International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 31

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016
crime news, with 46% of all news articles reporting crime, while local news was in second
position, with 25% of the total news articles. However, 66.5% of Lampu Hijau’s back page
was dominated by local news, with no crime items at all. Thus, similar to Pos Kota, Lampu
Hijau is committed its stated goal of to being a local newspaper and focusing on local issues.
Specifically, in the case of Lampu Hijau, the paper focuses on local crime-related issues.
Large allotment of space for advertisement
Advertisements are found on every page in Lampu Hijau. The paper has advertorials as well
as ‘Iklan Baris’—classified advertisements. On a weekly basis, advertisements occupy 43% of
each page in Lampu Hijau. Most of the advertisements address readers with lower incomes.
The advertisements concentrate on products such as ring tones for mobile telephones,
motorcycles, utility vehicles, supplements for sexual vitality, sexual therapy, matchmaker
websites, and traditional medicines. At the time of research, there were also several
political campaigns in progress because Jakarta was about to hold its gubernatorial election;
thus, the paper also presented political advertisements.
Providing space for the public
Lampu Hijau gives space for its readers to be in the newspaper—through true s tory sections,
personal greetings and public opinion spaces. There are subsections in the KomBes section
that are specifically designed to provide space for readers. These contain pictures of readers,
greetings and quizzes.
It appears Lampu Hijau realises that most of its readers are workers who come from
villages or rural areas. They are used to unmediated communication and want to catch up
on recent gossip, scandals and local issues through social channels such as gatherings or
meetings. Thus, they use Lampu Hijau as a replacement for their traditional social channels,
which creates a strong bond between Lampu Hijau and its readers.
Lampu Hijau also has two subsections on its front page that cover community issues.
These sections provide a space for local communities to be in the media. It is no wonder
that the tagline for one of the subsections is ‘berani narsis, biar eksis’, which means ‘it is fine
to be a little narcissistic in order to exist in the media’.
General life guidance
Lampu Hijau has a specific section that includes general life guidance, particularly relating to
sexual and psychological problems. This section is called Seksitainment and is located on
page six. It includes consultation with experts and personal stories.
Findings: Pos Kota and Lampu Hijau as newspapers for urban workers
Wasserman (2010) articulated one of the perspectives from which to consider the
phenomenon of tabloid journalism, ‘as an extension of [the] move toward market-driven (as
opposed to explicitly ideologically motivated) media … [that is] set on extracting as much
31 | P a g e