REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALEMBANG -- The national news agency should play a role of an information 'curator' in the rapidly evolving digital era, stated a senior journalist.
"News agencies, such as Antara should act like a curator to help guide the public through the swift 'tsunami of information'," Chief Editor of ANTV and Vivanews Zulfiani Lubis noted here Tuesday.
Zulfiani Lubis, who was a keynote speaker at a workshop established by the Confederation of ASEAN Journalist (CAJ) remarked that the growing social media and digital era has posed numerous challenges for news agencies.
The swift flow of information on the internet, especially the social media, demands news agencies to verify credibility of the information sources.
"It is similar to what is done in the Associated Press (AP). They assign a senior journalist to monitor information on the social media, such as on Twitter," explained Zulfiani Lubis, who is familiarly known as Uni Lubis.
When an event occurs, their job is to verify its occurrence through reliable and credible sources, bearing in mind that in the last five years, breaking news such as the Boston bombing and the death of Whitney Houston were not spread by the official media, but through the social media.
"We are no longer required to be the first to spread the news, but as those who deliver the accurate ones," Uni Lubis noted, adding that the other media outlets will still depend on news agencies to source their news.
Therefore, it is necessary for a news agency to have a solid social media team.
"Social media will even work in our favor because our responsibility as journalists becomes even greater in the digital era," Lubis emphasized.
Twitter can be used to monitor the current news and compare it with others as well as to monitor which celebrities or public officials' statements need to be followed up, Uni pointed out.
The flow of information on the social media, especially in Indonesia, is considerably large and its Twitter community is ranked fifth in the world, while Jakarta ranks first in twitter traffic in the world.
"We are quite vocal, including criticizing the government," Uni stated.
The conversation on the social media sometimes also adds an angle to the story, especially when top figures take jabs on each other through Twitter, Uni pointed out.
Uni Lubis forecast that in the near future, internet will replace radio as the second source of information after television.
On the same occasion, Associate Dean of Global Program Missouri School of Journalism Fritz Cropp remarked that despite its rapid information flow, the social media has not been to bridge the credibility gap in the recent years and failed to provide a perspective on matters.
Information travels rapidly through the social media, such as via Twitter and easily spreads by a so-called "Retweet" option.
"But, it often leads us back to the traditional forms of information, which is media. Therefore, credibility is the key for the success of traditional news media," he reported.
"The consumers still need reliable sources that tell stories with context," he added.
To provide stories with context, traditional media outlets need to intensify their efforts to become more credible, he claimed.
Some 100 journalists from the South Asian countries have congregated in Palembang between February 10 and 12 to discuss the current challenges faced by the media and the role of journalism in ensuring the stability, development, and peace in the region.
The journalists were shown a presentation and invited to participate in a course on communication featuring several keynote speakers such as Associate Dean of the Global Program at the Missouri School of Journalism Fritz Cropp, Secretary of the Directorate General of the ASEAN Corporate Rosmalawati Chalid, President of the PR Society Magdalena Wenas, and Indonesian senior journalist Sabam Siagian.
On Wednesday (Feb. 12), the journalists will visit the site of the future CAJET building in Jakabaring, Palembang.
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