The from News Bearer to Extreme Speech Propagator: Analysis of Shifting Practice in Production and Distribution of News on the Internet

The authors are lecturers at Department of Communication, Universitas Diponegoro, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

This research aims to examine the ways in which practices of information productions and distributions are shifting in the Internet era, particularly in the production of extreme speech that is claimed to be news. There are many information platforms on the Internet proclaimed as “news sites”, but instead of conveying valuable information to the readers, they are used to circulate opinionated pieces and propaganda. The popularity of user-generated content - where users were enabled not only to consume but also to produce and to distribute digital content - used to be hailed optimistically as a form of democratization that will to give chances to citizens to voice their social, economic, political, and cultural concerns. However, the recent development shows that the freedom and the easy-access offered by the Internet have been used to propagate negative content and sectarian sentiments. This research conducts analysis of ten ‘news outlets’ that were banned by Indonesian government (KOMINFO) that had been considered spreading hatred and sectarian spirit. This research will examine closely this so-called news in terms of their content, tone, and the parties that are confronted through the content. This research argues that the once embraced users-generated content as alternative news by citizen had evolved to be a form of extreme speech propagator.