The mass media as a channel of information to the public seems to have begun to shift from its original function. Media owners who have certain interests are now starting to color the direction and content of the information they want to convey to the public, making it difficult for the public to expect complete and clear information to lead them in a better direction. Those are just a few of the roles and phenomena of the modern mass media as conveyed by Anang Sujoko, D.Comm in “Reporting and News Article Writing Training” in the Meeting Room of Building B, 2nd Floor of FIA UB, Thursday (1/10). The event which presented dozens of representatives from the Autonomous Faculty (LOF) was organized by the Center for Information Systems, IT Infrastructure and Public Relations (PSIK) FIA UB to build coordination of news coverage of activities within FIA UB.
In his opening remarks, the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. MR Khairul Muluk, M.Si said that the faculty fully supports this activity. According to Muluk, FIA UB really needs a strong coverage network under PSIK so that the activities carried out by the academic community can be heard by people outside the university. “This event is breakthroughs, meaning it has never been done before. Hopefully with this FIA UB will be increasingly recognized by the wider community by reporting on the activities we are doing," said Muluk who represented the Dean of FIA UB who was unable to attend.
Meanwhile, in his material presentation, Anang Sujoko, D.Comm revealed many facts about the shift in the function of the modern mass media. According to him, the mass media carries out more of its three main functions, namely political, economic and socio-cultural functions, based on designs or orders from the personal interests of company owners. Therefore, he hopes that the academic people in FIA UB can be a counterbalance that provides positive and objective information to the public. "We as academics on campus must be able to sort and choose the information we receive so we don't get caught up in the interests of media owners. Then, we can also use social media to spread positive information to the public about our activities on campus," said the man who now serves as the Head of the Information and Public Relations Unit of Universitas Brawijaya.
In the second session, Kurniawan Muhammad was lined up to provide material on writing articles in the mass media. The Director of Jawa Pos Radar Malang revealed two main criteria for a news worthy of being published in the mass media, namely important and interesting. According to Mas Kum, his nickname, news that is classified as important, for example, involves important figures or is related to the lives of many people. While interesting news is news that is unique, controversial, discussed by many people, and contains the word 'ter-'. “Events that are newsworthy are not necessarily newsworthy, but events that are newsworthy are definitely newsworthy. You have to be able to find appropriate events for your writing to be published in the mass media," said Mas Kum, who has held his current position since 2011.
From this training activity, it is hoped that more integrated coordination and cooperation will be built for news coverage of student activities. PSIK FIA UB as the coordinator of news coverage has formed a news coordination network with dozens of national mass media, both print and electronic. So, in the future more and more news about FIA UB will be seen and heard by the wider community through good cooperation between the training participants and PSIK.
Coverage Team:
Article: Aulia Luqman Aziz
Photo: Hendrik Tri Laksono
