Effendi laments loss of good journalism

Matheos V. Messakh , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 12/26/2008 11:02 AM | People

JP/P.J. Leo

JAKARTA: Communications expert Effendi Gazali is worried about the state of Indonesian journalism.

TV journalism, he says, has become drowned in “media routine”, failing to probe the causes of problems, while the print media has embraced an “entertainment” style and is cutting space for in-depth stories.

“They (TV channels) seem to have routine news about many things. They know there will be floods in Jakarta, or a chemical fertilizer scarcity,” he told The Jakarta Post. “They’re proud to be the first to report such problems but never question why these things happen.”

As for print media, he has noticed that some newspapers and magazines have embraced an entertaining style, with other more “serious” media reducing their columns and space, resulting in shallow reports.

“I’m not against the use of more entertaining language and symbols in news presentation, but it should be used only as a way of presentation. The real function of journalism — to educate — should be still taken into account,” he said. —JP/Matheos V. Messakh