"the Media Studies Department of the German Ilmenau University of Technology joined with the Communication Department of Petra Christian University, Indonesia, to organize the international conference “Agents of Peace: Journalism, Public Relations and Conflict Resolution”. The symposium, mainly funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), was held in Surabaya, Indonesia, on September 26-27, 2003. Among the local institutions which supported the conference were the National Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) “Sunan Ampel”, Surabaya, the Indonesian Communication Association (ISKI) and the Surabaya News. The workshop was attended by 270
participants from Australia, China, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States, among them academics, journalists, PR practitioners, politicians and students. This book developed from the spirit of the Surabaya conference and aims at closing the gap between theory and practice as well as between academics and practitioners. The volume brings together some selected papers presented at the workshop and chapters contributed by
recognized authors who were not able to attend the conference. The purpose of this book was to give a significant contribution to the debate on what public communication could and should do in times of war and
conflict. Another objective was to provide an overview of the topic and the research that deals with it. The selection of authors, therefore, mainly reflects the controversial nature of this discourse." (Introduction, page 2)