The Role of Unit Pers Mahasiswa in Investigating News in UPI Environment

The press is an institution that makes and publishes news to the mass media periodically. Etymologically, the press comes from the Latin, “perssare” taken from the wor­d “premere” which means “press” or “print.” In Indonesia, the notion of the press is regulated in Press Law No. 40 of 1999 which states that the press is a social institution and a vehicle of mass communication that carries out journalistic activities including finding, acquiring, possessing, storing, and conveying information both in the form of writing, sound, images, sounds and images, as well as data and graphics and in other forms using print media, electronic media, and all kinds of available platform. It purposes is to make and publish news to the mass media periodically.

The beginning of the development of the press in Indonesia began with the existence of the first journalist organization called PWI or Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia. The PWI organization was born on February 9, 1946, which was finally made as National Press Day. In fact, this has been regulated in Presidential Decree No. 5 Year 1985 signed by President Suharto on January 23, 1985. As one of the most important instruments in improving the quality of society, the Indonesian press has 7 common roles regulated in Law Number 40 of 1999 article 6.

The press plays a role in fulfilling people’s right to know, upholding the basic values of democracy that prioritize equal rights and obligations, encourage the realization of the rule of law and human rights, respect diversity, develop  public opinion, conduct supervision of criticism, correction and advice, and fight for justice and truth.

As we can see from the importance of the press for Indonesia, of course, every educational institution must participate in advancing the national press with the student press unit. This is in line with the existence of a Unit Pers Mahasiswa in the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. In an interview via Whatsapp chat with Ihsan Fajar students majoring in Science Education class of 2018 as the general chairman of the Unit Pers Mahasiswa, he mentioned that this student activity unit is a container to inform and defend students both in the UPI campus environment and off campus.

The Unit Pers Mahasiswa or commonly known as UPM originated from a literacy community in the 80s. Initially this community had activities such as reading, writing, and discussion. Until the end, it was decided that this organization became one of the student activity units that developed in the UPI environment.

Isolapos’s website that managed by Unit Pers Mahasiswa

In uploading the news, UPM has an official website that is isolapos.com and Instagram, Facebook, also Twitter account with the username Isolapos. Both platforms are media for UPI students to get the latest information related to campus. Not only that, UPM also always raises the latest issues that occur in Indonesia and the world. The method used in collecting information starts from an editorial meeting that discusses the latest issues, then continued with a mature discussion and brainstorming until it is agreed what material will be uploaded on the Isolapos platform.

After the agreement is obtained, the next step is to look for as much formalization as possible related to the issues discussed which are then written and assessed by the editor. If it is felt that the article is worth uploading, then the news will be directly published on all Isolapos platforms. Please also note that this editor is from UPM students themselves.

According to Ihsan, in this pandemic period it is very difficult to gather the latest news because everything is limited. So that, UPM changes methods and strategies such as development in data journalism and media design, then encourages reporters to have high morale and increase their skills. As a media platform in the UPI environment, the Unit Pers Mahasiswa has a very important role to voice opinions and defending the rights of students so that all parties can have equal rights and obligations.

By the Unit Pers Mahasiswa, it is also expected that all students can be more open and up to date related to the news in the UPI environment. As college students, we should also appreciate how hard news anchors work to deliver actual and latest news every day. (Adzahra Siti Robyati Adawiah, Mahasiswa Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris, FPBS UPI)