INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES SPRING 2016
space allocation for advertisements , providing space for the public and communities , and general life guidance as described below .
Strong visuals
Pos Kota uses big and colourful headlines . These are sometimes red and at other times green , yellow or pink . They are accompanied by engaging pictures or cartoons and a combination of font that is in upper case , italicised and underlined .
Figure 1 . Some Pos Kota editions from December 2011 and January 2012 . Catchy , informal and easy to read copy
Pos Kota uses vernacular language in most of its headlines ; thus , it is catchy and stimulates people to read further . Pos Kota also uses informal and simple diction for its news , which makes the stories easy to read and understandable . For example , one of its headlines in the edition of 24 December 2011 edition was very straightforward and sensational : ‘ A 4 months pregnant widow has died after being slaughtered by her new boyfriend ’ [ translation is by the author ]. In addition , Pos Kota uses a ‘ sneak peek ’ style in that the story is begun on the cover and continued on another page .
Local news focusing on crimes , scandals and sensations
The focus of Pos Kota is on crime , scandals and sensational issues . In its first year , the paper extensively reported on Cut Zahara Fona , who stated that the baby in her womb could speak and pray ( Wirosardjono , 2000 , p . 63 ). Although it was discovered that Cut Zahara Fona had lied to people by hiding a tape-recorder under her clothes , this contributed to a rapid increase in Pos Kota ’ s circulation . Pos Kota even admitted that they knew it was a hoax , but chose to continue presenting the story because it was marketable ( Wirosardjono , 2000 , p . 62 ). While the paper does report on political and social issues , it mostly chooses scandal and sensation as its focus .
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