Mass media adds anxiety to the community regarding Covid-19 news. Some chose not to consume news or did other kinds of counters to reduce the anxiety effect. This study investigated the perception of the public and journalists in Surakarta about Covid-19 news and their perception about the ideal reporting model in a situation such as this time. Agenda setting media theory was used to understand the issue explored. Data were collected using questionnaire and interview. This research concluded that media was considered a cause of psychological disorders, especially anxiety and fear, because of the bad news. The media was still not sensitive to public needs as news tends to pursue ratings/compete to find viewers by making excessive or bombastic titles. The expected news model shall prioritize facts and minimize the negative impact through optimistic news; educational; clear and complete information by credible sources; used terms that were understood by all; showed empathy, sympathy; and content variation.

The pandemic has changed the work order and old patterns that have prevailed in the media. This paper highlights the changing work patterns and news media production in Surakarta City-Indonesia regarding the pandemic. The data were collected by interviews and observations of journalists assigned to cover the area of Surakarta and the newsroom. The results showed a change in the pattern of coverage, number, and broadcast pattern or news packaging model and changes in editorial policy. The orientation of the news is no longer merely to “worship” exclusivity. It requires high creativity so that it does not lose information. The pattern of coverage previously had to go by interviews and direct observations to become a mediated pattern. It became considered taboo for journalists in the era before the pandemic. Photos and videos no longer have to match the news narrative but can be used as substitute objects as long as they have relevance. The format of voice-over news has been changed a lot in the form of live broadcasts, and mini talk shows to fill the program's broadcast duration, which was affected by the decrease in the number of news reports reported by journalists during the pandemic.

Abstrak

The face of mass media has transformed extraordinarily after internet presence. The content was no longer the dominance of media because technology and the public can participate in producing and publishing news, which raised the phenomenon of citizen journalism. Mainstream media captured this phenomenon by bringing up programs based on news that sent by citizens. This research aimed to see the implementation of basic principles of journalism on news that sent by citizens, and the causes that influenced it, on www.netcj.co.id. The basic tenets seen were accuracy and fairness. The quantitative content analysis was used to see the first problem; then, the second problem was explored by interviews. The result showed that news sent by citizens on NETCJ mostly was inaccurate (55.17%) and unfair (42.92%). The differences in educational background and experience, the status of citizen journalists, and newsroom policy were the cause of the problem.

All sectors of human life have been affected by the Covid-19 virus, including the media industry. There have been many changes in the media organization. The patterns that have become standard have completely changed due to the pandemic. The media face many challenges because of that. Those are the risk to the safety of workers, the loss of several types of jobs, the dominance of information sources, and threats to the diversity of information that the public can receive. Those were the results of this study. That results were obtained by a research process carried out from May to mid-December 2021. The method was carried out by interviewing and observing journalists who worked in the Surakarta area, Indonesia. Apart from that, it also observed the media work process (newsroom). Technology, the safety of life, dominance of news sources, and diversity of content were challenges for media actors in ethical demands and the fulfillment of basic principles of journalism that have not changed at all.