ENTERING THE BROADCASTING INDUSTRY

WRITEN BY: RAMA

Graduating from high school! Phew, that’s mostly every teenagers dream. We grow up being someone more mature. We can be ourselves, get to choose any subjects we like, and study in anyway we want relating to our life’s goals. It’s the time to develop our talents or hobbies and be at our best! But unfortunately, sometimes we see a few of our friends are still confused what they are going to be or where they are going to study after graduating high school. Many working fields are available out there waiting for our contributions depend on our efforts, skills, interest, and a little of luck. One of them is working in the broadcasting industry which has been raising up rapidly since the reformation era in 1998, either in radio or TV station.

If we interested in broadcasting industry, the good way is we have to choose an academy, a university, or a faculty that provide Communication Science, either majoring in Broadcasting for diploma (D-3) or Journalism Science for bachelor degree (S-1).

Studying in Faculty of Communication Science at University of Padjadjaran (Fikom Unpad), Bandung, West Java, might be a choice. In order to support the quality, Fikom Unpad is completed with TV and radio laboratory for broadcasting simulation.

To get bachelor degree, we can major in journalism for four years in Fikom Unpad. There are several subjects related to broadcasting, such as: news writing for electronic mass media in fourth semester, TV and radio journalism production in seventh semester, and internship for electronic mass media (either TV or radio station) in eight semester for a month.

Meanwhile for diploma, Fikom Unpad provides D-3 PAKT (Pendidikan Ahli Komunikasi Terapan). You will find electronic mass media domination, if you certainly majors in broadcasting for three years. There are several interesting subjects that provided, such as: announcing, TV production, and radio journalism. All the college students are obliged to have internship in sixth semester for a month. They are free to choose the location, either in TV or radio station.

Other state universities that provide communication science, especially related to broadcasting are Faculty of Social and Political Science either for diploma or bachelor degree at University of Indonesia (FISIP UI) in Depok, West Java, University of Negeri Sebelas Maret in Solo, Central Java, and University of Diponegoro in Semarang, Central Java. Then, for the private colleges you might choose are University of dr. Moestopo, Interstudi, and London School in Jakarta or University of Islam Bandung (Unisba) and STIKOM (Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Komunikasi) in Bandung.

Then, what kind of professions can we choose in broadcasting industry? These are several main professions in it that might open up our minds and more convince us on what we’ve chosen for our careers.

· Executive Producer. Someone who has great knowledge in TV or radio program entirely and able to give the ideas in making TV or radio programs. If we are creative and can manage people in making a TV or radio program, this fits on us.

· Producer. Someone who represents the executive producer or does the orders from the executive producer. In some electronic mass media or production house, a producer can be the executive producer. This person should be able to create and develop brilliant ideas in making an interesting TV or radio program.

· Program Director. Someone who works at the field or technically controls and has a responsibility for the production that carried on inside or outside the studio. In certain conditions, this person might be called as a Floor Director.

· Script Writer. Someone who makes scripts for TV or radio programs like talk show, quiz, variety show, and other programs. In journalism, this person normally called as a News Writer, who makes the news script. For those who are interested in writing, should try this one.

· Announcer or Presenter. A term of “announcer” is usually used for radio program. This is almost everyone’s dream. Being an announcer or presenter means being famous and wealthy. The audience sees or listens to them first to start liking a program. A TV or radio station relies on them to present a fabulous program. An announcer or a presenter should be able to attract the audience and able to host the program and give or report the information. Therefore, this person is well paid. Ideally, there are some requirements that an announcer or presenter must have, such as having great knowledge, well behavior, good voice, unique characteristic, and sometimes camera face is necessary for a TV program. In a TV news program, this person is called an Anchorperson who should be able to analyze and read out the news very well to the audience. The anchorperson does not memorize the news script, but this person reads out the news script form a device called teleprompter.

· Cameraman or Camera Person. From the name we know that this person is responsible for operating the camera during the TV program production inside or outside the studio. Ability to take the pictures or some things happen in many interesting different angles for a TV program is a must for this person. Not only men, but women certainly can also do this job.

· Technical Editor. This is the most important element in a TV program, either in a live show or recorded. This person is responsible for the editing process and technically operates the switcher in the editing room. Reducing, adding, combining the pictures and sounds or even giving the picture and sound effects are the abilities which must have by this person. In a radio station this person is called as an Operator (OPP) who operates the mixer and helps the announcer inside the studio for a radio program.

· Reporter. This person works as a journalist, take for example: collecting the important, actual, and interesting information, arranging it into good news, and then reporting it to the audience, either directly reporting from the location (live report) or recorded report. This is a little bit similar to the reporter for the printed mass media. The small difference is, reporters for electronic mass media sometimes their faces are shot on camera or may have a live interview while reporting the news from the location of the action with the anchorperson in the studio. If we like challenge and we’re keen on journalism activities, this profession seems suitable for us.

GLOSSARY:

· Camera face = good looking face when it is shot on camera.

· Mixer = a device that controls the sound quality and combines the sounds. It’s usually operated by the operator at the radio station..

· Switcher = a device that controls the sound and the picture quality and combines both of them. It’s usually operated by the technical director in the editing room at the TV station.

· Teleprompter = a device that displays news script. The anchorperson read the news script out by looking at this device. A teleprompter can be also as a camera all at once.

Tulisan ini dimuat di majalah remaja bahasa Inggris C'nS (Cool n Smart Magazine) edisi April-May 2008

KETIKA SANG KONTROVERSI PERGI

Sang kontroversi itu menghembuskan napas terakhir Minggu, 27 Januari 2008 pukul 13.10, usai dirawat di Rumah Sakit Pusat Pertamina, Jakarta Selatan, selama 24 hari akibat komplikasi penyakit. Tuhan cukup memberi almarhum umur 86 tahun menikmati dunia. Pujian maupun hujatan mengiring langkahnya menuju Sang Khalik. Aktivitas Ibu Kota lumpuh sejenak mengantarkan jenazah almarhum ke tempat peristirahatan terakhir. Tujuh hari berkabung nasional sekaligus bendera setengah tiang adalah penghormatan negara bagi almarhum.

Berita kematian Haji Muhammad Soeharto -begitu nama lengkap almarhum- menghiasi berbagai halaman depan media cetak lokal maupun mancanegara. Setidaknya ini berlangsung hingga dua atau tiga hari mendatang. Tak ketinggalan media elektronik, terutama TV, breaking news tiada henti selama 24 jam. Hanya media massa segmented yang melewatkan momen tersebut. Kepergian Pak Harto -sapaan akrab almarhum- menjadi santapan empuk mass media. Bagi Anda yang jengah dengan informasi Pak Harto, harap bersabar !

Almarhum dikenal sebagai penguasa Orde Baru. Selama 32 tahun almarhum berkuasa, kemajuan banyak terlihat di negeri ini. Namun, keberhasilan itu bukan tanpa cacat. Isu-isu penindasan, pelanggaran HAM, dan ketidakadilan kerap menyelimuti pembangunan lima tahun (pelita) yang digagas almarhum. Pujian serta hujatan pun mewarnai kehidupan Pak Harto.

Parahnya, selepas lengser, hujatan makin deras, pujian melunak. Almarhum malah dituduh mengeruk kekayaan negara untuk kepentingan pribadi, anak, cucu, serta kroni. Bahkan, saat terbaring sakit, pihak antipati tiada henti mencaci maki. Sakit almarhum diterjemahkan sebagai dalih belaka. Unjuk rasa menuntut Pak Harto segera diadili serta dihukum mulai merebak. Sungguh malang nasib Sang Kontroversi.

Memang, penyelidikan Pak Harto sempat terhambat karena penurunan kesehatan. Alasan ini pula yang membuat pihak kejaksaan menghentikan penyelidikan Pak Harto. Kasus dugaan korupsi Pak Harto perlahan "sengaja" dilenyapkan. Pak Harto sebagai sutradara memunculkan kontroversi dengan para pemain kejaksaan dan polisi.

Belum reda kontroversi tuntutan hukum kepada almarhum, isu lain yang tak kalah menarik mencuat. Pak Harto memenangkan gugatan terhadap majalah Time Asia. Majalah yang berkantor di Hong Kong itu diharuskan membayar Rp 1 triliun. Time Asia dinilai mencemarkan nama baik Pak Harto dengan pemberitaan keluarga Soeharto memiliki kekayaan US$15 miliar di dalam dan luar negeri. Konon, uang diperoleh dengan cara tak sehat yaitu menyalahgunakan kekuasaan. Tapi, Time Asia tidak gamblang memaparkan pemikiran tersebut.

Kini, Pak Harto berpulang ditemani kontroversi dirinya. Kontroversi itu rupanya diwariskan kepada anak cucu almarhum. Persoalannya adalah sudikah kita memafkan almarhum. Terlebih, orang-orang yang mengaku pernah disakiti almarhum.

Sebagai umat beragama, kita sebaiknya memafkan almarhum dari segi kemanusiaan. Namun, dari kaca mata keadilan hukum, kita tidak mengetahui kesalahan apa yang harus dimaafkan. Hukum kita seolah tunduk pada kekuasaan Cendana. Apakah penyelidikan kasus Pak Harto perlu dilanjutkan untuk menemukan kesalahan almarhum sehingga bisa dimaafkan? Kali ini pengusutan tak lagi pada almarhum melainkan pada anak cucu beserta kroni. Biarlah Pak Harto beristirahat dengan tenang. Selamat Jalan Sang Kontroversi..!!