Journalists attend a media gathering about oil and gas in Takengon, Aceh Tengah.
As a senior journalist, Nurjaman Mochtar has never forgotten this experience. When he was a speaker on media with a professor in Yogyakarta, there was a teenager who was also a speaker. Unlike himself and the professor who wore formal attire, the teenager was only wearing jeans and a T-shirt.
When the guide introduced the teenager, the seminar participants immediately became hysterical. They were screaming. In fact, the teenager did not prepare anything for the presentation material but instead was able to hypnotize the participants and get lots of applause.
After the event, Nurjaman met the young man and asked what he was doing which made the audience hysterical. Turns out he's a Youtuber who already has a lot of followers and can live independently by being a content creator.
“This incident reminded me that the media has changed. It's not the same as when we were in the past," he said in front of around 60 journalists in Takengon, Central Aceh, last Wednesday (15/2/2023).
He described a number of applications that really help the work of journalists and can even partially replace the work of journalists. Journalists must also have the ability to operate the application.
However, journalists' multitasking skills are not commensurate with the awards the company receives. Journalists must write news for print media, must write news for online media, report for radio, record and edit videos for TV news, and are even still required to post on social media accounts. But they only get one salary even though they work on multi-platforms and multichannel.
Nurjaman admitted that the condition was very unfair. "But there are also companies that share income from YouTube for their journalists."
Nurjaman reminded us that the presence of digital technology has brought major changes in various ways, including the way news is produced and consumed. Journalists are also required to master various skills that were not required in the past.
“In the past, journalists just wrote news or took pictures. Now it should be able to all. Starting from covering, writing news, editing, even posting on social media accounts and what to do to make the news attract attention, "explained Nurjaman who has had a career at SCTV and Indosiar.
Journalism is a profession that is threatened by the presence of digital technology that allows anyone to produce news. Journalists who are unable to master digital technology are excluded from the increasingly fierce competition in the mass media. "Could it be, in the future there will no longer be a journalist profession because it has been replaced by robots," added Nurjaman.
Me and several journalists in Lhokseumawe, before leaving.
Another speaker, Merdi Sofansyah, said that social media has now become a necessity and lifestyle for the younger generation. With the current generation of productive age and demographic bonuses in the future, the ability of journalists to adapt to digital technology is urgently needed.
"Millennials and zinineals rely on digital technology in their daily life, including in consuming news," Merdi warned.
The Media Gathering took place February 15-16 2023 and was held by the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Activities for the Sumbagut Region with the support of a number of cooperation contract contractor companies (KKKS) in the Aceh region, namely Pertamina EP, Pertamina PHE NSO, Harbor Energy and Mubadala Energy.
Head of Public Relations Department of SKK Migas Sumbagut, Yanin Kholison, this activity was carried out to improve communication and coordination between contractor companies and journalists in the work area.
"We hope that the activities of the upstream oil and gas industry in Aceh can run smoothly. Journalists can properly inform technical and non-technical activities to the public," said Yanin.[]
Burning a bonfire on the edge of Lake Lut Tawar, where the air is cool.
