yang tidak berpihak; semuanya terbelah mendukung salah satu pasangan calon, Prabowo Soebianto-Hatta Rajasa atau Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla. Media endorsement terhadap politikus dalam tajuk atau editorial, menurut Denis McQuail 22 termasuk dalam kategori media partisan. Alasannya, isi editorial itu dilakukan secara terbuka dengan maksud mengajak masyarakat untuk memiliki pandangan terhadap kandidat tertentu. Sementara itu, Ashadi Siregar 23 menyebut sikap The Jakarta Post sebagai media simpatisan. Sebutan ini untuk membedakan dengan partisan. Media simpatisan memberi ruang bagi kompetitor, sedangkan media partisan menutup ruang pemberitaan bagi kompetitor seperti Obor Rakyat. Meskipun katagori Ashadi tersebut sangat longgar dan debatable. Apalagi jika pers bukan irisan tunggal dan adanya keterlibatan pemilik media sebagai aktor politik. Media pun bisa mencari alasan mendukung salah satu pasangan tersebut. Ideologi, ekonomi, politik, budaya atau apapun juga. Tentu saja keberpihakan tersebut sangat berpengaruh pada isi berita. Dalam konteks itulah, media memproduksi konstruksi realitas. 22 Lihat Shoemaker and Reese, Mediating the Message: Theories of Influences on Mass Media Content, Longman, USA, 1996 : Kompas, 11 Agustus

84 Media tidak lagi merepresentasikan peristiwa secara utuh. Ia memiliki sudut pandang sendiri yang dianggap penting dan menarik. Perilaku media (wartawan) ketika memproduksi berita seantiasa dipengaruhi kenyakinan, nilai, norma, dan budaya tertentu. Media (wartawan) selalu berada posisi tertentul ketika mencar berita. Dengan kata lain tidak ada berita atau produk media yang bebas nilai; tuna ideologi; nir kepentingan. Perspektif berita sebagai hasil rekonstruksi yang tidak mungkin sepenuhnya netral, objektif, dan berimbang adalah berangkat dari paradigma positivisme. Ia menyimpan berita di luar diri wartawan atau media. Padahal berita adalah realitas kedua (secondhand reality); buatan. Berita hanyalah shadow reality. Bahkan berita adalah realitas yang tidak memiliki jiwa. Mendekati hyperreality versi Umberto Eco atau Jean Baudrillard. Menurut Everette E. Dennis objektivitas dalam jurnalisme adalah kondisi yang mungkin dicapai. Ia berangkat dari standar jurnalistik seperti cover all sides, kejujuran, dan sebagainya. Sebaliknya, John C. Merril membantahnya. Objektivitas tidak mungkin terjadi (mustahil). Semua proses berita (isu, narasumber, kata, kalimat, paragraf, sampai strategi penulisan) merupakan percampuran antara sikap mental, tindakan ideologis, dan kemampuan nalar yang didasari subjektivitas wartawan dan media. 24 Perkembangan proses jurnalistik kontemporer bercerita kepada kita bahwa pandangan Merril sulit dibantah. Berita di situs berita (online), surat kabar, televisi, dan majalah, semuanya hasil konstruksi wartawan dan media. Objektivitas berita sesuatu yang utopis dan berada di dunia lain. Pasca-reformasi hingga kini, perkembangan jurnalisme kita mengafirmasi satu hal. Bahwa produk jurnalistik adalah mitos; sesuatu anggapan yang belum tentu benar. 25 Bandingkan dengan jurnalisme sejati yang pasti mengandung kebenaran seperti doktrin Bill Kovach dan Tom Rosentiel. 26 Jurnalisme sebagai mitos bisa didekati melalui teori yang dikemukakan Shoemaker dan Reese ketika membaca media. Ada dua pendekatan, yakni, pasif (yang menempatkan media melaporkan realitas sosial yang sebenarnya) atau positivistik; dan aktif (media mengkonstruksi peristiwa menjadi realitas media) atau konstruktivis. Bahkan, teori Shoemaker dan Reese ini perlu ditambahkan dengan pendekatan interaktif; kritis yang mencurigai agenda media di balik berita. Dengan dua pendekatan aktif dan interaktif ini media memiliki perspektif sendiri terhadap realitas yang bakal disajikan kepada publik. Inilah yang disebut berita sebagai manipulasi dalam berbagai bentuk 24 Basic Issues in Mass Communication: A Debate, Front Cover, Everette E. Dennis, John Calhoun Merrill. Macmillan, Mitos dalam konsep semiotika Roland Barthes 26 Selengkapnya lihat Bill Kovach, and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism, Three Rivers Press, New York, Amerika Serikat,

85 tergantung jenis medianya. Dengan kata lain, pembaca, pemirsa, dan penonton menginterpretasikan pesan dan makna yang disampaikan media dengan penuh kepentingan, bukan kebenaran. Hal ini terjadi karena produksi pesan dan maknanya pun berbanding lurus dengan penerima dan pembacanya. Media (jurnalisme) memiliki agenda sendiri dan mandiri. Ia tidak berhubungan dengan kepentingan publik. IV.c.2. Mitos Pilar Keempat Demokrasi Konglomerasi media di negeri ini sudah sangat lumrah. Harry Tanoesoedibjo mellaui MNC Group, menaungi RCTI, Global TV, MNC, Koran Sindo, sindonews.com, Okezone.com, dan beberapa tv kabel. Jakob Oetama melalui Kompas Groupmenaungi Kompas.com, Kompas TV, Warta Kota, Berita Kota dan sebaginya; Surya Paloh memiliki Media Group dengan anak perusahaan surat kabar Media Indonesia, MetroTV, MetroTVnews.com, Lampung Post, dan sebaginya. Aburizal Bakrie mempunyai TVOne, ANTV, Viva.co.id; Chairul Tanjung membawahi TV7, TransTV, Detik.com, dan lain-lain. Indosiar dan SCTV juga dalam satu grup kepemilikan. Selain konglomerasi medianya, keterlibatan dan afiliasi politik mereka juga yang menjadi persoalan besar bagi pengembangan dan perkembangan demokrasi di Indonesia. Surya Paloh menjadi Ketua Umum Partai Nasdem, Aburizal Bakrie menjabat Ketua Umum Partai Golkar, Hary tanoesoedibjo Mendirikan Partai Perindo setelah gagal bersinar dengan Nasdem dan Partai Hati Nurani Rakyat. Jakob Oetama dekat dengan Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan karena kesamaan ideologi dari Partai Kristen Indonesia yang fusi menjadi PDI di era Orde Baru. Chairul Tanjung dekat dengan Partai Demokrat ketika menjadi anggota kabinet pada masa Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Singkat kata nyaris semua media memiliki afiliasi, hubungan, dan kepentingan dengan partai politik. Dengan begitu media di Indonesia tidak independen; tidak bisa menentukan dirinya sendiri sebagai media. Padahal, independensi adalah harga mati bagi sebuah media. Dengan berdiri sendiri ia bisa menentukan kebijakan redaksi dan berita secara mandiri tanpa intervensi kepentingan non-media. Hubungan media dengan politik sama tuanya dengan usia media itu sendiri. Media massa yang diyakini muncul pertama kali pada era Julius Cesar. Saat itu ada dua media massa, yaitu, Acta Diurna dan Acta Senatus. Acta Diurna adalah pengumuman dari agenda dan kegiatan kerajaan. Saat ini populer dengan lembaga eksekutif. Sedangkan Acta Senatus merupakan catatan harian tentang agenda dan kegiatan senat atau setara dengan dewan perwakilan rakyat saat ini. Dengan demikian, sesungguhnya, politik adalah urat nadi media 83

86 massa pada masa awal kelahirannya. 27 Tidak heran bila hingga kini, mayoritas proses dan produksi jurnalisme di negeri ini tidak bisa lepas dari kepentingan politik. Di era modern dengan kapitalisme sebagai urat nadi, media dan politik bertemu dengan faktor bisnis. Dengan tuntutan kapitalisme media berubah menjadi industri; perusahaan yang berorientasi pada keuntungan. Ia bukan lembaga sosial sebagaimana fungsi dasarnya, yakni, menyampaikan berita. Maka lengkaplah penderitaan pers Indonesia ketika media bersinergi dengan bisnis dan politik. Berita sebagai jantung jurnalisme kehilangan substansinya. Media hanya bisa menjadi pilar keempat demokrasi jika mengambil jarak dan independen dengan tiga jenis kekuasaan yang terdapat pada lembaga negara (eksekutif, legislatif, dan yudikatif). Keberjarakan dengan politik, ekonomi, dan bisnis serta pemegang kekuasaan akan membuat media berani bersikap kritis. Sebaliknya, jika dalam satu naungan kekuasaan, ungkapan Lord Acton power tends to corrupt, but absolute power corrupts absolutely (Kekuasaan itu cenderung berbuat korup, kekuasaan yang absolut dengan sendirinya pastilah korup) menemukan kebenarannya. Persekutuan media, bisnis, dan politik di tangan satu orang atau beberapa orang hanya akan melahirkan Orde Baru dalam bentuk lain atau Orde Baru Jilid Dua. Asumsi ini muncul berangkat dari peran media yang dimanfaatkan seseorang atau segelintir orang untuk menyebarkan pesan dan mempertukarkan makna kepada khalayak. Demi memperkokoh kekuasaan, untuk mencapai popularitas, dan guna memperpanjang roda bisnis, media menjadi kendaraan yang paling efektif. Di sinilah fungsi media berubah. Ia tidak memiliki makna hakiki. Makna denotatifnya tidak ada. yang muncul adalah media dalam makna konotatif. Di sinilah media menjadi mitos kata Roland barthes. Benar adanya keberadaan media adalah salah satu indikator demokrasi. Dalam konteks itu media yang sehat, independen, dan bertanggung jawab. Sebaliknya, media yang seperti digambarkan di muka (partisan, tidak bertanggung jawab, dan berorientais bisnis) ia bukan indikator demokrasi. Ia menjadi penghambat demokrasi atau sistem otoriter dalam bentuk lain; kekuasaan lain. Dengan demikian harus dibedakan antara demokrasi prosedural dan demokrasi substansial. Demokrasi substansial bisa terwujud bila demokrasi formal tersedia. Tidak sebaliknya. Demokrasi formal menghadirkan beragam institusi demokrasi seperti legislatif, 27 Selanjutnya tentang tautan media dan politik di Indonesia saat ini dikupas oleh Ibnu Hamad, Konstruksi Realitas Politik di Media Massa; Sebuah Study Critical Analysis Discourse, Analysis Discource, Granit, Jakarta,

87 yudikatif, eksekutif, dan media serta yang lainnya. Sebaliknya, demokrasi substansial meniscayakan lebih dari sekedar kehadiran institusi demokrasi. Pers menjadi mitos ketika pers kehilangan makna denotatifnya, sebagai penyampai informasi dan author makna bagi khalayak; pers menjadi mitos ketika ia berada di wilayah konotatif. Pers yang berfungsi sebagai penopang kekuasaan, penghasil bisnis, dan pemuas syahwat politik adalah pers dalam wujud mitos. Ia bukan lagi sebagai pilar keempat demokrasi tetapi pers sebagai penghancur demokrasi V. KESIMPULAN Berdasarkan penelitian diperoleh kesimpulan. Antara lain kualitas berita sebagai produk jurnalistik online sangat menurun. Hal ini ditandai dengan pertama, banyak penggunaan bahasa dan istilah asing. Kedua, narasumber tunggal dan tidak kompeten. Ketiga, penuh prasangka dan tidak ada verifikasi fakta. Dengan kondisi ini, jurnalisme yang dihasilkan media online berubah dari makna jurnalisme yang sebenarnya sebagai penyampai informasi dan pemproduksi makna. Karena banyak faktor seperti politik, bisnis, dan kekuasaan fungsi media berubah. Ia kehilangan makna hakiki. Makna denotatifnya tidak ada. yang muncul adalah media dalam makna konotatif. Di sinilah media menjadi mitos kata Roland Barthes. Pers menjadi mitos ketika pers kehilangan makna denotatifnya, sebagai penyampai informasi dan author makna bagi khalayak; pers menjadi mitos ketika ia berada di wilayah konotatif. Pers yang berfungsi sebagai penopang kekuasaan, penghasil bisnis, dan pemuas syahwat politik adalah pers dalam wujud mitos. Ia bukan lagi sebagai pilar keempat demokrasi tetapi pers sebagai penghancur demokrasi 85

88 DAFTAR PUSTAKA Buku Alwasilah, A. Chaedar, Filsafat Bahasa dan Pendidikan, Remaja Rosda Karya, Bandung, 2010 Berger, Arthur Asa, Signs in Contemporary Culture; An Introduction on Semiotics, penerjemah M. Dwi Satrianto, Tiara Wacana, Yogyakarta, 2010 Denasi, Marcel, Understanding Media Semitics, penerjemah A. Gunawan Admiranto, Jalasutra, Yogyakarta, 2010 Eriyanto, Analisis Wacana Pengantar Analisis Teks Media, LKiS, Yogyakarta, 2001 Fiske, John, Introduction to Communications Studies, penerjemah Hapsari Dwiningtyas, Raja Grafindo Persada, Jakarta, 2012 Fiske, John, Cultural and Communication Studies, Sebuah Pengantar Paling Komprehensif, cetakan kedua, penerjemah Isi Subandy Ibrahim dan Yosal Iriantara, Jalasutera, Yogayakarta, 2007 Giles, Judy and Tim Middleon, Studying Culture; A Practical Introduction, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford,1999 Guba, Egon G., The Paradigm Dialog, UK, SAGE Publications, 1990 Hall, Stuart, Representing Race Race John Downing, Sage Publications, London, 2005 Hamad, Ibnu, Komunikasi sebagai Wacana, La Tofi Enterprise, Jakarta, 2010 Hamad, Ibnu, Konstruksi Realitas Politik di Media Massa; Sebuah Study Critical Analysis Discourse, Analysis Discource, Granit, Jakarta, 2004 Jorgensen, Marianne W. and Louise J. Phillips, Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method, penerjemah Imam Suyitno dkk, Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta, 2007 Kovach, Bill and Tom Rosenstiel, The Elements of Journalism, Three Rivers Press, New York, Amerika Serikat, 2007 Kuhn, Thomas, The Structure of Saintific Revolutions, Universitas Of Chicago Press, 1962 Kunczik, Michael, Concepts of journalism, North and South, Fredrich Ebert Stichtung,1988 Kuntowijoyo, Paradigma Islam, Kuntowijoyo, Mizan, Bandung, 1991 Martinet, Jeanne, Clefs Pour La Semiologie, penerjemah Stephanus Aswar Herwinarko, Jalasutra, Yogyakarta, 2010 Mcquail, Denis, Mass Communication Theory, edisi kedua, penerjemah Agus Dharma dan Aminuddin Ram, Erlangga, Jakarta,

89 Moleong, Lexy. J, Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif, LKiS, Yogyakarta, 2007 Sobur, Alex, Analisis Teks Media, Remaja Rosda Karya, Bandung, 2006 Subiakto, Henry dan Rachmah Ida Komunikasi Politik, Media, dan Demokrasi, Kencana Prenadamedia Group, Jakarta, 2004 Yasraf, Amir Piliang, Dunia yang Dilipat, Matahari, Bandung, 2011 Situs Berita

90 The Utilization of Media Advertising of Giant Supermarket as an Information Source 1 Erna Mariana Susilowardhani and Bida Sari ABSTRACT The increasing number of supermarkets in the capital city of Jakarta, causing supermarkets have been competing to attract consumers. They make a variety of media advertising. One is Giant Supermarket. But, the consumers differ in the way of getting information as a reference from the media advertising of Giant Supermarket. Therefore, in this study, researchers want to know the consumers experience in utilization of media advertising which is made by Giant Supermarket as a source of information for them. This study use the concepts of marketing communications. Some of the concepts are the concept of promotion, promotional mix, advertising, media advertising: above the line and below the line. Researchers use a qualitative-descriptive approach. Researchers use a type of primary data and secondary data. For primary data, researchers conduct observation and in-depth interviews to a number of informants. For secondary data, researchers conduct a literature review and documentation. Researchers use an authenticity as a technique of data validity. The results obtained, that among consumers, they utilize different of media advertising as a source of information for them. They were relying on information from the catalog, banners, or advertising in newspapers. Each medium has less and also more benefits according to the informants. Things to be noted by the Giant Supermarket is related to the availability of the product being promoted between the products are listed in media advertising and the products are existed in Giant Supermarket it self. Keywords: utilization of media advertising, information source, Giant Supermarket. Interact: Vol.4, No.2, Hal November 2015 Prod Ilmu Komunikasi, Unika Atma Jaya 1 The paper was presented at the 1 st International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communication (ICCOMAC) Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia-Jakarta, September 9th Both are from University of Persada Indonesia YAI, Jakarta-Indonesia and can be contacted via ernams.erna@gmail.com and sari_bida@yahoo.co.id 88

91 I. INTRODUCTION Basic human needs are numerous. They always make a purchase of such products at any time they need. They are routine to go to shop or supermarket every month or once a week. Especially in the capital of Jakarta, where the consumption patterns for products for the basic needs are so high. It is of course a good business opportunity. The businessman build a retail business. One of them is by establishing a supermarket. The increasing number of supermarkets in the capital of Jakarta make the retail businessman are competing to attract consumers. The retailer wants you to come and visit the store (Percy 2008:88). Because of that, they also do promotional strategies, one with advertising activities. This advertising activities were carried out also by Giant Supermarket. They make a variety of advertising media, so that consumers know about the promotion of products that are being offered. In the process of consumer decision making, the influence of consumer situations will give different final outcomes for each consumer. The stages of information search will also be influenced by the level of consumer demand for products which are sought (Sumarwan et al., 2012:200). As a basic requirement, consumers are not too detailed to dig up information about a product. Moreover, if the product is always used. Because of the using with routine, many consumers are pleased if they get a price information with tempting discounts. This is what distinguishes between advertising for a product with advertising intended for retail businesses like Giant Supermarket. They make a variety of advertising media, not only to advertise the brand of supermarkets, but also advertise the products that are being promoted in the Giant Supermarket. The consumers differ in the way of getting information as a reference from the media advertising of Giant Supermarket. Therefore, in this study, researchers want to know the consumers experience in utilization of media advertising which is made by Giant Supermarket as a source of information for them. II. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature review is based on the assumption that knowledge accumulates and that people learn from and build on what others have done (Newman 2003:96). Because of that, researchers used relevant literatures to this study to assist researchers in conducting data analysis. This study included within the scope of marketing communications. Here are some definitions of marketing communications. Marketing communication is a communication activity that is intended to convey a message to consumers and customers by using a variety of media and channels that can be used with the hope of the three stages of change, namely: changes in knowledge, change attitudes and change the desired action. (Soemanagara 2008:4). 89

92 Another definition according to Kotler, marketing communication is the means of used by the company in an attempt to persuade, remind consumers directly or indirectly, on the products and brands which they sell (Kotler 2008: 204). Meanwhile according to Shimp, marketing communication is an important aspect in the overall of the mission of marketing and as a determinant of marketing success (Shimp 2003:4). In the last decade, the components of marketing communications in the marketing mix is becoming increasingly important. In fact, it has been claimed that "marketing in the 1990s is communication and communication is marketing. They can not be separated." (Shimp 2003:4). A marketing communication manager should have a broad knowledge of a variety of media that can be used as a communication channel for promotional needs. (Soemanagara, 2008: 92). The efficiency and effectiveness of the using of media can be seen of how far the media can reach the right target, the required frequency and duration of ad serving on media with high intensity. (Soemanagara, 2008: 92). Marketers have many tactics at their disposal, and the best marketers use them in appropriate ways to maximise the impact of their communications activities (Blythe 2006:40). These communication activities are undertaken to achieve the objectives of corporate communications. The basic instruments which are used to achieve the purpose of the communication company is called the promotion mix (Morissan 2010:16-17). Michael Ray (in Morissan 2010:16) defines promotion as the coordination of all selleriniated efforts to setup channels of information and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an idea. Traditionally, the promotion mix includes four elements, namely: advertising, sales promotion, publicity/public relations, and personal selling (Morissan 2010:17). However, George and Michael Belch (in Morissan 2010:17) adds two elements in the promotional mix, namely: direct marketing and interactive media. Each element of the promotional mix is viewed as an integrated marketing communication instrument that plays an important role in the program of IMC (Morissan 2010:17). Each of these elements can use a variety of forms and each has advantages and disadvantages (Morissan 2010: 17). One of the promotional mix is usually done by company is an advertising. Definition of advertising according to Kotler (2005:254) are all forms of nonpersonal presentation, promotional ideas, promotional goods or services performed by paid sponsors. Advertising does not use the primary communication process, but all forms of communication that uses media as conduits message, whether it is addressed to the masses, group, or personal. (Soemanagara 2008:82). It means that, in delivering of advertising messages, it is required a media channel. Media advertising is a common method of communication that carries advertising messages (Shimp 2003:504). In the field of advertising, is known the medium of advertising: above the line 90

93 media and below the line media. (Soemanagara 2008:82). This is similar to Widyatama (2007:20-21), that the media used in advertising activities can be generally grouped into two types, namely above the line media and below the line media. Above the line media consists of media newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and movies. (Widyatama 2007:21). Above the line media has some distinctive character, among other things: (1) The information to be disseminated simultaneously. That is, in the same time, the same information can be disseminated in the same way as well; (2) Audiences tend anonymous message receiver (not personally identifiable by the communicator); (3) Able to reach a wider audience (Widyatama 2007:21). Meanwhile below the line media categories, such as: posters, leaflets, folders, banners, billboards, blimps, direct mail, point of purchase (POP), packaging products and packaging in the outer side, bus stop, bus panels, flyers, and so on (Widyatama 2007:21). Below the line media also has a distinctive character, namely: (1) The communicant who reach is limited, both in number and area of the target; (2) Being able to reach the audience that is not accessible by above the line media; (3) Tend to be not simultaneous (Widyatama 2007:21). In this study, researchers focused on retail companies, namely Giant Supermarket in which offers a variety of products. As supermarket, usually sell the products for daily needs. For retail companies, in advertising activities, Percy (2008) refer to it as retail advertising. Retail advertising, as already pointed out, may focus on either the image of the store itself, or on products or services it offers. But, even when the advertising features products or services, it will be part of how that store is perceived, because those things will be part of the associations in memory linked to it (Percy 2008:87). So, while retail image advertising has a direct effect on building brand attitude for a store, adverts for products it sells will have an indirect effect on attitudes towards the stores (Percy 2008:87-88). III. METHODS In this study, researchers used a qualitative approach. Qualitative research is research that uses inductive way of thinking, ways of thinking that departing from the special things (empirical facts) towards common things (concept level) (Kriyantono, 2012:196). From these explanations, that qualitative researchers use an inductive approach in the way of thinking. As also described by Newman, that qualitative researchers are more concerned about issues of the richness, texture, and feeling of raw data because their inductive approach emphasizes developing insights and generalizations out of data collected (Newman 2003:137). Most communication scholars, for example, consider qualitative research to be the broadest and most inclusive term for these phenomena (Frey et al. (1998) in Lindlof and Taylor 2002:18). The method of qualitative research tends to be descriptive, naturalistic, and dealing with data properties which are purely qualitative (Irawan, 2007:50). As was done in this study, 91

94 this study sought to describe natural phenomena, in this case related to the consumer experience in the utilization of advertising media as their source of information as a reference in the plan to buy daily necessities. Therefore, this study is descriptive. The research with a descriptive nature is used to describe the reality that is going on without explaining the relationship between variables (Kriyantono, 2012:69). Descriptions of the consumer experience in the using of advertising media as their source of information gained from the extraction of data that researchers do. The data that is needed by researchers are primary data and secondary data. To obtain the data, researchers must determine the data collection techniques appropriate to the required information so that it can be obtained properly. Data collection techniques are the most strategic step in the research, since the main goal of the study is to obtain data (Sugiyono, 2011:224). As the primary data, researchers conducted in-depth interviews. In-depth interviews are a means of collecting data or information by the way of a direct face to face with the informant in order to obtain complete data and in-depth (Kriyantono, 2012:102). Researchers also made some observations. The meaning of observation is the process to recognize and record the events and the relevant objects. (Sunyoto 2012: 36). While according to Kriyantono, observation is defined as the activity to observe directly without a mediator the object to see closely the activities which is carried out by the object itself (Kriyantono, 2012: 110). For secondary data, researchers conducted a literature study. Researchers use the appropriate literature and relevant to this research. In obtaining the data from the interviews, the researchers interviewed a number of informants. The informant is a person or a member of a group that are researched. They are expected to have important information (Kriyantono, 2012:101). Informants were selected based on criteria that have been set earlier by researchers. They usually shop at Giant Supermarket and utilize media advertising from Giant Supermarket. Their information is expected to add the discourse on the topics according to the study. From the data obtained, the researchers then perform the processing of the data and then analyze it. Data analysis is performed at any time in collecting data on the field with an ongoing basis (Bungin (Ed) 2008: 154). According to Bogdan & Biklen (in Irawan, 2007: 70), the data analysis is the process of systematically finding and arranging the interview transcripts, field notes, and other materials that you get, all of which you collect to improve your understanding (against a phenomenon) and help you to present your findings to others. To maintain the quality of this research, the researchers used a validity technique of data. Data validation techniques that researchers used is trustworthiness. Trustworthiness is to test 92

95 the truth and honesty in expressing the reality of the subject according to what is experienced, perceived, or imagined (Kriyantono, 2012: 71). Trustworthiness include two things, namely the authenticity and triangulation. In this study, researchers use authenticity. Authenticity is expanding personal construction which he revealed (Kriyantono, 2012: 71-72). Because this study seeks to explore the personal experiences of the consumers, researchers are trying to let the informants to express their experiences in the use of media advertising as a source of information for them. In addition, researchers use triangulation. According to Dwidjowinoto (in Kriyantono, 2012: 72-73), there are several kinds of triangulation, ie triangulation of source, triangulation of time, triangulation of theory, triangulation of researcher, and triangulation of methods. In this study, researchers use a triangulation of method. Triangulation of method is an attempt to check the validity of the data or check the validity of research findings. Triangulation method can be done by using more than one data collection techniques to get the same (Dwidjowinoto in Kriyantono, 2012: 73). Researchers use the triangulation of method is to match what the informant expressed and comparing by the observations of researchers. Mainly related to the content of the advertising media of Giant Supermarket. IV. RESULTS In this section, researchers report the findings of a study on the utilization of media advertising of Giant Supermarket as an information source. Media Advertising of Giant Supermarket In the study of consumer behavior, consumption often has a profound meaning for the consumer, because the majority of purchasing decisions are destined for consumption purposes (Supranto and Limakrisna 2007: 19). Moreover, for the purposes of day-to-day become a basic necessity. Consumers in big cities like Jakarta tend to shop daily necessities at the supermarket, the concept of the market in which we are free to choose, determine, and take the products that we want. High levels of consumption in the capital city of Jakarta, has opened the opportunity for businessmen to set up a retail business, such as supermarkets. So many supermarkets make the businessmen seek to win the competition. Various attempts were made, as well as in terms of promotional activities. Promotional activities commonly conducted by the business is the advertising. From the observations of researchers, Giant Supermarket is including doing heavily advertising activities. They often use a variety of media advertising. This was also expressed by the informants in this study. The informants said that media advertising in newspapers, catalogs, and banners are usually used by Giant Supermarket. 93

96 For newspapers, informant named Ms. Sundari mentions Koran Sindo newspaper. According to her, there is usually an ad on Giant Supermarket every Friday in Koran Sindo newspaper. The advertisement contains the promos made by Giant Supermarket in force on Friday till Sunday. Because the ads are there every Friday, usually Ms. Sundari will read the ad on Friday as a reference of shopping in three days during the promo period. Another informant, Ms. Novi mentions banners as a source of information. She usually sees the banner of Giant Supermarket around the area supermarkets on the move everyday. The banners are printed, can be a source of product information that may be required by consumers. In this case, banners are seen by people who are passing in the area where the banners are installed. While Ms. Mira usually see the catalog of Giant Supermarket for reference daily shopping needs. Catalog usually is obtained while she is shopping at the supermarket. So, not all consumers get a catalog, except, they ask to the clerk. However, catalog tends to have a longer duration. Usually valid for one week, two weeks, or for one month. From the various of media advertising, Giant Supermarket uses both above the line and below the line media. As mentioned Widyatama (2007) that the advertising in newspapers is categorized as above the line media. While catalogs and banners are categorized as below the line media. Media Advertising as an Information Source Giant Supermarket supply products categorized as basic products. Many housewives shop at Giant Supermarket because whatever some household needs are existed in the supermarket. Shopping meet basic needs is a routine activity. Based on the description of the informants, they shop at least once a month. They usually buy enough supplies for one month. The rest, they shop if there are other needs that have been depleted or there are promotions with significant price cuts, although it is not yet finished stock at home. If a purchasing which consumers did is a routine activity, consumers will not provide a long time for the decision and tend to be monotonous, and there is no purpose for the consumer pleasure in consuming products (Sumarwan et al., 2012: 200). It is also felt by the informant. They will buy the product whenever they need. Or even buy a product that is not really necessary because there happens to be a discount. Troubleshooting is done automatically based on daily experiences faced by consumers, even without going through the stages of looking for in-depth information about the product categories and is often done out of habit. Usually this kind of decision making based on product categories such as basic needs (Sumarwan et al., 2012: 200). From the explanation of informants, information about a product with a specific brand is not so they are looking for. The information they need is the price. They are pleased when there 94

97 is some information about the price. In fact, they tend to go shopping if there is some information about the product with attractive discounts. The information about prices, they get from the media advertising of Giant Supermarket. As has been stated previously, that Giant Supermarket is one retail company. In advertising, not just advertise the brand as a Giant Supermarket, but also announced the products that are sold at Giant Supermarket. In fact, the information related to the products that are currently in the promotion. Based on the observations of the researchers, the information contained in the advertising media from Giant Supermarket is information about the product images, pricing information, promotional information, and information of pricing promotion or discount. Thus, advertising media that is made by Giant Supermarket not only purely about advertising activities itself, but also integrated with other promotional activities, such as information about sales promotions. For example, in the advertisement, displayed an item if you buy two, get one free. Or if you buy two, will get another product which is a promotional package. Alternatively, the addition of a discount if purchased using a credit card from a particular bank which is working with Giant Supermarket. Consumer Opinions on Media Advertising from Giant Supermarket Each media advertising certainly has its advantages as well disadvantages. In this study, researchers explore the explanation of the informants associated with their opinions on media advertising of Giant Supermarket, especially regarding the content of the message of the ad. Based on interviews with Ms. Sundari, for newspaper advertising media, although usually room for ad is a full-page or half page of newspaper, information about the products displayed are not too much. So that the information is deemed inadequate. The ad usually shows only the products with great promo that applies in the next three days: at the end of the week (Friday till Sunday). So consumers can focus on the information about the product promos. Meanwhile for catalogs, product information displayed quite a lot, concerning the product name and picture, as well as the price of the product, according to the informant. The duration of the validity of the price listed in the catalog is longer than an ad in the newspaper. Usually up to one week, two week, and one month. They get the katalog if they go to Giant Supermarket first. Catalogs typically include products that are within the promotion period. For banners, usually within one banner just mention only a few products. Image size of products and price are made large enough. This is of course intended for those who just simply passing can easily read the contents of the banner. Products shown are for products with a special promo. 95

98 From a variety of advertising media that are available, information about the price was the main thing for consumers. Moreover, they are purchasing a daily necessities. Stimulus cheap price is very attractive to them. V. CONCLUSIONS Media advertising such as catalogs, banners, or advertising in newspapers are media advertising which are used by Giant Supermarket. The advertising medium is a stimulus with all the appeal of the ads seek to influence the target (consumers) who saw the ad and then will give a response that changes in behavior to come and make a purchase products at Giant Supermarket. With fierce competition among supermarkets, Giant Supermarket seeks to create a variety of advertising media in order for consumers to come and buy the products they sell. Thus, the material which usually exist in the ad Giant Supermarket is about the pricing information, product images, promotion information, and discount. However, each media advertising, have different characteristics. For media advertising in newspapers, usually listed with promotional material about the great products, but only in a limited time, usually on weekends (Friday-Sunday). However, the coverage is large. So many people can read the ad from newspaper. For catalogs, materials about the products are complete, but usually with a small discount. Enactment for a long time, usually for one week, two weeks, or even one month. But, the reach is limited. For banners, just a few products listed in it due to limited space and must be presented an image that is large enough to be easily visible. But, the reach is limited too. Only people who is passing through the banners who see the ad. For advertising messages of Giant Supermarket ad, turned out to consumers are very concerned about the price information offered. Moreover, the products they are looking for is the product of daily necessities which they use regularly. 96

99 REFERENCES Blythe, Jim Essentials of Marketing Communications. Third Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Bungin, Burhan (Ed) Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif. Jakarta: PT Rajagrafindo Persada. Irawan, Prasetya Penelitian Kualitatif & Kuantitatif untuk Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial. Depok: Departemen Ilmu Administrasi FISIP Universitas Indonesia. Kotler, Philip Manajemen Pemasaran. Edisi 12. PT Macan Jaya Cemerlang. Kriyantono, Rahmat Teknik Praktis Riset Komunikasi. Jakarta: Kencana Prenada Media Group. Lindlof, Thomas R. and Bryan C. Taylor Qualitative Communication Research Methods. Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. Newman, William Lawrence Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Fifth Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Morissan Periklanan: Komunikasi Pemasaran Terpadu. Edisi Pertama. Jakarta: Kencana Prenada Media Group. Percy, Larry Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications. First Edition. Oxford: Elsevier Inc. Shimp, Terence A Periklanan Promosi: Aspek Tambahan Komunikasi Pemasaran Terpadu. Edisi ke-5. Jakarta: Erlangga. Soemanagara, Rd Strategic Marketing Communication: Konsep Strategi dan Terapan. Bandung: Penerbit Alfabeta. Sugiyono Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R&D. Bandung: Penerbit Alfabeta. Sumarwan, Ujang, et al., Riset Pemasaran dan Konsumen. Bogor: PT Penerbit IPB Press. Sunyoto, Danang Konsep Dasar Riset Pemasaran dan Perilaku Konsumen. Yogyakarta: CAPS. Supranto, J, and Nandan Limakrisna Perilaku Konsumen dan Strategi Pemasaran untuk Memenangkan Persaingan Bisnis. Jakarta: Penerbit Mitra Wacana Media. Widyatama, Rendra Pengantar Periklanan. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Book Publisher. 97

100 The Modernization of Election Campaigns and Its Research Opportunities in Indonesia s Direct Elections Era Salvatore Simarmata ABSTRACT Elections have changed significantly since 2004 in Indonesia when citizens for the very first time voted directly for their national leaders. The changes seen not only at the significant participations, either in the electorates or in the political parties contesting the elections, but more so on the way campaigns were conducted. Political parties and individual candidates have run campaigns in a way that has a deep involvement of political marketing, scientific research, political consultants, and professionalization of strategies and the messages conveyed to the voters, to which often referred to as modernization of campaign. Professionalization of campaigning has given a new face of electoral politics in Indonesia, where crafting persuasive message to woo the public is much more important than the substantive and ideological policy preferences offered to the people. Individual popularity becomes a dominant factor for elites to compete for political positions through election. This calls for investigation, because what happens during campaigns will influence the rest of electoral process and the results accordingly. This paper is aimed at exploring the modernization of campaigns theory, observing its practices in Indonesia, and categorizing its thematic research opportunities in the context of Indonesian direct elections. Key words: campaign research, direct elections, election campaigns, modernization Interact: Vol.4, No.2, Hal November 2015 Prodi Ilmu Komunikasi, Unika Atma Jaya The paper was presented at the 2nd International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communication (ICCOMAC).Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia-Jakarta, October The writer is a lecturer at the School of Communication, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia 98

101 1. Introduction Indonesia s democracy has seen a new way of doing politics since the reformation era, where mass communication is deeply involved in the political processes due to the significant change of freedom of information and of the press. At the same time, the loss of political institutionalization for over 30 years has cost the nation of political crisis despite the intensifying of new spirit in making democracy works once and for all. The institutional political crisis consequently has brought us the emergence of personalization of politics, where the center of power does not lay in the strong structure and regulations of the democracy itself, but on the individual popularity. This causes a dire trust on the political institutions including the House of Representative and political parties the worse among others that would lead to low political participation especially during election days. At the same time, the changes in the electoral system such as the parliamentary threshold requirement, the presence of independent candidates, and the shift from proportional system to recently winner-takes-all tendency lead to tighter competition among contenders in the elections. Campaigning becomes a backbone of strategic communication of parties and candidates to ensure electability. Today, election campaigns secure its essential position in our representative democracy. There are, at least, four reasons to the significant importance of election campaign communication and of its urgently serious study accordingly. Firstly, campaigning is a process where parties and candidates communicate their visions, missions, and programs to the voters. Secondly, campaigning recommends decision makers and policy (Mancini and Swanson, 1996), from which voters can learn how to participate in developing the nation. Campaigning is a type of voter education where citizens really get the experiences how democracy is practice. It is also a time for the citizens to judge and weigh the parties and candidates merits to be voted based on their leadership, integrity, and competence. Thirdly, campaigning creates the element of competition in the election as a fundamental qualification of healthy democracy. Competitions push each candidate or party to work harder and to nominate only the best candidate they have, not how close he/she is to the party chairperson. As at least two competing sides are present, voters are served with options where to choose from which sustains rigorous decision making. Fourthly, campaigning is a means to increase participation of the citizens to vote, given the steep decrease of party ID recently in this country. In regards with persuading voters, the problem today is that most political parties and candidates only concern with campaigning when the elections is around the corner. Parties don t really care of their members as to not involve in any immoral and illegal actions, until they got caught by law officers. Member of the parties also don t stick to their promises and political leans after being elected as members of the House of Representative or other positions. Unfortunately, it is not seen as necessary yet, because parties and candidates have a propensity to think that they would always find their ways to woo voters when elections come, which are often carried out off the rule of the game. 99

102 In line with the empirical observation, studies on election campaigns are still very rarely in Indonesia until today, despite the tremendous changes it has brought and resulted in the government formed after the elections. So, it would be very challenging and interesting to firstly map the research potential of election campaigns by drawing main concepts from the literature, and put the concepts into the context of campaign communication in Indonesia s democracy to suggest research opportunities about the phenomena. 2. Literature Review a. Political campaign What is political campaign? Political campaigns can be defined as organized communication efforts by parties, candidates, government institutions, or special interests organizations which seek to influence the outcome of processes of political decision-making by shaping public opinion (Schmitt-Beck & Farrell, 2004: 3).There are three objectives of political campaigns: 1) to mobilize support among the mass public; 2) to persuade citizens of campaigners causes; and 3) to inform the citizenry about public policies and political activities (Schmitt-Beck & Farrell, 2004: 1). Election campaign is just one type of political campaigns. Three other types of campaigns are referendum campaign, single-issue campaign, and image campaign (Schmitt-Beck & Farrell, 2004). If in the election campaigns indicate parties and candidates wage battles for votes and political offices, referendum campaigns show proponents and opponents of related issue seek to navigate the vote in their preferred direction. For instance, the government of Ireland held referendums in 2015 on two proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ireland which included reducing the age of candidacy for the President of Ireland from 35 to 21 years old. Another case happening in Indonesia in 1999 is a referendum was held to decide on the dispute of Timor East province. Furthermore, issue-based campaign is a type of campaign conducted by government agencies or interest groups to increase the visibility of a policy or issue and be covered in favorable frame in the media. Campaigning for go-green policy to support public to plant trees is an example for this campaign. The last types of political campaign, image campaigns, see efforts to increase popularity and positive perception of the public over political actors. Running for positions in organizational leadership highly likely applies this kind of campaign. The development of political campaign has been categorized into three phases. They are premodern campaign, modern campaign, and post-modern campaign (Farrell & Web, 2000: 104; Farrell, 2006: 126). Differences between the three stages could be highlighted based on campaign preparation, use of media, campaign organization, agencies and consultants, source of feedback, campaign events, targeting of votes, and campaign communication. Some significant characteristics of the first stage of campaign are the types of media used (direct and indirect), campaign organization which is composed of local party organization with staff mainly coming from the parties itself and strong candidate-based support and voluntary. Direct media include party press organizations, newspaper ads, billboards, and so 100

103 on, whereas indirect media may include newspaper coverage. Hence, direct media mean campaign communication media that are fully controlled by the parties or candidates, contrarily indirect media are campaign communication channels that are beyond of parties control. Also, politicians are fully in charge that sees a minimal use of consultants and agencies. The main campaign events are public meetings and whistle-stop tours. The second stage of the campaign is characterized by a strong emphasis on the indirect media such as public relations approach, media training, and press conferences. Its most direct media is advertisement campaigns. The staff is composed not only of the party-based membership, but also of paid professionals. Politicians are still in charge, yet a growing prominence of specialist consultants is present where large-scale opinion polls are utilized as a source of data. Main campaign events are TV debates, press conferences, and pseudoevents where the target of the campaign is to catch all prospective voters. Furthermore, emphasis on the direct media is seen in the third stage of the campaign development such as targeted ads, direct mail, video mail, cable TV, and internet. Other characteristics that differentiate it from the second stage are the staffing which use more professional, contract work, consultants, with event much higher dependence on the polling technique to support its communication strategy as political marketing with the target of specific or segmented categories of voters. In practice, we can observe the administration of election campaign as a systematic process involving actors, medium, message, and targeted recipient. Media are seen as independent factors to the success of the campaigns considering other variables are being equal. Schmitt- Beck and Pfetsch (1994), as quoted in Schmitt-Beck & Farrell(2004: 6) created a model to show how campaigns are administered. 101

104 Figure 1: A model of Campaigning (Quoted from Schmitt-Beck & Farrell, 2004: 6) Mass media News and other political content Political actors degree of control over messages: + Low ++Fairly high +++ Very high Political actors developing communication strategies: -Which message? - Which channels? Talk shows and other entertaining content Advertising Organizational resources Voters News and other political content Institutional setting Political culture Social and economic conditions Random events As represented by the sign + campaign actors have low control of the dissemination of the message through that media, and the sign +++ shows very high control by the campaign actors. The assumption is that the more controlled media by the campaign actors are mobilized the higher the chance of success of the campaign communication, and the other way around is deemed true. Today, election campaign communication enjoys a wider option of channels available, thanks to the advent of the unprecedentedly interactive new media. In terms of channel, we can categorize types of campaign communication channels into binary spectrum: controlled and uncontrolled channels (Karlsen, 2009). 102

105 Tabel 1: Channels of Mediated Campaign Communication (Quoted from Karlsen, 2009: 31) Media technology Party control Press Broadcast (Television and Radio) New Media (ICTs) Uncontrolled Independent newspapers Television news, radio news, etc. Online newspaper, independent blogs, etc. Controlled Party newspapers, pamphlets, newspaper ads TV spots/ads Parties and candidates website b. Modernization A wide agreement among scholars of political campaign suggests that modernization is a conceptual entry point to study election campaign with its worldwide development and replication (Mancini and Swanson, 1996; Schmitt-Beck & Farrell, 2004; Farrell & Webb, 2000) to which commonly refers to as Americanization. Modernization, in sociology, is the transformation from a traditional, rural, agrarian society to a secular, urban, industrial society. To modernize a society is, first of all, to industrialize it. Historically, the rise of modern society has been inextricably linked with the emergence of industrial society (britannica.com). Similarly, Giddens (1998: 94) defines modernity as a shorthand term for modern society, or industrial civilization. Giddens goes on emphasizing modernity is associated with (1) a certain set of attitudes towards the world, the idea of the world as open to transformation, by human intervention; (2) a complex of economic institutions, especially industrial production and a market economy; (3) a certain range of political institutions, including the nation-state and mass democracy. Modernity is vastly more dynamic than any previous type of social order with more technically complex of institutions. Furthermore, Niklas Luhman (Mancini and Swanson, 1996: 7) defines social complexity in two dimensions: structural dimension and symbolic dimension. Structural dimension comprised of the increasing functional differentiation within the society, the growing number of sub-systems, and become more specialized, and the systemic interactions are more complex. Meanwhile, the symbolic dimension can be observed through the fracturing of citizen identities and citizen affiliations with multiple microstructures with its own symbolic reality. The increasing functional differentiation brought about by modernity slides down into the political process in many levels of structures, practices, and mechanisms into the political institutions and processes including into campaigning practices. 103

106 Generally there are five elements of modern campaigning, namely personalization of politics, scientificization of politics, detachment of parties from citizens, autonomous structures of communication, and the shift of role from citizenship to spectatorship (Mancini and Swanson, 1996: 14). c. New Media and Online Campaign The selection of medium or channels is one among the most strategic decisions that political parties and candidates have to make. Conventional media have several limitations in the context of electorate relations such as the presence of gatekeeper controlling the flow of news in a way that benefits the media, the limited if not absence of feedback, the politicaleconomic interest of the media, commodification of political information, and the capital intensive nature of media use excluding small parties to get exposed publicly. The advent of new media has given hope for much more democratic structure of campaign communication especially through its plentiful social media platforms. New media can be defined as those forms that combine computing and information technology, communication networks, and digitized media and content information that lead to convergence (Flew, 2005: 2). One type of the new media is social media. A way to define social media is proposed by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010). They argue, social media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Two most powerful characteristics of new media with its 2.0 version are interactivity and connectivity. Connectivity does not only boost participation from voters but also provide field for lay citizens to publish and share information that are available to any one being online and connected to the internet. The interactivity nature of the new media supports bottom-up aspiration flow to be heard and promoted by the elites. Citizens can also easily give feedbacks and responses to elite actions deemed inappropriate or would be damaging to the society. Campaigning through social media is commonly meant to increase awareness and sentiments of the public of political brands, either in the form of candidate figures or political parties. Variables that are often applied to measure social media campaigns are mentions (total of mention of names or parties), sentiment (favorable or unfavorable), reach (total followers), exposure (numbers of followers followers), and engagement (frequency of interaction). Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog or website are most favored platforms for online campaigns these days. d. Direct Elections in Indonesia Direct election was introduced for the first time in Indonesia in 2004 for presidential and legislative elections. Put simply, direct election is a kind of election in which citizens vote 104

107 directly, instead of having representatives who vote for them (Cambridge Dictionary). There are two significant changes in the Indonesia s direct election to this day. They are: first, candidates are directly chosen by the voters from the lists in the ballots; second, there has been a much tougher competition because candidates coming from the same parties have to compete with their own colleagues in order to win due to the direct voting. 3. Election Campaigning in Direct Elections Era of Indonesia Modernization of election campaign has dominated campaign activities over the last ten years in Indonesia. The increasing immersion of political marketing, survey, and political consultant or campaign professionals is so rampant during legislative, presidential, and even local elections. Survey organizations are taken as the new element of democracy in this country. Moreover, thanks to its skyrocketing presence and influence, main survey organizations decided to form an association to promote credible survey activities under the name of Persepi (The Indonesian Association for Public Opinion Surveys), which declared its membership as obliged to formalized ethical standards. There are 26 survey organizations in its membership lists in its official website (see the table).the survey organizations run what is called as scientificization of politics during elections in this country. From its early presence in our elections up to now, surveys have been rapidly used for main political objectives in our elections. Four main objectives are worth elaborating. First, surveys are used for measuring figures popularity as a basis for nomination in national and local elections, and also for political parties leadership successions. For examples, the nomination of Joko Widodo as presidential candidate was not so straightforward especially for the PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, until consecutive survey results showed that Joko Widodo topped the lists of every survey results on presidential candidacy eight to ten months ahead of the election. Furthermore, the nomination of Democrat Party leadership was based on along with other criteria survey results. Surveys play an informationgathering role to help political parties in decision making. This can be called pre-election function. 105

108 Tabel 2: Survey Organizations in Indonesia (Quoted from Second, surveys are used to map public opinion on the issues of public concerns so parties can design strategic political campaigns such as speeches, advertisements, talk show, and press-releases with messages tailored to offer solutions to what have been the public concerned about. Third, surveys are used to track the electability of candidates either by political parties or independent survey organizations as a form public participation in the election. Fourth, surveys are used to predict the results of elections. In the process of the surveys administration, scientific rules dominate decision making process as to achieve not only reliability and credibility of the results, but also efficiency and effectiveness at the same time. Often time, survey experts also act as campaign consultants for certain candidates and political parties. We can learn from the latest national elections that some of the prominent survey organizations are consultants of the candidates competing in the presidential election. The driving force behind the huge immersion of survey technique in the political decision making is not only as the effect of political adaptation from the west, but more of the weakening position of political parties in the society. The rampant corruption cases implicating elites of political parties and members of the House of Representative becomes the most striking influence on the popularity of political parties. The other factor is homogenization of political parties identities and lack of consistency between political platforms and actions. Ideology is not so easy to identify in the political parties for the last ten years. It gets much worse when trying to correlate between their programs, actions, and ideologies. One way to split one from the others is through the religious and nationalist 106

109 distinctions, despite the fact that their political actions seem to be deviating from meaning behind the characteristics. What we have now is a kind of political scientists often single out as catch-all parties. The main goal of political parties in Indonesia today is not so much about ideological basis, grass-root supports, and clear and consistency in their political platforms and actions, but more on the efforts to gather voters as many as possible from the masses when the elections arrive. This fact really shouts out the severe detachment of parties from politics. Sometime parties look more like oligarchic corporates going after profits. So, a way for political parties to get the public attention is to find what people are like left in the parties. It is individual figure with good popularity and high electability to be offered to the public. Certainly that electability they obtain not because of the organizational development or cadre training, but merely as part of individual quality and struggle in life. Politics have been descending into personalization of politics. Politics is not defined by ideology, value, morality obligation, and grass-root basis in the society, but more by individual political electability. For instance, the presidential election in 2014 was too often depicted as a competition between Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto. Personalization of politics is a change in the presentation of politics in the media, as expressed in a heightened focus on individual politicians and a diminished focus on parties, organizations, and institutions. (Rahat&Sheafer, 2007: 67). Personalization of politics has two setbacks to democratic consolidation. First, the news coverage tend to focus more on the private life of the candidates such as family history, and second, the tendency of news media to frame candidates on their individual characteristics such as hobbies, daily routines, and so on, rather than on their professional competence, visions, and programs they fight for. On the electorate side, rationality in political preferences and intentions has been getting higher, so that voters are not easily controlled by elites or traditional figures often approached by political parties as endorsers, and voters can get the information they need outside of the political structure due to more free and independent media, and the advent of online media. Direct elections have pushed political parties to relinquish a significant proportion of its power in decision on who to nominate to contest each election. Since 2004, citizens directly choose the names of their leaders during election. Furthermore, since December 2015 simultaneous elections are introduced for the first time for local elections and in 2019 for national elections. This latest transformation in the election system cost political parties losing controls over several steps in the elections, and makes the competition even harder. The next aspect we can observe of the modernization of election campaigning here is the increasing independence. Independence here means two things which are political parties do not control the whole media system like in the past anymore as we could be called party press, and the loosening oversight of the state over media compared to that of the era of New Order regime. The availability of autonomous structure of communication is also sustained by the presence of online media 107

110 However, due to the high involvement of political marketing in the electoral competitions, citizens are not so much involved in the political communication process such as through civic dialogues, public deliberation, volunteerism, and so on. The wide presence of advertisements and administered televised-debates makes citizens more spectators than voters in the real sense. 4. Election campaigning in a fragile local democracy Surviving of controversy over its proper time to be commenced, the first simultaneous local elections of this country has been finally declared to take place on 9 December The General Election Commission (KPU) has approved and formalized 765 pairs of contenders to participate in the upcoming elections, consisting of 9 provinces, 219 regencies, and 33 cities that start campaigning now. Compared to all other steps in the election from candidates registration to votes counting campaigning which will start from 27 of August to December 5, 2015 is truly the most important period of all. According to the KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 7/2015 article (4), campaigns should be carried out honestly, openly, and dialogically as to provide responsibly a form of political education to the voters with an expectation that many more citizens will come to the polling stations on the Election Day. Furthermore, in article (5) it is stipulated that methods of the campaigns are clearly described namely open or public debates, distribution of campaign materials, display of attributes, and advertisements in mass media. If we agree on the advice that experiences are the best teacher, we might need to look back at what has happened during the national elections last year. Reflecting back on it, some matters could still likely to trouble the purity of people s voices in the ballots, and make the local elections more fragile, considering the interwoven between politics with culture, familypolitics intersections, and the lesser supervision from the central government. Fragile means easily broken or damaged. In the context of political institution fragile means failing or at high risk of failing in achieving goals. Furthermore, I define fragility in two layers namely procedurally and substantially. Procedural fragility happens in the form of black campaigns, characters assassination, racist speeches, horizontal clashes, money politics, and so on. Substantial fragility happens when the results of the election that form elected local government that shows a dissatisfactory outcome due to figures with political dynasty, exclusive power, and integrity issue. In short, there is a backward in the quality of election results. Knowing this fragility, participating candidates, parties, and their campaign teams must create a new style of campaigning in which integrity, respect, honesty, and law are firmly upheld with messages conveyed and strategies utilized totally comply with the rule of law. Electoral bodies (KPU, Bawaslu) should independently oversee the processes closely and take necessary measure immediately whenever needed. 108

111 Ideally, campaigns should go interactively and peacefully where dialogues and participations are fully facilitated through the means and formats of the campaigns. Vision, mission, and realistic agendas aimed at improving the life and local people should be elaborated. Furthermore, transparency and honesty in the process should be hailed firmly as a test of commitment before they take power. In addition, too much political advertisements are bad for democracy, but many more interactive dialogues organized by each campaign team besides formal debates mandated by the KPU are good for genuine electoral politics, because our democracy s future lays in rationally self-governed participations of the people. So, one important effort that should be done to achieve quality election is series of inclusive voter education. Voters should be rationally aware of the candidates they choose in terms of their leadership, competence, and integrity based on what they have done in their lives. In the end, let the best candidate be won and the people celebrate their victory. To build a strong nation it should develop from its edges. To stay unite as a diverse archipelagic nation even more we should grow from our local regions by building local democracy starting in a new ways of doing voters-enlightening campaigns. 5. Research opportunities After investigating the latest development in the election campaign literatures, as the main goal of this paper, here I would like to suggest six selected topics in idiosyncratic way as the most important areas to analyze in order to gauge how far modernization of election campaigning has shaped our democracy. It lies along the way with the fundamental elements of communication process (communicator, message, medium, communicant, and effect) in the context of election campaign communication. a. Professionalization of election campaign This topic tries to investigate how the presence of political consultants and the deep utilization of pollsters shape the way electoral processes in recent elections and ahead, from the way candidate selected, messages delivered, and campaign strategies chosen. A general rule known for candidacy for most political contests starts with visibility review of potential candidates, and then popularity check of the candidates using survey, hoping to guarantee promising electability. Somewhere in between, political marketing-supported campaigns are staged to increase the score in respective measurement. b. Personalization of campaign How candidates are portrayed in the news during campaigns is the second compelling topic to study. Ideally, candidates should be given chance to explore and disseminate their political agendas and policy preferences if they get elected. Competence, integrity, and past track-records are issues worth covering and presenting from the contesting candidates to the people. However, under the reign of media logic, where 109

112 political processes are dependent on the media self-interest and routines, media tend to go after the personal and private matters of the candidates. Hence, two central concepts to observe in the news coverage are individualization and privatization. c. Horse-race framing of campaign What are the main news frames during campaigns? This question leads us into the issue of how media should play its roles during election campaigning. As a medium for political communication media should facilitate candidates to disseminate their visions, missions, and programs to the people and be available to the wider public. As a watchdog body media should be critical towards the much polished public appearances and speeches of candidates. Media should also provide conflicting perspective over the issues related to candidates or parties. In the end, voters can enjoy information needed to make sound and rational decision. Unfortunately, media are also driven by economic forces that tend to multiply benefits from its news program activities. In order to increase its rating, media tend to emphasize more on the competition side of the election such as focusing on the survey results, who is ahead and who is behind at the polling, what strategies are used by each sides of the contenders, and so on. At the same time, visions, missions, and programs tend to be overlooked by the media, let alone allocating its airtime for independently being critical against all candidates. d. Comparing the channels of campaign Parties and candidates can choose various campaign communication channels today. An interesting issue to analyze is which parties and candidates apply which communication channels and compared among them including the messages between candidates to the others, and then compared level of utilization of various media with electoral success after election. As of today, the most parties and candidates apply simultaneously between direct and indirect media, with still low penetration into the online media. e. The effects of political campaigns: The last area of research in the field of election campaign communication is campaign effect. A variable to start with is investigating the type of campaign either mediated or direct campaign. How mediated campaigns are done and compared to the direct ones, and measuring the effects of each type of the campaign by using experimental method in the field or lab worth pursuing. Expected results are such as which type of campaign contributes to the rational votes and higher participation in the election, and vice versa. f. Political branding Branding is probably the latest phenomenon in our electoral politics today. As modernization of political campaigns becomes strong, the management of campaign involves political consultants and marketing expert to create brands what will boost the public awareness and association of nominated candidates. In research, 110

113 measuiring brand identities, brand awareness, brand association, and brand personality of candidates is worth pursuing. 6. Methods in political campaign research Main methods in election campaign communication research are content analysis, survey, and experiment. Each method indicates the locus of the problem under investigation. Content analysis is mainly used to quantify the frequency and trend of candidates and parties being portrayed by the media either by print, broadcast, or online, or to see the pattern of candidates political messages during campaigns. By definition content analysis is a research technique for making replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matters) to the context of their use. (Krippedorff, 2004: 18). A more classic definition by Berelson (1952: 18) states that content analysis is a research technique for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication. The second commonly used method is survey intending to measure media effects. Survey research is one method of collecting, organizing and analyzing data (de Vaus, 1991: 7), using predominantly questioner or by structured interview on more than one case and at a single point in time in connection with two or more variables which are to detect patters of association (Bryman, 2008: 46).Similarly, experiment is also applied for measuring the effect of certain campaign communication on subjects by providing altered treatment upon selected group or experimental group, either in the setting of field or laboratory experiment with diverse variation in its administration. 7. Conclusion Political campaigns contribute significantly to the success and failure of a democracy including consolidating democracy like ours. As Swanson and Mancini (1996: 2) put it: The way in which a democracy conducts its election campaigns can empower or silence particular segments of the electorate, achieve or disrupt a balance of power among institutions of government, support or undercut the strength of political parties, and foster public support or alienation from government. Like elsewhere, liberal democracy is sustained through periodic elections to elect new government and other public positions to hold the public officials accountable to the people. Campaigning in direct elections conducted in almost all level of public offices in this country are the determining factors to the success and failure of the succeeding government and officials. Campaign is the heart of every credible democracy. Todays, Indonesia has been facing a modernization of political campaigns which brings challenges for the electorates, candidates, and political parties as well. Voters are bombarded with new style of campaigning that makes it difficult for them to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate candidates due to the highly orchestrated political marketing run by candidates, parties, and their consultants. For the candidates the challenges come from internal competition as a consequence of the direct elections implemented. However, political 111

114 parties would face same old competition but with much harder to be won especially for middle and small parties when the involvement of money is extremely praised. Serious studies are urgently needed to investigate the transformation of political campaigns in Indonesia since the reformation era in order to eliminate detrimental effects on the consolidation of democracy, more than that is to empower citizens in facing the powerful political parties when it comes to competing for the power. Some research topics are offered to start the endeavor namely professionalization of election campaign, personalization of campaign, horse-race framing of campaign, comparing the channels of campaign, and the effects of campaign, and political branding both online and offline as means to evaluate the effectiveness of campaigns in supporting democratic elections in our democracy. 112

115 References Bennett, W. L. and Entman, Robert M. (eds) (2001) Mediated Politics: Communication in the Future of Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press. Berelson, Bernard (1952) Content Analysis in Communication Research. New York: Free Press. Bryman, Alan (2008) Social Research Methods. New York: Oxford University Press. De vaus, David (1991) Surveys in Social Research, Third Edition. Australia: Allen & Unwin. Giddens, Anthony and Pierson, Christoper. (1998) Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity. California: Stanford University Press. Flew, Terry (2002) New Media: An Introduction. Australia: Oxford University Press. Farrell, David M. (2006) Political Parties in A Changing Campaign Environment. In Katz, Richard S. and Crotty, William (eds) Handbook of Party Politics. London: Sage Publications, p Farrell, David M. and Schmitt-Beck, Rüdiger (2004) Do Political Campaigns Matter? Campaign Effects in Elections and Referendums. London: Routledge. Farrell, David M. and Webb, Paul (2000) Political Parties as Campaign Organizations, in Wattenberg, Martin P. and Dalton, Russell J. (eds) Parties without Partisans. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p Karlsen, Rune (2010)Online and Undecided: Voters and the Internet in the Contemporary Norwegian Election Campaign.Scandinavian Political Studies 33(1): Kaplan, Andreas M., and Haenlin, Michael (2010) Users of the World, Unite! The Challengers and Opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, Volume 53 (Issue 1), p. 61. Krippendorff, Klaus (2004) Content Analysis, An Introduction to Its Methodology. California: Sage Publications. Mancini, Paolo and Swanson, David L. (1996) Politics, Media, and Modern Democracy: Introduction, in Swanson, D. and Mancini, P. Politics, Media and Modern Democracy: An International Study of Innovations in Electoral Campaigning and Their Consequences. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, p Rahat, G. and Sheafer, T. (2007) The Personalization(s) of Politics: Israel, Political Communication 41(1): Cambridge Dictionary

116 Universitas Katolik Indonesia PRODI ILMU KOMUNIKASI FAKULTAS ILMU ADMINISTRASI BISNIS dan ILMU KOMUNIKASI