Pro Kontra Mahasiswa USU Terhadap Podcast Bocor Alus Politik Sebagai Media Kritik Politik di Indonesia

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the attitude of Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) students towards the Bocor Alus Politik podcast as a medium for political criticism in Indonesia. Using Daniel Katz's functional theory of attitude, this research examines the four main functions of attitude, namely adjustment, ego defense, value expression, and knowledge. The method used is descriptive quantitative, with a purposive sampling approach to 100 active USU student respondents. Data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics to measure the tendency of pro and con attitudes. The results showed that 95% of respondents had a pro attitude towards the podcast, reflecting a high level of acceptance of the content which was considered informative, relevant, and in-depth in discussing national political issues. Nevertheless, 5% of respondents showed a contra attitude, mainly due to doubts about the objectivity in the delivery of political criticism. This study concludes that the Bocor Alus Politik podcast is seen as an educative and credible medium for political criticism. Suggestions are directed at deeper exploration of concepts related to new media as well as improving the quality of content and engaging audiences in more interactive discussions. The findings confirm the relevance of Katz's Functional Attitude Theory in understanding the psychosocial motivations behind audience responses to political media.