Understanding the Inequality of Center-periphery Information Flow from the Migration of Seven Youths from Bandar Lampung to Jakarta

Abstract

Media in Jakarta (core) has a socio-cultural influence on Bandar Lampung (periphery). The accumulation of information production in Jakarta creates an unbalanced flow of information in the national information circuit. Mainstream media and converging media continues to create an anti-diverse flow of information. This paper finds that the media play an essential role behind migration and socio-cultural change for youth in Bandar Lampung. The migration of peripheral youth to Jakarta results from media habituation and routine in cultivating the symbol of Jakarta. For peripheral youth, Jakarta is not only a place to find opportunities, but Jakarta is a place for self-actualization, increasing social status, and prestige. While demographers place the problem of job opportunities as the main problem of people's migration in Jakarta, this paper places the accumulation of media hub and the production of information all around Jakarta as the cause of the accumulation of people migrate to Jakarta. In addition, the gap in technology and facilities in Bandar Lampung and Jakarta causes research subjects to legitimize their migration to Jakarta. This paper uses an ethnographic narrative method with data collection techniques in the form of interviews and observations.