Analyst: Media becomes tool of asymmetric war

Jakarta, NU Online
Along with the rapid growth of information and communication technology, the role of social media in coloring the life of the press and mass media in the country is inevitable and unstoppable. Instead of influencing the dynamics of regional head election in Jakarta in February even in a presidential election in the United States, facebook, twitter and many other social media are very influential as a source of news and information. Therefore, the role of unconventional social media as conventional one is not automatically good or bad.

"Social media can have both positive and negative impact," said Satrio Arismunandar satrio, one of the initiators of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Senior Editor of Aktual News Network in a one-day seminar organized by the Institute for Discussion of Student Activists the Borobudur University (LKDAM) and the Institute of Indonesian Strategic Information Studies (LSISI) in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta on Monday (30/1/2017).

In the discussion taking up issues on Optimizing the Role of the Press, Community and Students in Tacking Domino Effect in Using Social Media in the 2017 Regional Head Election, Satrio who once became Kompas reporter stressed, "given its character that can be positive and negative, then social media could be likened to "Knife Edged Two."

Apart from its positive or negative impact, Satrio reminded that today there is a shift from what was once the media-controlled community, now media is precisely controlled by the community or audience. According to the man who in his youth was active in various intra and extra organizations, following the rise of online media with all kinds of types and focus of news both online and social media, people today are not just the users and the recipients of information and news but they can create a variety of news content and information.

This is where such social media as facebook, twitter, and so on, could play an important role. "At present the trend even reversed. Precisely conventional media instead has often taken from social media as a source of news and information," said Satrio who managed to earn the doctoral degree in philosophy last year.

Satrio was deeply concerned that in the midst of the importance of social media in which today's society is much more decisive than the media, our reading public is not aware of the media in a sense that the public did not know how the mechanism of the media, how the principle of journalistics and public did not know how to determine a factual news or information or fiction.

Therefore Satrio called for the need for research and training program on Media Literacy, aimed at making the public aware of literacy.

For Satrio it is important and urgent, because social media could be a potential alternative media amid the credibility of some mainstream media because it is influenced by the capital owners who usually at the same time also serve as politicians such as Bakrie and Surya Paloh, it just as an example.

Meanwhile, Hendrajit, the geopolitical analyst of the Jakarta's Global Future Institute who is also a senior journalist and one of the initiators of AJI, agreed with the Satrio's points of view in conducting the Media Literacy program for the public. However, it must be based on the framework of the idea of ??the need to build the Conscious Movement of Geopolitics.

According to Hendrajit, the alumnus of the Social and Political Sciences of the National University and one of the founding pioneers of Tabloid Detik in 1992 along with Eros Djarot, at present mass media such as conventional, online and social media is prone to be used as a tool of Proxy War between foreign powers in Indonesia, as well as Proxy War between the compradors who are the local agencies of various foreign interests competing in Indonesia.

Unfortunately, according to Hendrajit, online media, which essentially relies on mobile phones and smartphones has become the main target to be used as a tool of Proxy War between various foreign corporations and politicians-businessmen in Indonesia.

Hendrajit also reminded the forum on the growing fact today. Referring to a study conducted by the Global Future Institute some time ago, some Chinese entrepreneurs had built infrastructures of communication and information. It's certainly an  alarming development, because the content of our various mass media is vulnerable to be controlled by the interests of foreign businessmen, especially China. Moreover, the fact that the ownership of shares in information technology has practically been controlled by Chinese investors, even telecommunications has already been dominated by foreigners.

"This is very dangerous, because when information is utilized through smartphones and mobile phones, while the information and communication infrastructure has been dominated by foreigners, you can imagine how vulnerable our media today to easily be controlled especially its editorial direction," said Hendrajit who just published his third book titled Asymmetric War and New Style of Colonization Scheme.

Recognizing this fact, Hendrajit added, Indonesian mass media today is very vulnerable to be used as a means of Asymmetric War (without using military means) to form an opinion through information and communication infrastructure they have taken  control.

Unfortunately, Hendrajit was very concerned over the lack of geopolitical awareness of the managers and media individuals for easily being controlled as a means of Asymmetric War of several foreign corporate interests of the Western bloc (US and Western Europe), Japan and China. And one of the vulnerable targeted as a means of Asymmetric War is the online media.

In the view of Hendrajit that is also very active and intensive as social media user, especially facebook, most social media users were often provoked as a source of information and news that is not factual, for being triggered by the spread of the news of some online media whose identity is not at all clear. Unlike conventional media that clearly address their origin and ownership, as well as profiles of the crews.

Hendrajit also called on mass media stakeholders and managers as members of the press, the public, students, that the backers of these media, including online ones,were foreign businessmen who also mastered networks building telecommunications infrastructure in Indonesia.

Both Hendrajit and Satrio agreed that now it was not about whether conventional / mainstream media or altarnaatif ones, but the most important whether the Indonesian media had the foresight to defend the national interests of the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia or not. If the crews of print, electronic, and online media and social media had visions of defending the NKRI interests, the Indonesian mass media will return to restore its credibility as the savior of reliable and factual news. So the media could straighten out the information distortions. This is the only way for the mass media in Indonesia to become the front line elements in counteracting asymmetric war waged by foreign countries and so-called Aseng. Instead of being an instrument and a means of foreign and Aseng Asymmetric War in crippling the Indonesia's national sovereignty in the field of ideology, political-economic, socio-cultural and defense-security. Never happen consciously or unconsciously, the media crews become the front line elements in destroying the souls of the nation.

Related to the views expressed by Hendrajit, Satrio called on people not too blame social media. Because in fact, both society and our mass media circles, are often become the source of the problem. If the social media users' behavior is often stuck on the spread of the not-factual news for still not mastering the intricacies of mechanism and principles of mass media and journalism, then the crews of the conventional mass media often become a source of news and information that is not factual, because  they have consciously or unconsciously crashed into journalistic ethics such as cover both side,  confirmation information source verification.

In addition Satrio also added due to the strong influence of media owners who incidentally are the politician-businessmen, mainstream / conventional media had tended to create publicity for the version and interests of the capital owners though in fact they were in accordance with the principles of journalism and journalism ethics. "This is what makes our press that is actually conventional media are most of the time unreliable," said Satrio.

At the same time, Rahim Syaiful Rahim, a communications expert from the Prof. Dr. Buya Hamka University and Ray Agung MH, social media observer agreed with the two previous speakers and added that presence of social media was not unstoppable and unavoidable. Imagine. Currently in Indonesia there have been some 132.7 million Internet users and 71 million of them are Facebook users.

Thus, in line with Satrio and Hendrajit, the Indonesian people must be very clever to anticipate the rapid growth of information technology, and be selective both as users and in reporting information / news in social media. Ray acknowledged that the role of social media is quite powerful and because of social media, the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt could successfully be overthrown.

Syaiful Rahim sharpening the tree previous speakers was of the view that the current mass media both conventional and online media (including social media), had a strong tendency to report quasi realities or facts instead of reporting the real ones. (Masdar)