The period from The New Order to The Reformation Era in Indonesia saw significant political and social changes, impacting how religious minorities, like Christians, were portrayed in cultural media. Television, a powerful cultural mirror, played a crucial role in reflecting and challenging prevailing ideologies, shaping culture and identities. Despite Christianity being Indonesia's second most practiced religion after Islam, its representation in Indonesian TV has been overlooked. Even though many major media companies in Indonesia are owned by Christians, the portrayal of Christianity is gradually disappearing. Through qualitative methods and interviews across generations and diverse backgrounds, this research aims to investigate how Christianity was portrayed on Indonesian television between the two eras and how the Christian audiences assessing their extremely limited representation in it. It is revealed that Indonesian Christians recognize a bias in how they're depicted in mainstream media, particularly on TV. This leads to minimal or absent Christian representation in TV content which later is accepted as the norm due to their awareness of being a minority group in Indonesia.

Authors:
Intan Fitranisa, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia
Mytha Veritasia, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Intan Fitranisa is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Universitas Airlangga in Indonesia

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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