Press Council member Muhammad Ridlo Eisy says Indonesians are going through a transition period in how they access their news, from print media to online news platforms
ress Council member Muhammad Ridlo Eisy says Indonesians are going through a transition period in how they access their news, from print media to online news platforms.
Ridlo added that unlike developed countries, which had seen an increase in online news readership, Indonesians still depended mostly on print media.
Speaking on the sidelines of a National Press Day event in Batam, Riau Islands, on Tuesday, Ridlo said the print media was still trusted by Indonesians.
'I'm still optimistic about the existence of print media because people are still willing to pay high advertisement costs in print media as opposed to online news services,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
'Our readers are still adjusting their news consumption methods to the new digital media platform. They're in a transition period from print media to online news services. There will come a time when people are willing to pay high advertisement costs on online news services and once that starts, the print media era will end,' said Ridlo.
He went on to say that such a transition period would take a long time, although in 2008-2009, many print media companies in the US had to close their businesses, a period popularly known as the 'Newspaper Death Watch'.
In Indonesia, many people access the news from print media because they consider it to be more trustworthy and credible than online media products, which they view as lacking accuracy, as fast breaking news is the top priority.
Ridlo said many online media outlets in Indonesia had yet to book significant profits. The online service of Kompas, one of the biggest media companies in the country, obtained revenue accounting for only 5 percent of the total revenue of the company's print service.
'Today, it's still quite difficult for online media outlets in Indonesia to generate revenue,' said Ridlo. (dyl/ebf)(+++)
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