I Wayan Juniarta, wartawan The Jakarta Post di Bali merangkum pembelian berita kampanye gubernur 2009 di Bali. Ini berita selengkapnya.

Capitalizing on the candidates’ enthusiasm, the Bali Post made a profit-driven decision to significantly increase the rates of its “advertorial news” pieces.

For a 400-word story and one photo to appear on page 2, 3, 4 or 5 of the paper, a candidate must pay Rp 1.5 million. Meanwhile, for a 600-word story and one photo on the paper’s front page, a candidate must pay Rp 10 million.

The Bali Post also offers two advertorial packages. “Package A”, for example, which costs Rp 250 million, gives a candidate the chance to appear on the paper’s front page 15 times and on the other pages 70 times.

For Rp 500 million, a candidate can buy the “Convergent B” package, which ensures the appearance of the candidate’s stories in the Bali Post, on BaliTV, in the Denpasar Post and the Tokoh tabloid, all of which belong to the Bali Post Media Group.

The Bali Post isn’t alone in trying to capitalize on the candidates’ desire to get positive media exposure. Two other local newspapers, Nusa Bali and Radar Bali, put a price tag of somewhere between Rp 50 million to 60 million for one single full-page story on a candidate.

However, because the Bali Post has the largest readership — around 50,000, while Nusa Bali has around 5,000 and Radar Bali around 15,000 — the candidates naturally place more of their advertorials in the Bali Post.

Maka kira-kira begini:

1. JIka semua kandidat gubernur membeli paket berita A Rp 250 juta, maka Bali Post mendapatkan 250 juta x 4 pasang kandidat= Rp 1 milyar
2. jika memilih paket B: Rp 500 juta x 4 pasang kandidat = Rp 2 milyar
3. Jika masing-masing kandidat beli kolom berita di 4 media (Bali Post, NusaBali, Radar Bali, Tokoh), kandidat butuh sedikitnya 1 milyar untuk nampang di koran.
4. Karena medianya makin kaya, saya berharap: pegawe bagian cetak dinaikkan. Sopir distribusi koran dinaikkan honornya. Kasian mereka kan jadi ujung tombak untuk mengedarkan berita iklan kampanye itu ke pembaca (yang banyak tidak tahu kalau berita tanda bintang adalah iklan!). wartawan dipotong gajinya? karena kerja liputan makin dikit karena kolom berita penuh berita iklan?

kesimpulannya:

ah, jika saja massa bergerak untuk memprotes banyaknya berita tanda bintang. kan duit kampanye bisa dipake beli bibit pohon, pegawe cetak dan sopir distribusi bisa pulang lebih cepet karena gak harus lembur nyetak koran berita pesanan. kan watawan ga jadi saya sarankan dipotong gajinya. begitu bukan?? bukan……