Creative Editing Strategy Based on Walter Murch’s "Rule of Six" Applied to Viral Parungpanjang News Content on Instagram Reels @Pojok_Bogor

Abstract

In the Attention Economy era, news media face a dual challenge: maintaining journalistic integrity while adapting to the fast-paced visual culture of social media. This study analyzes the application of creative editing techniques in the viral Parungpanjang news content on the Instagram account @pojok_bogor, using Walter Murch’s “The Rule of Six” framework, which prioritizes six editing elements: emotion, story, rhythm, eye-trace, screen direction, and three-dimensional space. This research employs a descriptive qualitative method with a case-study approach. Data were collected through content observation and in-depth interviews with a key informant, an informant, and a triangulation source. The results indicate that @pojok_bogor’s editing strategy consistently adopts Murch’s priority hierarchy, with Emotion and Story placed as the highest priorities, often at the expense of technical continuities such as Screen Direction and Three-Dimensional Space. Specific techniques such as beat-sync, silent-viewing text design to guide eye-trace, and color-grading manipulation are used strategically to translate emotional directives and targeted mood into visual products. The study also identifies raw-material quality of User Generated Content (UGC) and deadline pressure as major constraints addressed through technical compromises to preserve narrative impact. In conclusion, creative editing techniques at @pojok_bogor serve not merely as aesthetics, but as strategic instruments for building audience engagement and validating the relevance of local media within digital visual communication design.