BANDUNG, unpas.ac.id – The using of Bahasa Indonesia as a media for exchanging information and knowledge was initially doubted. Nevertheless, in its growth, Indonesian can be relied upon as a language of literature, scholarship, and even journalism.
However, humanist and teahcer at the Faculty of Arts and Letters (FISS) Universitas Pasundan, Dr. Hawe Setiawan, M.Sn. reviewed that the use of Bahasa Indonesia in people’s daily lives, especially among journalists, is still problematic.
He noted that there were at least five problems, namely sentence structure, effective use of sentences, word selection, word placement in the sentence system, and the use of distinctive language styles and expressions.
In the discussion of the Mass Media Language Forum (Forum Bahasa Media Massa, FBMM) entitled ‘Tabrani dan Masa Depan Bahasa Indonesia’ which was held recently, Hawe explained, in the world of newspapers, the growth of the Indonesian language is clearly visible.
Dutch-written newspapers were still present in Indonesia until before the war when Indonesia seized the western half of Papua in the 1950s. Meanwhile, regional language newspapers only lasted until the 1980s.
“Furthermore, the newspaper community in Indonesia only relies on Indonesian and English. The crossover between the two languages, including in journalistic activities, is becoming more and more flexible,” he explained on Friday, 2 September 2022
Indication of Using Bahasa Indonesia at the Shifting Era of Journalism Platform
Hawe also added that journalism is currently experiencing a platform shift from printed media to digital media ones. In the digital world, the field of communication is increasingly leading to the habit of using social media by the public.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that citizens are sinking, netizens are rising. Citizens are shrinking, citizens are rising. Mass media is fading, social media is blooming,” he said.
He also observed that there were at least four indications of using Bahasa Indonesian in the midst of the shift in journalism from print to digital media platforms.
First, the strengthening of orality in written language does not only concern word choice, but also the attitude of language speakers. Second, the closeness of the image and sound characters in the act of communication.
Third, the growth of western character in the choice of words and the search for expressions, such as the use of the words hot, food, news, travel, and so on. Fourth, the increasing tendency to use the pronoun ‘this’.
“Usually, news headlines are accompanied by an exclamation point to attract attention, for example ‘here’s’ ‘this is it’, ‘this is the fact’, and so on,” said Hawe. (Reta)**
