Pers, Demokrasi Dan Negara Indonesia Post-Soeharto: Sebuah Perspektif

The resignation of President Soeharto in May 1998 marked the end of new order era and started a fundamental change within democracy in Indonesia. As a democratic state, Indonesia arguably provides a system to guarantee the freedom of press and good environment of mass media; as the media is supposedly not to be power driven. Several factors have been observed to understand the relationship between press and democracy. Those are democratic revolution, freedom of press, political oligarchy, the role of students, and criminal democracy practice in Indonesia. This article found that under the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Boediono (SBY-Boediono) era, newspeople freedom in journalism was gripped by the practice of "criminal democracy" which continues to undermine the development of press freedom. To conclude, democracy in Indonesia is decayed by unjust practices from the political elites; it further affects the way press and mass media in performing their roles as the fourth pillar of democracy

Media and cyber-democracy in Africa: an introduction

The paper provides a sketch of the discourse of media and ‘cyber-democracy’ in and out of Africa. Firstly, it discusses the characteristic features of new media technology. Secondly, it attempts a ‘theorising’ of cyber-democracy, within the context of general democratic theory. Thirdly, it sets out a vision of cyber-democracy for Africa. In delineating this vision, it highlights six features characteristic of the democratic potential of new media technology and gives examples of how Africa has appropriated them. Finally, it outlines a ‘new media’ research agenda for Africa

Communication perspectives on social networking and citizen journalism challenges to traditional newspapers

Communication perspectives are presented on the challenges posed to traditional newspapers by social media and citizen journalism, with special reference to the United States. This is an important topic given the critical role investigative reporting, long the domain of newspapers, plays in fostering democratic practices. New Media and social networking technology are evaluated in terms of their impact on the newspaper enterprise. Alternative scenarios for future developments are examined as are the implications for social values and the role of an informed citizenry in democratic society. Strategic management issues are analyzed, and the possibility is considered that social media can fulfill much of the democracy-enhancing role served traditionally by newspapers. --Newspapers,news industry,social media,social networks,democracy,journalism

New Media and Democracy in Kenya: Redefining Democracy and Politics

This paper discusses the contribution of new media in Kenyan democratization process. The advent of multiparty politics in developing countries especially Kenya, marked the beginning of a journey that has witnessed a lot of obstacles towards democracy. Thanks to the New media which has brought with it enormous possibilities to the citizens and the government. The new media has collapsed the initial barriers of a one way communication and provided equal opportunities to both the rich and the poor. New media has become a new public sphere, and in this paper, different scholarly articles will be analyzed and their arguments corroborated in support of this view. Keywords: Public sphere, Newmedia ,democracy

Paradoks Media Sebagai Pilar Keempat Demokrasi

Mass media has important role as the fourth pillar in Indonesian democracy system. Media liberalization in post New Order era is aimed to strengthen democracy in Indonesia. However, mass media in post New Order era is in paradoxical situation. This paper examines four important factors related to the role and the position of media in post New Order era. First, it explores the mass media in the arena contestation of interest. Second, it explores the politics of media in the post New Order era. Third, it explains the metamorphosis model of politics. Fourth, it emphasizes the importance of media existence as the fourth pillar of democracy. Furthermore, it argues the strengthening of power-oriented model makes the media paradoxical as the fourth pillar of democrac

Media literacy: it’s more than media studies or training, it’s democracy

One of the key messages for me that came out of the Ditchley conference on media and democracy was the importance of an enhanced understanding of media literacy. This is more than just understanding how the media works, or understanding how to create some journaism yourself. It is about developing a creative and critical knowledge about how media (especially new media) plays a part in democracy and civil society

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION: DIGITAL DEMOCRACY OF NETIZENS

Unknowingly, nowadays many people have entered or been involved in political communication. Political communication is also considered important and interesting along with the development of the mass media. Issues that are present as material for information n or messages in political communication have now attracted the attention of the general public as well as in participation in democracy. The era of information society does not only bring new human values, but also the formulation of a new level of democracy. Digital democracy has become the leading system in the political, social, economic and cultural systems of the information society. With digital media, netizens can use digital media to gather support. By conveying their rational arguments in digital media, they can convince other elements of democracy to agree with their opinion

Mediated democracy - linking digital technology to political agency

Although the relationship between digitalisation and democracy is subject of growing public attention, the nature of this relationship is rarely addressed in a systematic manner. The common understanding is that digital media are the driver of the political change we are facing today. This paper argues against such a causal approach und proposes a co-evolutionary perspective instead. Inspired by Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities" and recent research on mediatisation, it introduces the concept of mediated democracy. This concept reflects the simple idea that representative democracy requires technical mediation, and that the rise of modern democracy and of communication media are therefore closely intertwined. Hence, mediated democracy denotes a research perspective, not a type of democracy. It explores the changing interplay of democratic organisation and communication media as a contingent constellation, which could have evolved differently. Specific forms of communication media emerge in tandem with larger societal formations and mutually enable each other. Following this argument, the current constellation reflects a transformation of representative democracy and the spread of digital media. The latter is interpreted as a "training ground" for experimenting with new forms of democratic agency

The platformization of the public sphere and its challenge to democracy

Democracy depends on a vivid public sphere, where ideas disseminate into the public and can be discussed – and challenged - by everyone. Journalism has contributed significantly to this social mediation by reducing complexity, providing information on salient topics and (planned) political solutions. The digital transformation of the public sphere leads to new forms of media provision, distribution, and use. Journalism has struggled to adapt to the new conditions. Journalistic news values, relevant to democracy, are being replaced by ones relevant to social media platforms’ attention seeking business model. We plead for a broad public debate about the ongoing platformization and about possible policies to ensure a media system that serves and strengthens democracy