The media’s influence is evident in the government’s campaign to build public awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The media have helped share facts and educate the public about what we should do to keep ourselves and others safe.

The role of the media could be capitalized on in other matters, such as in accelerating the energy transition, especially when public awareness of it is not evenly spread across the world.

The hype of energy transition is happening not only because the impact of climate change is already here, but also the size of the audience and available media channels are simply enormous. The deepening of internet penetration and innovation in the creative industry has prompted more people to access more information about energy security, affordability and sustainability.

In 2020, internet penetration in Southeast Asia reached 69 percent, with more than 85 percent of the populations of Brunei Darussalam and Singapore having internet access.

Connectivity is key to obtaining information that people need. A survey showed that 63 percent of respondents used the internet to get news and information in 2020 globally. A similar result is observed in ASEAN member states. Take for instance Indonesia, in early 2020, 12 out of 20 most visited sites on the internet were news platforms. Meaning that people are using the internet to access media and information locally and internationally.

What does all the data mean for the effort to build a better understanding of energy transition? The question is already answered by the nature of the media: channeling and verifying what has happened, and notifying what might happen in the future.

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