Digital Media in Indonesia and Malaysia: Convergence and Conglomeration

Through a comparative study of trends in the media industry in Indonesia and Malaysia, this article analyzes the transformative process of digital media on news production. Through an in-depth discussion of the influential conglomerates in two neighbouring countries, it examines the effects of digital media on journalism, news, and information. By including Southeast Asia in scholarly debates concerning the impact of the digital revolution, it will address the timely need to balance the existing Western-centric bias in this field of academic research. This article examines the process of platform convergence and how this assists the formation of media oligopolies in both countries. It shows that despite the difference in restrictions in media environments in each country, the process of media conglomeration and convergence is highly similar. This has significant impact on the way we assess the impact of digitalization on media pluralism and diversity in the convergence era.