The State of Journalism and Public Trust in Democratic Indonesia

This essay delves into the critical issue of declining public trust in journalism within Indonesia, a democratic nation. It argues that journalism can rebuild public trust by addressing key factors. The paper begins by highlighting the low level of public trust in Indonesian media, based on a 2017 survey, and explores the influence of societal polarization, media partisanship, and weak literacy. A literature review examines the importance of objectivity, transparency, and openness in restoring trust. The study employs qualitative methods, analyzing literature to understand the evolution of media and its impact on public trust. The findings reveal challenges like media ownership concentration and limited professional autonomy, while also highlighting the rise of citizen journalism and digital media's role in increasing awareness. The discussion emphasizes the importance of press freedom for democracy and the need for journalism to uphold its values to regain public trust. The essay concludes that while progress may be slow, the positive developments in citizen journalism and digital media are creating a more informed and engaged public, and strengthening the value of journalism in the country.

Running head: JOURNALISM AND DEMOCRACY
JOURNALISM AND DEMOCRACY
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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Introduction
The paper examines the level of public trust in journalism in Indonesia as a democratic
country and hence will argue that journalism can win back people trust. Most practitioners,
observes and scholars have noted startling signs of declining public trust in the media. Brants
(2013) notes that trust in media is seen as the “life blood of journalism’s role in and contribution
to people’s sense making, while “trust in the framework of Habermas´ theory, can be interpreted
as the belief that an actor sticks to the validity claims that are the precondition for
communicative action: subjective/expressive truthfulness, normative rightness, and theoretical
truth.” (Müller, 2013, p. 81). This paper therefore relies on a research that suggests as other
social institutions journalism depends on trust while journalism also play an important role in
gaining public trust not only for itself but also for other parts of society (Blobaum,2014).
The paper analyzes the level of trust of the Indonesian people in the media. Based on a
survey conducted in 2017 by The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), public trust in
the media was found at an alarming rate at only 67% which is lower than the public trust in
Indonesian National Police at 71%, which institution has been notoriously corrupt. Despite the
closeness of journalistic media with the society, social media is increasingly gaining public trust
as the main source of information in Indonesia. The level of public trust in the press is influenced
by several factors. The first factor deals with the stronger society polarization due to political
conditions. The second one relates to the attitudes of media partisans determined by the interests
of media owners. The third factor is related to the weak literacy among Indonesian society. The
data released by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that Indonesia
ranked 62 out of 70 countries in terms of literacy. To address this issue, this paper analyzes some
efforts that can be conducted to enhance the weak public trust in media.

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Literature Review
There are three significant aspects supporting the argument that the media can restore the
public trust. Based on the theory of objectivity proposed by Schudson (1978), objective
journalism is determined by a commitment to the pursuit of truth. In this case, media must be
able to position themselves as non-partisan, independent, and impartial party since by only being
independent, media can perform truthful function. Second, the media needs to be transparent in
revealing the sources of news, funding, and any associated organizations. Transparency is a
central component of journalism (Kovach and Rosenstiel, 2001, p.83) that must be applied in the
methods of gaining news. Third, the media must be open to criticism and honest in making
corrections to mistakes and errors. It is necessary that media perform check and recheck as well
as cross-check as habitual processes before releasing any news. Unfortunately, in fact, media
often neglect this fact-verification process to release the news faster. Verification of any
information before publication must be set as a work standard.
These three sub-arguments support the main argument that journalism will be able to
regain the public trust. The sub arguments are important in understanding the effect of
journalism on the minds of the audiences. In the digital era, the effect of journalism are far
reaching and reaching a much wider population than ever before due to the rapid growth of
digital and smartphone oriented media. Presently, news articles can be read all day long by a
large number of people. This is the next big level of media development after the advent of the
24X7 media. According to Muchtar & Masduki (2016) Indonesian journalists are typically males
who are on an average around the age of 35 years. In regards to their trust in public institutions
most of them were found to trust religious figures, the media institutions of their own and their
unions. It was also found that the reporters in Indonesia had much limited professional

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autonomy. All these factors point towards the fact that there is a significant lack in transparency
in the profession of journalism in the country. It is important to note that changing the perception
of the news audiences of Indonesia is not an easy process. It can take many years to establish a
strong media environment that has high credibility among the audiences. This causes significant
issues in regards to the development of more credible media. According to Tapsell (2015)
convergence of media in the present times in Indonesia can have significant implications
concerning the freedom of press in the country. On the one hand it is deemed by many to provide
more value to the voices of the people. On the other hand there is a chance that the convergence
of media can actually have a further negative impact on the public trust in Indonesian media.
This is mostly because most of the large media houses are actually controlled by the elite and the
higher political classes. Hence, an argument can be made that despite diverging into various
channels, media and news can still be mis-utilized by the elite politicians and businessmen.
The average Indonesian audience is getting more aware as a result of the rapid growth of
social media news. This is a positive aspect that has emerged over the past few years. According
to Tapsell (2015) oligarchies continue to have marked influence over the Indonesian media. It is
certain that as long as the media is being run by the media organizations that are largely
influenced by the oligarchs proper trust would never be established. However, it can still be said
that the digital media revolution is actually causing a change in the perception of the people. Due
to the emergence various social media platforms for objective news there is a growing interest in
news and media among the Indonesian people. According to Kholid, Husein and Mutiarin (2015)
social media oriented independent news portals have increased political participation among
youths in Indonesia. This is mainly attributed to the development of more awareness about
politics and power structures in the country. This is bound to have definite positive effects on the

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factors that influence public trust in journalism in the country. According to N. Tejkalová et al.
(2017) Indonesian journalists that were working for state media were found to be more trusted by
the audiences than many other countries that have post-authoritarian or post-totalitarian pasts. It
is important to develop stronger notions about the development of the new media and the role
that it can play towards changing the attitudes of the people towards journalism in Indonesia.
According to Mahamed et al. (2018) increase in citizen journalism is occurring through the new
generation youths of the country. This has led to the increase in trust in journalism since this has
increased the trust of people in journalism. It is more important to view that the people involved
in the process are being covered by the traditional media.
All the factors discussed above have led to the development of the media concerning the
three identified factors of objectivity, transparency and openness. It is seen that the development
of some of the independent media portals in the social media has helped many audiences to get
more objective perception of news. At the same time citizen journalism has helped to make news
more transparent as it has given a citizen’s unbiased perspective of news. Openness of the media
has increased to a certain extent as a result of the digital media revolution. It can be seen that all
the three factors have been positively affected over the last few years. Although it can be said
that there is a long way to go as the shift of public trust towards media is bound to grow slowly
and gradually.
Methods
The method that is utilized for the study takes into consideration the development of
important implications gathered from a host of literary sources. The study has mostly
incorporated qualitative literatures in developing greater understanding of the subject matter. The
literatures that have been consulted for the study have covered both the theoretical concepts as

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well as the recent findings that have emerged from the study of media and democracy in
Indonesia. The positivism philosophy has been used towards developing better implications from
the study of the subject. Positivism philosophy is dependent on the information that can be
objectively proved. It is based on facts rather than assumptions. Positivism has been used as it
would help in deriving more important and concrete conclusions from the entire process of the
study. The study has only utilized qualitative data in deriving better understanding of the subject
matter. It is important to note that only literature that is relevant to the topic of journalism and
public trust has been selected. Most of the factual literatures have been gathered from the studies
that have been produced very recently. This has helped in making the study more relevant and
accurate in the analysis, discussion and presentation of the facts.
Findings
The findings that have emerged from the study of the subject matter have pointed towards
the several issues that journalism and media of Indonesia has witnessed over the past. The
findings suggest that the trust factor of media has declined over the years as a result of the news
portals and media houses being concentrated more under the ownerships of the elite classes of
the country. It was also found that the reporters in Indonesia had much limited professional
autonomy. This was many times due to the hierarchical structures that news organizations
followed. The findings also much importantly suggested that the development of new digital age
in media. Along with providing a platform for reaching a wide number of people through
optimized news platforms encompassing computers, laptops and smartphones it has also helped
in making people more aware of the various news items that are present all over the internet. It is
important that the value of news is optimized in accordance of the major media goals of
objectivity, clarity and relevance.

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The finding suggest that the shift in the recent years can definitely be said to be towards
the positive. This means that the media devices that are being utilized by the present day
journalists in Indonesia are gaining trust among the wider number of audiences. The findings
much importantly pointed towards the rise in citizen journalism of Indonesia. This is important
as this is at par with the three main goals associated with media trust as identified from the
analysis. These three identified factors are objectivity, transparency and openness. Although the
findings suggest that the value of openness can be said to have developed lesser in comparison to
the other two values. The findings also suggest that over the years there has been marked
increase in the political participation of the youth in Indonesia. This points towards a positive
mindset that is being created among the youth. At the same time activism has increased in
Indonesia. The greater participation of the public in various activities that concern the growth
and development of the government points towards a better approach by the informed youth of
the county. This creates greater credibility as the participatory value increases in journalism
which leads to the better inquisition for transparency. In essence the value of journalism in the
county was found to be developing slowly and steadily over the years. This can have further
positive impact over the public trust in journalism in Indonesia.
Discussion
Journalism is a noble profession that is based on proving the right information to the
citizens of any country. It is important for the growth and development of any country that better
journalistic value is created. The above analysis greatly pointed towards the fact that freedom of
press is very important for the long term survival of any democracy. It is important to understand
that this freedom can be enhanced through the development of greater public trust on journalism.
The analysis has been argumentative and focuses on the various problems that have been faced

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by Indonesian media over the last few years. In accordance of the theory of objectivity proposed
by Schudson (1978), objective journalism is determined by a commitment to the pursuit of truth.
The findings have suggested that the Indonesian media is focusing on positioning themselves as
non-partisan, independent, and impartial party. It has been witnessed however, that the sources
of news, funding, and any associated organizations are still concentrated more in the hands of the
Oligarchs that have controlled the media of the country traditionally. It can be seen however, that
the people that are changing the ways in which they engage with the media. The growth of
smaller independent media portals and websites have given way for greater journalistic reform in
the country. However, it would not be wise to think of rapid increase in trust for journalism in
the country. This is because the conditions enhancing the trustworthiness of journalists in the
country were found to be developing at a slower pace than expected. It is important to note that
the rise of social media has been responsible greatly for this development of greater media
credibility. It is important to not hence that social media and the independent media platforms
cane be responsible the future for the greater development of credibility for news among the
audiences. Hence, it can be said that journalism can win back the trust of the people in the future.
It is certain that the younger audiences are more inclined towards knowing the credibility of
news. At the same time the steps taken by the various government and independent media
agencies towards ensuring the detection of fake news is due to work in positive ways in the
future. The findings have suggested the growth in the public attention that journalists and media
houses in the country get.
Conclusion
In conclusion the entire study provided a vivid image of the media and journalism sector
of Indonesia. It was found that like many other countries, Indonesia is also very much inclined

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towards change in the journalism sector. The findings also suggested that the traditional
oligarchies have controlled the media sector of the country for a long time are still present in the
digital age. One of the positives that have emerged from the convergence of thee various types of
media is the development of wider scope for the audiences. This can lead to the further
consolidation of the media sector in the hands of the traditional oligarchs. However, this also
leads to the greater awareness among people in terms of the credibility and relevance of the
news. More informed audiences would naturally lead to the formation of more credible news
sources. The development of more political activism among the youth has made way for the
development of the newer media organizations. In essence, people would naturally shift towards
the journalists that are providing more credible information. This would also positively affect the
development of the journalism profession in the country. At the same time it is worth noting that
there has been a positive shift towards objective and credible journalism in the country over the
last few years.

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