YOGYAKARTA – Social media is considered a common enemy for the media business. Meanwhile, in the current digital era, the print media business is getting harder, exacerbated by the widespread Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
This was expressed by Jawa Pos Editor, Dite Suhendra in Online Talk #1 titled Morphosa Media held by the Department of Communication Sciences, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Yogyakarta (UPNVY), Saturday (04/07/2020). “I think Youtube is currently a common enemy of the media. People looking for anything now run to Youtube, and rarely even look at television,” said this UPNVY Communication alumni.
Dite revealed that the profile of newspaper readers has now changed, they have a tendency to choose the digital version. That’s why he admits that newspaper circulation continues to decline. “Nowadays, it is not a matter of how many copies have been sold, but rather how wide the readership level is. One newspaper, for example, can be read by more than two people. The more the better,” explained Dite.
To increase the readership rate, Jawa Pos has innovated to make a highlite teaser uploaded on social media before the newspaper goes to print. People who read and are interested are expected to buy the newspaper after printing. Another innovation made is to equip the printed version with a barcode so that the readability rate also increases. “Digitalisation needs to be done, no more half measures,” he added.
Regarding the effect of Covid-19 on the media business, Dite said that in general all media were affected, which also affected the welfare of journalists. On the other hand, he continued, changes in coverage patterns during the pandemic also benefited journalists. Especially at Jawa Pos, journalists are no longer required to go to the office, which has an impact on space efficiency that can be utilised by other divisions.
Meanwhile, according to the concept, this online discussion took place casually. The participants were lecturers of the UPNVY Communication Science Department and alumni. The Head of UPNVY Communication Science Department, Agung Prabowo, in his speech at the beginning of the discussion said that the Online Talk #1 activity was designed to quickly respond to the upheaval of the media business, especially print. Through this discussion, it is hoped that the UPNVY Communication Science Department, especially the Communication Science Study Programme, can get a real picture of what is happening with the media business today as input for designing learning materials in the classroom.