Indonesia's Underground Press

Abstract

This article analyses the performance of Indonesia's underground media in the period leading to the fall of the Suharto dictatorship. Analyses are based on interviews with media activists as well as a qualitative study of the contents of these media. Constructs of media frame analysis and movements rhetoric are used to gain an understanding of the struggle between the ideology of the Indonesian regime and the ideology of the social movements. The first part of the article describes the organizational and individual histories of the people running these underground media; the second part scrutinizes the rhetoric and the recurrent media frames. The frames for looking at Indonesian problems that were proposed by the underground media gained resonance with the public at large, eventually contributing to Suharto's downfall.

What is citizen journalism? A critical analysis from the perspective of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

“…So, it is often argued that early citizen journalism was largely caused by publications that were politically biased (Lewes, 2000;Menayang, 2002;Gillmor, 2006). The trend continued to evolve and grow and has attracted an increasing number of supporters in recent decades (Kern and Nam, 2008).…”

“…In this model, citizen journalism becomes more active, when politicians and media establishments fail in their duty, and aims to establish itself as alternative media by providing alternative news and political ideology (Ke, 2000;Menayang et al, 2002;Cammaerts, 2009;Lewes, 2009). Thomas (2012) describes this model as nothing more than an alternative channel for middle-class opinionmaking rather than providing a space for inclusive deliberation on key issues facing the nation.…”