How People (dis)Connect with the Public Issues through Cross Media Consumption?

Abstract

Media have played a central role in developing democracy. It expects to provide citizens with the space or sphere where issues of importance to a community are discussed and debated. It encourages deliberation and civic participation. Since the New Order regime (1966-1998) collapsed, the media system in Indonesia has not only experienced ‘democratization but has given way to increasing corporations and liberalization of the media market. This condition has led to media oligopoly and the concentration of ownership which endangered the process of democracy in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the advancement of digital technologies and converged platforms are making media more ubiquitous. They also offer opportunities to reshape citizen media practices, especially in relation to the political and cultural spheres. The complexity of the citizen-consumers relationship with the media and the ways in which the practices of media consumption may contribute to the democratic condition in Indonesia. The objectives of this study aim to explore the theoretical framework of how people are (dis)connected toward public concerns and how they develop skills to cope with the range of civic practices (from access to information and evaluation to deliberative process and civic engagement) as part of the role as a citizen. Moreover, this study investigates the ways in which media interact both in developing or undermining civic practices.