INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES SPRING 2016
between city dwellers are fleeting and partial , and are means to other ends , rather than being satisfying relationships in themselves ’ ( Wirth , as cited in Giddens , 2006 , p . 898 ). In addition , according to Siregar ( 2000 , p . 43 ), urban workers in Jakarta barely have social lives . They are too busy to lead the ‘ normal ’ lives they used to have in their rural backgrounds .
In Jakarta , workers often have to live separately from their family and their community , which makes it difficult for them to maintain social and cultural ties . As Giddens ( 2006 ) argues : ‘ despite the rich opportunities that big cities offer , many people find them lonely or unfriendly places ’ ( p . 894 ). Furthermore , in Jakarta and its supporting cities , relationship is transitory and instrumental ( Giddens , 2006 , p . 896 ). Thus , tabloid newspapers can fill the emptiness of daily life .
Tabloid newspapers also help people understand and learn about the Jakarta milieu . Pos Kota and Lampu Hijau have been found to help urban workers in Jakarta learn about the place in which they live by providing them with information and gossip relating to their urban lives .
Conclusion
The term ‘ tabloid ’ in Indonesia is often perceived as referring to the format of the newspaper , which is smaller than a broadsheet newspaper . There is no concept of ‘ tabloid journalism ’ in Indonesia ; instead , most people call this form of newspaper a ‘ crime newspaper ’ or ‘ pornographic newspaper ’. Despite such judgmental labels , tabloid journalism in Indonesia has actually played an important role in creating a new market for newspaper consumption . Tabloid journalism in Indonesia has created an opportunity for everyday people to become newspaper readers .
Unsurprisingly , in addition to serving these as yet ‘ untouched ’ readers , tabloid newspapers in Indonesia also belong to large conglomerates that , according to Wasserman ( 2010 , p . 3 ), exploit their readers for commercial purposes . Thus , ‘ their poor and workingclass audiences remain merely a market to be tapped ’ ( Wasserman , 2010 , p . 30 ). The choice to be a local newspaper and to use crude and salacious headlines on the front and back page is made for marketing purposes , as was admitted by the journalists and the editors of Pos Kota and Lampu Hijau during the interviews .
In response to such criticisms , both Pos Kota and Lampu Hijau editorial boards , always take cover under the shield that it is the urban worker ’ s taste . They state that their readers ’ taste ‘ forces ’ them to publish sensationalized stories . However , in most cases , taste is a construction , which means that taste can be constructed through limited choice and regular exposure . It is the tabloid newspaper , itself , that creates this particular taste for the urban workers . As Anwar ( 2000 ) argues , ‘ people might not really like it [ a tabloid newspaper ], but after all they got used to it ’ ( p . 27 ). Thus , their justifications can be seen more as a side effect than a main purpose like Wasserman ( 2010 ) claims : ‘ If they [ tabloids ]
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