Are You Interested in Journalism?

What do you think about journalist profession? You may think that journalist is someone who writes and presents news on television, radio, and newspaper. Actually, journalist does not only write and present news on mass media, but they also collect actual news around him/her which is important to share to public. Before the news is presented to public, journalists have obligation to edit the news. People may think being a journalist is easy, in contrary it is not because he/she has to be responsible to what he/she writes and presents. In fact, journalists do not only produce news, but also articles, features, column, editorial, etc. Basically, there are five media that journalists use to presents news-newspaper, magazine, tabloid, radio, and television. As the growth of technology of communication, now we are be able to receive news online from internet. Nowadays, lots of people are interested in journalism as the increase of netizen (net citizen). According to English Dictionary, netizen is a group of the words internet and citizen as in "citizen of the net". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general. The term commonly also implies an interest in improving the Internet, especially in regard and free speech. Netizens are also commonly referred to as cybercitizens, which has similar connotations. The netizens exactly help the journalists in collecting news, so the ability of netizens may be considered by mass media. If you are interested in journalism, there are several ways to be a good journalist such as: enjoying writing and reading, having a good public speaking skill, and obeying the journalistic code of ethics.

If you want to be a journalist, you must enjoy writing and reading. Basically, a journalist profession is based on how much you enjoy writing and reading because these two things are interconnected. You can write something good by reading more books. The more books you read means the more you fix your writing into the good one, because the books you read will be your reference in writing. By enjoying those two of things, you can learn how to write good sentences. Besides give you more knowledge, reading more books or literatures will expand your dictions and it will give your writing more colors, so people will not get bored by reading the same dictions you often use. Reading also makes you know how to make a sentence with a good grammar, soit will fix your grammar indirectly while you are writing something. On the other hand, if you enjoy reading, it will make you stay in touch to what’s happening around you and also give you a lot of information that you need as a journalist.
As a journalist, it is important to have a good public speaking skill. It is important because this will make people understand your messages and definitely will avoid misunderstood messages, so you will make a good perception to people in this case your readers or your viewers. A good public speaker helps people to receive accurate information. In the other hand, you will adapt easily in public because public speaking skill will make it easier for you to socialize. Being a good public speaker can enhance your reputation, boost your self-confidence, and open up countless opportunities. There are plenty of situations where good public speaking skills can help you advance your career and create opportunities especially in journalism. For instance: you will face situation where you feel uncomfortable and nervous to speak in front of public, but if you have a good public speaking skill, you will be able face the public and it shows you that you are a valuable journalist.

Obeying the journalistic code of ethics is the last thing you have to do. However, this is the most important part because this code of ethics will lead you to be an ethical journalist. The highest and primary obligation of journalists is to serve the public, so they treat sources, subjects, and public respectfully. There are some rules that journalists have to do to the subjects. For example, journalists are not allowed to mention someone’s information if he/she does not allow the journalists to do so, journalists also have to act independently and does not take sides in explaining one’s decisions to public. In the other hand, journalists also have to serve information based on the truth and have an obligation to acknowledge mistakes and correct them immediately. If you can hold on to journalistic code of ethics, you will get respect and can be trusted from both of public and media as a professional journalist.
          In conclusion, being a professional journalist is not as easy as you could imagine. A journalist must enjoy writing and reading, has a good public speaking skill, and holds firmly on journalistic code of ethics. If you can hold on to those three things, you will do fine with your career in journalism. But if you cannot hold on to those things, probably you are not suitable for that profession. 
 
- Ulfa Atikasari

Belajar Sambil Bermain di Museum Nasional

Selain menjadi guru, museum dapat menjadi sarana tempat bermain anak. Memang sudah seharusnya anak Indonesia ditanamkan pengetahuan budaya dan sejarah tanah air sejak dini, demi menumbuhkan rasa nasionalisme sehingga dapat memperkukuh identitas bangsa.

Menurut Edukator Museum Asep Firman (36), semua orang ingin mengetahui sejarah, baik sejarah kebudayaan, sejarah perjuangan, atau hasil-hasil kreasi yang ada dari masa lalu. Banyak kegiatan yang telah dilakukan pihak pengelola Museum Nasional dalam melestarikan serta memperkenalkan budaya dan sejarah Indonesia, khususnya kepada generasi muda dengan cara yang menyenangkan yaitu belajar sambil bermain.

Seperti yang biasa dilakukan setiap tahun, tepat di hari jadi museum yakni 24 April, Museum Nasional mengadakan fun walk dari museum hingga bundaran HI dengan partisipan hingga 2000 orang. Selain fun walk, beberapa perlombaan dan pegelaran kesenian seperti Wayang Semalam Suntuk diadakan agar nilai edukatif dan hiburan juga didapatkan oleh partisipan.

Pihak pengelola museum rutin melakukan kegiatan-kegiatan yang bersifat edukatif dan menghibur demi memikat daya tarik pengunjung. Misalnya seperti tarian flash mob Bali yang diikuti oleh 1000 anak pada 24 April lalu, berhasil meningkatkan jumlah pengunjung dari tahun-tahun sebelumnya.

Bagi kalian yang tidak dapat mengunjungi museum secara langsung, Museum Nasional rutin mengadakan museum keliling tiap tahunnya dengan cara membuat pameran mini dan miniatur museum. Selain itu, juga diadakan perlombaan seperti mendongeng dan mewarnai melalui media kendi maupun batik agar nilai belajar sambil bermain dapat dirasakan oleh pengunjung.

Menurut Asep, jumlah pengunjung Museum Nasional selalu meningkat tiap tahunnya. Jumlah pengunjung diperkirakan akan meningkat 20 hingga 30 persen jika dilihat dari jumlah total akhir pengunjung (Januari – September) tahun ini. Asep optimis target jumlah pengunjung tahun ini akan mencapai target.

Meningkatnya jumlah pengunjung merupakan efek dari kegiatan-kegiatan sosialisasi museum kepada masyarakat, menurutnya. Karena dengan diadakannya kegiatan-kegiatan tersebut, dapat memancing rasa ingin tahu masyarakat untuk berkunjung langsung ke museum.

Ternyata, selain mendapat ilmu pengetahuan tentang sejarah dan budaya Indonesia, museum juga dapat menjadi inspirasi bagi para pengunjung. Contohnya seperti Dwiki Santosa (46), anggota Komunitas Pencinta Museum Indonesia, yang sangat antusias dengan sejarah dan kebudayaan Indonesia.

“Museum merupakan tempat mencari inspirasi untuk mengekspresikan pikiran saya menjadi sebuah karya yang nyata. Dari museum lah saya menjahit catatan-catatan sejarah sehingga menghasilkan sebuah karya fiksi yang mungkin saja bisa dijadikan film atau drama,” katanya saat diwawancarai di Taman Arkeologi Museum Nasional, Kamis (20/10).

Jika kalian tertarik untuk mengunjungi Museum Nasional, silakan datang ke Jalan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta Pusat, posisinya tepat di seberang Monumen Nasional (MONAS). Tiket untuk masuk ke museum cukup murah, anak-anak akan dikenakan biaya sebesar Rp2000 dan dewasa sebesar Rp5000. Ayo kapan lagi belajar sambil bermain di museum! ( Ulfa Atikasari)

Contoh Surat Pembaca

Parkir Sembarangan

Ahad (20/3), saat saya melintasi Jalan Nusantara Raya, Depok, Jawa Barat, mata saya tak lepas dari kendaraan yang parkir di sepanjang badan jalan. Padahal sudah tertera rambu dilarang parkir, tapi tetap saja mereka tidak peduli. Wajar bila di waktu tertentu jalan Nusantara Raya sangat padat bahkan macet, terutama saat jam masuk dan pulang sekolah. Adapun peringatan gembok ban yang tertera di salah satu rambu, namun tidak terlihat adanya petugas yang merealisasikannya.

Sebenarnya bukan hanya peran masyarakat saja yang penting, namun juga perlu dibantu oleh petugas. Seharusnya untuk sementara petugas selalu standby di daerah larangan parkir agar pengendara terbiasa patuh pada rambu lalu lintas. Jika pengendara sudah terbiasa, maka akan mewujudkan lalu lintas yang tertib.

Saya harap Pemerintah Kota Depok dapat mengontrol masyarakat agar tidak parkir di sembarang tempat, dan masyarakat harus mempunyai kesadaran diri untuk senantiasa mematuhi rambu lalu lintas demi kenyamanan bersama.

Ulfa Atikasari

Mahasiswa Jurnalistik IISIP Jakarta

Nb: Tulisan ini pernah dimuat oleh suratkabar harian Republika dalam rubrik Suarapublika, edisi Senin, 21 Maret 2016.