Data Journalism in Indonesia in the Time of Hoaxes

Roza, Adek M.

Data Journalism in Indonesia in the Time of Hoaxes

Roza, Adek M.

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2022

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Roza, Adek M.
dc.date.accessioned	2023-03-20T03:13:24Z
dc.date.available	2023-03-20T03:13:24Z
dc.date.issued	2022
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/167731
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	News outlets have dealt with the digital disruption that has been decimating the news industry during the past ten years. In that period, Indonesia has also held three contentious elections – the presidential elections of 2014 and 2019 and the Jakarta gubernatorial election of 2017 – all of which were affected by hoaxes and disinformation on social media platforms. Hence, news media outlets striving to find sustainable business models are now facing a complex information ecosystem that demands rigorous verification. This thesis examines how local Indonesian media outlets have adopted data journalism to fight against hoaxes and disinformation and to support their businesses. Through a thematic analysis of rich natural data, semi-structured interviews, and a case study of five online news outlets, this research has revealed the changes brought by data journalism in Indonesian newsrooms and how agents outside the journalistic field are influencing the development of data journalism. This study demonstrated the challenges the news industry players faced in the wake of the digital disruption caused by the arrivals of new players in the journalistic field. The established players have been forced to improve their journalism products by adopting data journalism. As well, the impact of the government’s micro-level policy and human resources on data availability is a key obstacle to the performance of data journalism. Yet, these obstacles are not discouraging journalists. This thesis offers a picture of the dynamics of news production in Indonesia: the emerging new roles in the newsroom, the supporting roles that have become instrumental, and how journalists need to distribute their authority and renegotiate journalistic doxa to maintain their journalistic cultural capital and at the same time strengthen their economic capital. On a macro level, this research has identified interactions between news outlets, technology companies, not-for-profit organisations, and government institutions crucial to the adoption of data journalism. This study’s findings provide a timely critique of the role of journalism in Indonesia against a backdrop of digital disruption of the news industry in an era of disinformation. This thesis suggests that rather than competing with social media in terms of speed and productivity, news media need to embrace journalistic cultural capital, including intelligent commentary, accuracy, and clarity. It also encourages news outlets and their journalists to deploy technology and collaborate to improve the quality of their work and to initiate new business models.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/167731/2/02whole.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2022 Adek M. Roza
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/ppc
dc.title	Data Journalism in Indonesia in the Time of Hoaxes	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

News outlets have dealt with the digital disruption that has been decimating the news industry during the past ten years. In that period, Indonesia has also held three contentious elections – the presidential elections of 2014 and 2019 and the Jakarta gubernatorial election of 2017 – all of which were affected by hoaxes and disinformation on social media platforms. Hence, news media outlets striving to find sustainable business models are now facing a complex information ecosystem that demands rigorous verification. This thesis examines how local Indonesian media outlets have adopted data journalism to fight against hoaxes and disinformation and to support their businesses. Through a thematic analysis of rich natural data, semi-structured interviews, and a case study of five online news outlets, this research has revealed the changes brought by data journalism in Indonesian newsrooms and how agents outside the journalistic field are influencing the development of data journalism. This study demonstrated the challenges the news industry players faced in the wake of the digital disruption caused by the arrivals of new players in the journalistic field. The established players have been forced to improve their journalism products by adopting data journalism. As well, the impact of the government’s micro-level policy and human resources on data availability is a key obstacle to the performance of data journalism. Yet, these obstacles are not discouraging journalists. This thesis offers a picture of the dynamics of news production in Indonesia: the emerging new roles in the newsroom, the supporting roles that have become instrumental, and how journalists need to distribute their authority and renegotiate journalistic doxa to maintain their journalistic cultural capital and at the same time strengthen their economic capital. On a macro level, this research has identified interactions between news outlets, technology companies, not-for-profit organisations, and government institutions crucial to the adoption of data journalism. This study’s findings provide a timely critique of the role of journalism in Indonesia against a backdrop of digital disruption of the news industry in an era of disinformation. This thesis suggests that rather than competing with social media in terms of speed and productivity, news media need to embrace journalistic cultural capital, including intelligent commentary, accuracy, and clarity. It also encourages news outlets and their journalists to deploy technology and collaborate to improve the quality of their work and to initiate new business models.

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