A Vox Populi Reflector or Public Entertainer? Mass Media Polling in Contemporary Indonesia

Abstract

Besides the conventional public opinion pollsters, mass media have also been long to be another significant player in Indonesian polling activities. The numerous players of mass media in conducting polling since 1987, and the high intensity of media polling publications, have raised the question whether the media polling reflects the so-called the people's voices and preferences. This paper argues that despite popular and significant, mass media polling so far has not been reliable instrument to reflect Indonesian voice of the people. The built-in advantages of media polling are, such as, fast, timely, low marginal cost per completed response, as well as the enlivening news value which presents the most popular society responses to such issue; in the context of contemporary Indonesia, however, the media polling has a problem of representativeness to demonstrate the public voice. Moreover, as most of the media pollsters are lack of proper methodology in polling works, media polling has only been trustworthy to be a curiosity fulfiller. At the moment, instead of being a voxpopuli mirror, media polling may be seen as a solely public entertainer.

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