Podcasts are an alternative digital media that complement the limitations of conventional radio and become the latest version of audio concept media, by offering flexibility, personalization, and interactivity. Podcasts aim to express the voices of marginalized communities that remain underrepresented in mainstream media. Among Indonesian audiences, YouTube has become the most favored platform for podcasts. The types of podcasts used by Indonesian creators are interview podcasts, solo podcasts, and multi-host podcasts. Interestingly, celebrities have also become podcast creators by constructing audience segments in discussions that prioritize political trends. Celebrities upload political podcasts on YouTube based on trending societal issues. Celebrities become media actors who pursue their interests as opinion leaders and agenda setters. This article aims to analyze the phenomenon of celebrities as media actors who dominate political podcasts in Indonesia. This research uses the structuration theory by Anthony Giddens (1984), which emphasizes duality, agency, and structure. Giddens's structuration theory helps us see the complexity of the interaction between podcast structure and celebrity as agents. The method used in this study is qualitative research with a descriptive approach. The results of the study indicate that celebrity dominance is the result of the structuration process. The political podcasts trend becomes output of social structure from celebrity behavior as agency, thereby becoming input for reproduction in creating the next homogeneous content. Thus, celebrities are producing virality, popularity, and entertainment content, hence strengthening the position of celebrities as dominant actors.

Authors:
Elmariestya Ardelia, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Utari Fatma Dewi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

About the Presenter(s)
Elmariestya Ardelia is a Master's student in Communication Science at Gadjah Mada University. Her interests are political economy of digital media, digital communication ecosystem and digital philanthropy.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmariestya-ardelia-65375a21b/

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