Towards the Generation Z Newspaper

Nining Susanti, Choirul Albab
2020 Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Indonesian Social and Political Enquiries, ICISPE 2019, 21-22 October 2019, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia   unpublished
Technological developments brought significant changes to the presentation patterns and marketing strategies of newspapers. Strengthening the newspaper platform is urgently needed in order to survive in this era of media competition. This study aims to determine the strategy of strengthening the Suara Merdeka and Kedaulatan Rakyat platform to win the young reader market. The reasons for choosing the platform and its impact on increasing circulation, legibility and revenue in advertisement. In
more » ... e print media business, platforms are closely related to the rubrics that are published every day or periodically presented to the reader. Rubric is like a menu that is served and becomes a characteristic or identity of the media. The contents in each rubric represents media ideology in conveying messages to the public. This study uses a constructivist paradigm with case study research and uses a cybernetic approach. Data was obtained by conducting in-depth interviews with the chief editor, editors, bureau chiefs and reporters of Suara Merdeka and Kedaulatan Rakyat daily. Researchers used the Social Construction Theory put forward by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann to see the media construction of reality created in the rubric, as well as the Theory of Technological Determinism initiated by Marshall McLuhan to see the choice of communication technology used in accessing information and its relation to the formation of audience's image. The twilight era of print media requires that both newspapers reduce the number of pages and their rubrics. However, to maintain young readership, both of them still provide rubrics intended for generation Z. In addition, both of these newspapers also take an off-print approach in an effort to get closer to young readers and increase advertising revenue for the sustainability of the print media business. The use of communication technology has not yet contributed to the formation of an image as youth newspaper. Newspapers are still seen as old communication platform. The strategy used by Suara Merdeka and Kedaulatan Rakyat daily has not had a significant impact in increasing circulation, readability and advertisement revenue.
doi:10.4108/eai.21-10-2019.2294413 fatcat:zdbykzsoz5fu5l4tn67m7jn6ca