The Media as Development "Texbook": a Case Study on Information Distortion in the Debate about the Social Impact of an Indonesia DAM
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Institusion
INSTITUT AGAMA KRISTEN NEGERI TORAJA
Author
Aditjondro, George
Subject
HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Datestamp
2025-02-10 10:43:36
Abstract :
The objective to do this dissertation was to obtain an understanding of the nature of public discourse about the social consequences of large development projects as mediated by the printed media. The publicity surrounding the displacement of local villagers by Kedungombo, a medium-sized irrigation dam in Central Java, Indonesia, was selected as a "magnifying lens" to look into the media coverage of similar large development projects built during the New Order administration. The findings of this case study shows how the wide spectrum of adverse social effects and resistance to them were reduced into a dramatic story about the persistent resistance of one hamlet community, Kedungpring, to three overlapping government policies: unfair compensation, forced resettlement, and a prohibition to inhabit and cultivate the reservoir's green belt. This simplistic picture developed out of four levels of information distortion by the media in conjunction with the advocates and critics of the dam. First, they repeatedly claimed that massive grass roots resistance to large dams had not happened before during the New Order administration, which is incorrect. Second, they underemphasized the grass roots resistance to the project site, outside that particular hamlet. Third, they underemphasized various other adverse social effects experienced by the people living around the reservoir, apart from forced resettlement. Fourth, they underemphasized the impact of the entire irrigation project, of which the dam was only one component, upon the local villagers living in the dam's command area as well as the impact of resettling the displaced villagers upon the host population in a watershed in Bengkulu, Southern Sumatra. This Information distortion was the result of the interplay of various media strategies carried out by the dam advocates as well as the critics, supported and amplified by the media. In addilion, various political, cultural, and economic forces outside the media influenced the coverage of the Kedungombo dam as well. Based on the findings of this thesis, some theoretical implications in the fields of education, political language, and social impact analysis are forwarded. In addition, the thesis also recommend certain practical suggestions to the anti-Kedungombo activists, who have embanked on campaigns to hal t the construction of two new large dams in Indonesia.
The objective to do this dissertation was to obtain an understanding of the nature of public discourse about the social consequences of large development projects as mediated by the printed media. The publicity surrounding the displacement of local villagers by Kedungombo, a medium-sized irrigation dam in Central Java, Indonesia, was selected as a "magnifying lens" to look into the media coverage of similar large development projects built during the New Order administration. The findings of this case study shows how the wide spectrum of adverse social effects and resistance to them were reduced into a dramatic story about the persistent resistance of one hamlet community, Kedungpring, to three overlapping government policies: unfair compensation, forced resettlement, and a prohibition to inhabit and cultivate the reservoir's green belt. This simplistic picture developed out of four levels of information distortion by the media in conjunction with the advocates and critics of the dam. First, they repeatedly claimed that massive grass roots resistance to large dams had not happened before during the New Order administration, which is incorrect. Second, they underemphasized the grass roots resistance to the project site, outside that particular hamlet. Third, they underemphasized various other adverse social effects experienced by the people living around the reservoir, apart from forced resettlement. Fourth, they underemphasized the impact of the entire irrigation project, of which the dam was only one component, upon the local villagers living in the dam's command area as well as the impact of resettling the displaced villagers upon the host population in a watershed in Bengkulu, Southern Sumatra. This Information distortion was the result of the interplay of various media strategies carried out by the dam advocates as well as the critics, supported and amplified by the media. In addilion, various political, cultural, and economic forces outside the media influenced the coverage of the Kedungombo dam as well. Based on the findings of this thesis, some theoretical implications in the fields of education, political language, and social impact analysis are forwarded. In addition, the thesis also recommend certain practical suggestions to the anti-Kedungombo activists, who have embanked on campaigns to hal t the construction of two new large dams in Indonesia.
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