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Calling for a fair media: Put fear where it belongs
The mass media needs to reflect on the wide influence it has on skewing public perception toward the negative when it doesn't deliver balanced news.
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Ground check: Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan visits a traditional market in Koja, North Jakarta on June 17 to check the availability and price of cooking oil.
(Courtesy of/Trade Ministry)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on June 15 appointed Zulkifli Hasan as trade minister to address an increase cooking oil prices that, if left untreated for a few more weeks, might have otherwise escalated into a destabilizing national crisis.
The matter stemmed from policymaking errors for exports over the previous few months, which made producers of crude palm oil (CPO), the main ingredient of cooking oil, unable to fulfill the domestic market obligation (DMO). In other words, they to meet domestic CPO demand.
The President gave Zulkifli 30 days to solve the problem, but he needed only 14 days.
Given Zulkifli’s background as the chairman of a nationalist religious party, several news platforms portrayed his promises negatively, implying that he could simply be another politician bluffing. Events proved that these media reports were biased, however, and they seemed to lend critical drive for us all to reflect on their views about the government’s progress.
Is the public aware that information dissemination can be systemically flawed or operated under the sole motive of making a profit? In this case, it was done by feeding the public what the evolved human brain needs the most, or as Hans Rosling (2018) put it, “signs of threats”.
Cooking oil in jerry cans (MGC) cost Rp 16,400 (US$1.11) on June 15, while the retail price ceiling (HRP) was Rp 14,000 (SP2KP, 2022). Zulkifli responded to the problem by launching MinyaKita, MGC packaged in simple plastic bags with HRP written on each package.
During his first two weeks in office, MinyaKita, which was priced at or below the HRP, was distributed in West Java, East Java and West Papua.
