Have you ever felt like really tired and sick of hearing the bad news aired on TV, featured on the papers? I have. Why bad news is good news for the media?
Because I'm so tired of hearing the heart-breaking news about violent, injustice, corrupt government and so on and so forth, I started to think that there's no use of updating myself with the current issues. I thought that the only effect I obtain after hearing or watching the news is either sad, mad, disappointed, paranoid or the combination of them. Thus, I began to stop following the news.
I quitted reading paper since couple of years ago. I used to read the long-established paper in our country, the one with the K initial. I quitted reading it because first, when I took the "Critical Study on Popular Culture" on my last semester in college, I realized that there are certain powers and the interests' of the people behind that power that control the media. I used to think that this K paper is different with MI paper that is clearly conveyed certain politic message for it is owned by a politician/media mogul, SP. But, turned out that this K paper is just the same. I don't know who own(s) this paper but sure it sometimes conveys message that is in accordance with certain people's interests. And the second reason is simply because I'm tired of hearing the bad news.
I also quitted watching the news on TV. Especially after that TV On* (censored intended) channel broadcasted nation wide. I hate that channel. Anyway, I was pretty contented with the fact that I don't have to be overwhelmed by that heart-breaking news. I only occasionally opened some news websites, and I selectively chose the news that I really want to read. I was pretty contented with that because I knew by using the internet I have the power to choose which news I'd like to read. I was pretty contented until recently.
We all of course know about what has recently happened in Egypt (and Tunisia). We all know how those protesters tirelessly protested and demanded the overthrow of the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak. And they succeeded. And this event is the first wake-up call for my ignorance toward current issues in our country. It is not their protest that actually opens my eyes. Instead, it is the fact that the Egypt government decided to impose the curfew and shut down the electricity and internet that really opened my eyes. Why? Because, in my opinion, it is clear that the Egypt government was afraid that the protesters (especially the young people) would gather at night and plan to overthrow Hosni Mubarak and maybe plan a
coup d'état. That is why, I suppose, the Egypt government imposed the curfew. A friend of mine told me that it actually happened in our country during the 1998 reformation era when the students
'were not allowed' to gather especially at night because the government believed they would spread the protest movement. And actually they were right.
The Egypt government also shut down the electricity and internet. I believe this is also because the government was afraid that the people (again, especially the young people since they are the ones who use the internet the most) would use the internet (through social networking sites such as blogspot, facebook and twitter) as the means to spread their protests and to inform the world about what's going on in their country. And as I write this part, I've just found out that the Libya government has imposed the same 'policy'. As many have predicted, the protests toward the authoritarian leaders has spread all across the countries in Middle East and North Africa. The most recent one is the one in Libya. And the Libya government has shut down the electricity and internet, and they even have banned google, facebook and twitter. But, thanks to the advanced technology and those techo-users who concern about this kinda issue, there is now information spread about the public IP address that can be used by the Libyan people to access those banned sites. See? The social media really gives us, the young generation, power.
My second wake-up call was the #supportalanda issue, as I like to name it. Two weeks ago, her blog link (
http://alandakariza.com/) was spread all over twitter before her story was eventually covered by the media. Basically, Alanda just shared her opinion in her blog. She thought her mother is being treated unjustly by the court regarding the Century bank bailout case in which she is considered to be involved in the illegal loan disbursement. Because I don't really understand about the case and the law, I can't really decide whether I agree or disagree with Alanda's opinion. But, I do really understand her feeling. I myself can't imagine if I were in her shoes, facing the fact that my mother must be prisoned for 10 years and pay a 10-million rupiah fine. So, I do support Alanda. The fact that a simple post in a blog can create a discourse and draw many people’s attention, and not just people, but also law experts’ and human right organizations’ attentions, really amazed me. It is again another proof that social media does give the young people power.
My point is I think we really should use any means we can use to state our opinion. I believe every little thing we do with good intention to make our country a better country will count. It is us the young generation that can make the change. I personally have decided to be more concerned about the current issues in our country. And I also begin to try to state opinion about those current issues using the social media. It could be as simple as tweeting my opinion about the
"the disappearance of foreign movies in cinema" or writing my opinion in a blog just like what I'm doing right now. It is good for us because it makes our mind and thoughts become more critical. And it is good for the government. They should know that people watch them. And I believe it eventually is good for our country. Yes, we do have the power!
