Indonesian Media

As you already know I’m from Indonesia. I want to share to you information about our media and the differences that we have compared to the media in America.

The significant difference between our media and America’s media is there is no freedom of the press. In Indonesia, journalists, producers, and all of the people working with the media have to pass the government’s filter before they can publish the news. In America everyone has a right to say anything to public because the first amendment that allows them to. It really surprised me the first time I saw “Saturday Night Live” make the presidential election into a comedy, making fun of each candidate. In the other hand, everyone has to watch what they are talking in the media in Indonesia because the government always keeps an eye on them.

First, I want to talk about the radio. Most radio stations in Indonesia are more concerned about their interactions with the listeners. They have different stations for different generations which mostly talk about their lifestyles, current events, and sports. Every time I went back home, I always listened to two of my favorite radio stations because they keep me up-to-date with current events, news, and music. Also, I can listen to the people participating and share their story on the radio.

Next, when it comes to news in television, they not only show the national news but also international news. In my opinion, they are doing a decent job in blending the international news, because we can always find out what happened in a different country. On the other hand, I have barely seen in America’s TV news talking about the international news. The only time I see it is if the news has a connection with the United States. Moreover, you never see people swearing and doing inappropriate things on television because everything has to pass the government’s filter.

Now, we are going to talk about my favorite part of the media, movies. We always play not only Indonesian movies but also American movies in the theater. All of the American movies that we play in the theater come with subtitles in Indonesian, so everyone can understand. Almost all Indonesian movies are about love, friendship, school, and horror. In my opinion, they can make a really good movie when it comes to horror.

Here is a preview of one of the horror movies that we have.


Finally, when it comes to music, we have different genres that are basically the same as American music. Our local bands often copy the styles and type of music from the international bands that they admired. However, there are few traditional genres that we have. For example: dangdut, keroncong, etc. People that like those types of music are more likely older people because they are very traditional and old.