E-ISSN: 2580-1341 (Online Media) P-ISSN: 2721-0383 (Printed) Frequency: 2 Issues Per Year (April and October) Status: Indexed by Garuda, Publons, Microsoft Academic, Dimensions, Sinta 2, Copernicus, Google Scholar, Etc. The Journal of Society and Media, published by Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia cooperates (MoA) with Asosiasi Profesi Pendidik dan Peneliti Sosiologi Indonesia (AP3SI) and MoA APSSI with Asosiasi Program Studi Sosiologi Indonesia (APSSI) under the management of the Department of Social Sciences. This journal, published twice a year, in April and October, covers broad topics that discuss the interrelationships of society and the media from multiple perspectives; Sociology, Communication Studies, community technology, Social Network Analysis, Political Science, International Relations, and other Social Sciences are written in English. The articles published may take the form of theoretical analyses, literature reviews, and research results. The Journal of Society and Media has been accredited as a scientific journal by the Ministry of Research and Technology/National Research and Innovation Agency (Indonesia): No.148/M/KPT/2020 with the 2nd Grade Accreditation (Sinta 2) since Vol. 4 Issue 1 2020 (5 years) and records in Ristek-Brin, and its accreditation was continued by regaining Sinta status on July 28, 2026, No.: 862/DST/D.D1/HM.01.01/2026, effective from Volume 8, No. 1 (2024) through Volume 12, No. 2 (2028). The articles of The Journal of Society and Media have been published in English since publication Vol. 3, Issue 2 (2019) with a new template. These days, Just published Vol. 10, Issue 1 (April 2026). Please submit your manuscript for the next publication Please check the Author Guidelines and send your manuscript HERE Please Download the Template HERE
Digital Capitalism and Platform Dependency in Indonesia: Media, Power, and Political Economy
This article examines Indonesia’s digital transformation through a political economy of media perspective, focusing on platform dependency, digital labor, and governance relations. The study employs a qualitative analysis of secondary data, including national statistics, policy documents, industry reports, and recent academic studies related to Indonesia’s digital economy and media systems. Drawing on sources such as APJII (2023), BPS (2023), and regional digital economy reports, the analysis captures large-scale patterns of platform adoption, labor dynamics, and governance structures. The findings indicate that Indonesia’s digital ecosystem is characterized by structural asymmetries in infrastructural control, value extraction, and regulatory capacity. Rather than reflecting technological progress alone, digital transformation involves a reconfiguration of media power and platform-mediated participation. This article contributes to media and communication scholarship by offering an integrated political economy framework to understand how digital capitalism reshapes communication environments in emerging digital societies
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Media Representations of Urban Poverty in Jakarta and Manila: A Comparative Sociological Study
Urban poverty remains one of the most persistent social challenges in Southeast Asia, yet its portrayal in mainstream media often shapes public understanding and policy responses in unequal ways. While current scholarship acknowledges the media’s role in marginalization, there is a distinct lack of comparative research that details how divergent macro-level political economies produce specific, localized journalistic practices concerning the urban poor. This study addresses this gap by examining news and digital media in Jakarta and Manila, two megacities that embody contrasting trajectories of postcolonial urban development. Drawing on comparative sociological and critical discourse analyses, the research investigates narratives, visual framing, and thematic emphases across leading platforms between 2020 and 2025. Using mixed methods—including content analysis, interviews, and audience studies—the paper uncovers how journalistic practices produce different frames, ranging from moralized depictions of the poor as "responsible citizens" to structural critiques of inequality. Findings reveal that Jakarta’s media normalizes poverty through developmentalist frames, whereas Manila’s media emphasizes resilience. Ultimately, this paper moves beyond descriptive comparison to advance a theoretical framework for the 'mediatization of urban marginality.' The study contributes to the political economy of communication by theorizing how journalistic routines and local governance structures co-produce neoliberal subjectivities, transforming structural urban inequality into individual moral narratives.
Ngupi Pai Culture in Coffee Shops: Media and Social Space in the Urban Society in Bandar Lampung
This article examines the activity and cultural product of Ngupi Pai, a tradition of drinking coffee together within Lampung cultural heritage, which has experienced an expansion of meaning from a domestic activity commonly carried out at home (lamban) to one also conducted in public spaces such as coffee shops. This transformation occurs alongside the development of media, information technology, urbanization, and multicultural social environments in cities. This study employs a qualitative approach with data collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation in Bandar Lampung. Data analysis was conducted using triangulation, peer review, and member checking to ensure the validity and credibility of the findings. The results show that Ngupi Pai has shifted from private to broader public spaces, where drinking coffee is no longer limited to consumption but has become a social trend of gathering in coffee-serving venues. Drawing on Douglas’s beverage construction theory, drinking practices possess sociocultural dimensions that contribute to social bonding, identity construction, and symbolic meaning production. Coffee functions as a medium that creates egalitarian and communicative interaction spaces, positioning coffee shops as arenas for tolerance, inter-ethnic harmony, and informal social diplomacy. This transformation strengthens the adaptive nature of Ngupi Pai within contemporary urban sociocultural dynamics
Wisdom in the Digital Era: Bridging Human Rights, Indonesian Cyber Law, and Progressive Fiqh
Digital technologies have reconfigured the landscape of public discourse, religious expression, and civic participation, generating both democratic opportunities and profound ethical challenges. While existing legal frameworks seek to regulate harmful online behavior, law alone proves insufficient to cultivate responsible digital conduct. This article argues that wisdom (ḥikmah) constitutes a critical, yet under- explored, ethical capacity for navigating the digital public sphere. Employing a normative–philosophical legal methodology, this study integrates three normative traditions: international human rights law, Indonesia’s Electronic Information and Transactions Law (EIT Law/UU ITE), and Progressive Fiqh grounded in maqāṣid al-sharī’ah, maṣlaḥah, and istiḥsān. Through conceptual and comparative analysis, the article demonstrates how wisdom functions as a mediating moral rationality that harmonizes freedom of expression with human dignity and social responsibility. The findings propose a model of “digital wisdom” that shifts governance from reactive legal control toward anticipatory ethical responsibility. This framework contributes to contemporary debates on digital governance, Islamic legal theory, and human rights by offering a culturally grounded yet universally resonant model of ethical digital citizenship. Future studies are encouraged to empirically examine how wisdom-based ethical frameworks can be institutionalized through digital literacy education, judicial practice, and religious discourse in diverse socio-legal contexts
Indonesia-Malaysian Border Issues: National Online Media Coverage in Malaysia and Indonesia During 2010-2022
This study analyzes how online media in Malaysia and Indonesia cover long-standing border issues that have shaped diplomatic tensions since 1957. While prior research has examined historical and political dimensions, limited attention has been given to how the media frames these issues across agenda-setting levels over time. Using quantitative content analysis and sentiment analysis based on three-level agenda-setting theory, this research examines national online media, Tempo.co, Tribunnews, and Republika (Indonesia), and Malaysiakini and Astro Awani (Malaysia)—from 2010 to 2022. Data were collected through web scraping of headlines and leads, followed by sentiment classification and word cloud visualization.Findings reveal three key patterns. First, negative tones dominate coverage, indicating strong issue salience at the first level of agenda setting. Second, media emphasize military and security approaches over cultural, educational, and economic aspects, reflecting second-level attribute prioritization. Third, there is a notable imbalance in coverage intensity, with Indonesian media producing significantly more border-related content than Malaysian media.These results contribute to understanding how online media operationalize agenda-setting in Southeast Asia and highlight the importance of promoting peace-oriented journalism in reporting international border disputes