Stereotypes

Indonesia

At first glance, global news media tends to cover anything relating to religion, death, and government, especially in association with the countries president, Jokowi Widodo. Most recently, an article published on The New York Times titled “Islamists March in Jakarta, Demanding Christian Governor be Jailed,” outlines how prominent and passionate Indonesian Muslims are, because tens of thousands of them protested in the streets against Ahok due to his apparent blasphemy. Another article published on CNN headlined “At least 18 dead in boat accident off Indonesia,” reports on a migrant boat that crashed into a coral reef in a storm. And the BBC recently published an article titled “Indonesia ‘coffee killer’ trial: Jessica Wongso found guilty of murder.” To summarize, Wongso was found guilty of poisoning her friends coffee which led to her death. After looking at how these three global media sites cover Indonesia, I would say the common thread through all of them would the nature of negativity. Keeping in mind that this might simply be because negative news is considered more newsworthy for most of the world, but whether it be religious, governmental or death related, it seems to be portrayed in a negative light.

When looking at a variety of different travel sites, and advertisements, I got a sense of the stereotypes that define Indonesia. Right off the bat, it is obvious that it is portrayed as a tourist destination. I guess this does not come as surprise seeing that Indonesia is made up of a bunch of islands. In particular, Bali is known for its beautiful beaches, surfing, and Hindu temples, Jakarta, the capitol has the National Museum, and other areas are known for their volcanoes, architecture, music, puppetry and much more. A simple Google image search of Indonesia portrays these areas in a very positive, getaway destination. Their main tourist site which also seems like their main tourist campaign is called “Wonderful Indonesia.” I find this very interesting in contrast with the travel map I have above. It cautions to travel with extreme caution in Indonesia, and points out places to completely avoid. I guess like any place does, Indonesia is marketing the country due to the economic benefits tourists bring.