Journalist competence vs. fishing company intervention on IUU fishing reporting in Riau, Indonesia: Questioning the media leader policy

Abstract

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) crimes by rogue fisheries companies are rife in the sea waters of Riau Province. However, this issue is rarely reported by those provincial journalists in the online media where they work. In fact, in Riau, there are 163 online media companies and 600 competent journalists; 200 of them live in capture fisheries center areas. Apart from the journalist competency factor, the decision to make IUU fishing news can also be influenced by the fisheries company intervention that committed the crime. Besides, the policy role of media leaders—editors, editors-in-chief, and media owners—also determines journalists’ decisions to make those news stories. This research aims to analyze the influence of journalist competence and fishing company intervention on the decision to make IUU fishing news, as well as the role of media leader policy as mediators in these influences. This survey involved 100 competent journalists as respondents. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire containing a number of closed statements measured on a 5-point Likert scale, which was distributed to respondents. The data were analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method. The research results show that the fishing company intervention has a negative and significant influence on the decision to make IUU fishing news in Riau, while journalist competence does not. Additionally, media leader policy was found to play a significant role in mediating the influence of fisheries company intervention and journalist competence on the decision to make IUU fishing news. The leader policy could prevent journalists from making IUU fishing news if fisheries companies, who are responsible for those crimes, intervene and request it. Those actions of media leaders need to be questioned because they can hamper the media’s function as a means of disseminating information, educating the public, and implementing social control, especially those related to combating IUU fishing crimes.