Track: Case Studies

Abstract

The city of Belawan in the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia is a port city inhabited by the urban poor. In this city fighting between residents has been going on for decades so that damage and injuries are frequent. This brawl behavior is inherited from parents to their children so that Belawan residents consider fights between residents a normal thing. The purpose of this study is to find out how the mass media reconstruct the events of fights between residents in the city of Belawan, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia. Using a communication management approach, this case study research presents information that was not reported in the incident of fighting between residents in Belawan. The results of this study indicate that mass media reports on the reality of fights between residents in the city of Belawan, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, have experienced a focus bias between the reality of the media and the reality that occurs in the public.