Irfan Junaidi, Director of News at Perum LKBN ANTARA, stated that the mass media must be able to serve as a source of verification and guidance for the public amidst the rapid flow of information that is often inaccurate.
He said that when a lot of fake news or hoaxes spread on social media, journalistic works must act as an anchor or a reliable guide for readers.
"When people are confused about whether this information is true or not, whether it's a hoax or not, they look for verification in the mass media," he said at the Allianz Indonesia Media Discussion.
He said that reliability in maintaining objectivity and accuracy of information can be a strategy for mass media to survive amidst industrial competition and the onslaught of hoaxes
Not only those two challenges, he continued, the national media industry is currently also facing shocks due to domestic economic conditions and the presence of various global platforms, including social media.
He acknowledged that the use of social media can accelerate and facilitate the dissemination of journalistic work. However, he highlighted the need for equal playing field between mass media and these global platforms.
This is because mainstream media are required to comply with many regulations, ranging from the Press Law, the Journalistic Code of Ethics, to strict Standard Operating Procedures.
"Meanwhile, these global (social media) platforms can produce almost anything. They don't comply with the Press Law or the code of ethics," he said.
Similarly, Jawapos.com Photographer and Editor Hendra Eka explained that there are strict standards in the production of journalistic photos to ensure their originality and news value are maintained.
He said that both online and conventional media have special departments and infrastructure that are capable of detecting photos produced by artificial intelligence and tracking the technical details of photos, such as the type of camera, time, and location of the photo.
"This is indeed a key rule for fulfilling one of the journalistic codes of ethics. It's also a challenge for the media in general: how they can educate the wider public to be more careful in analyzing information," he added.
