"Losing Control: freedom of the press in Asia takes us right up to the end of this tumultuous century. It deals with the Chinese media cranking up its latest propaganda campaign, this time against the Falun Gong. It discusses how the Indonesian media lost its way in reporting the tragedy in East Tim
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or. And it comments on how the Cambodian media-or at least parts of it-surprisingly reported the allegations that the Prime Minister's wife had her husband's movie star girlfriend assassinated. The book adopts a country-by-country approach dealing with all the countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia. It does not attempt to sweep across to the sub-continent. It would not be possible to do justice to any discussion of freedom of the press in that region by sandwiching it in between the pages of a book about East Asia. The methodology is based on an underlying assumption: that journalists are best placed to provide the most up-to-date analysis of their own industry. Where possible, local journalists have contributed the country chapters. In some cases a more useful outcome could be achieved by employing foreign correspondents and commentators. Authors have written their chapters using journalistic research tools, such as first hand interviews, as well as more conventional academic methods." (Page 14)
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"This guide has been created to provide a practical resource to media professionals interested in reporting on the issues facing people with disabilities in Indonesia. It is a ‘one-stop’ source for information on global disability statistics, and provides practical guidance on appropriate termin
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ology, tips on reporting, references to key national and international standards with a particular focus on the right to training and employment of people with disabilities. It also provides contact details of organizations working on disability issues. This pocket guide is intended for people working as editors, journalists, broadcasters, producers, programme makers and presenters. They are also relevant to people working as web editors, and on interactive multimedia products." (Page 10)
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"This article revisits the current interplay between the government, the market, civil society, and the media in contemporary Indonesian political communication. Previous research showed a striking increase in the numbers of both Internet and social media users as well as cases of social media influ
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ence on the democratization process. Some scholars have pointed out the limitations of social media, such as the simplified narratives, larger media systems, and dominant meta-narratives. This includes the ‘many clicks, little sticks’ phenomenon, meaning that only a few of the many clicks resulted in widespread activism in the vast social media environment. This article includes more recent and nuanced interpretations from the various actors. The activists have continued their experiments-providing two-way information, encouraging rapid interaction, creating much participation, and expanding role decentralization. In a ‘network of networks’ spirit they have been doing a lot of clicking, and learning a lot in the process." (Abstract)
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"The impact of media industrialization on mediated religious expression all over the world has been substantial, and this study tries to understand the Indonesian case by looking at the intersections between commerce and Islamic expression. Focusing on Indonesian Islamic sinetron (soap operas), we s
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hall see that contrasting ideological motivations among producers have resulted in particular narratives within their content. Despite these peculiarities, all narratives use Islamic teachings to address societal issues experienced by middle-class Indonesian Muslims. This, in turn, projects an image of Indonesian Islam that blurs existing political divisions in Indonesian society. This article argues that the sinetron plots are inherently a commercialization of da'wah (proselytizing of Islam)." (Abstract)
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"Campaigns and movements targeting corruption often face decentralized targets rather than an identifiable dictator or external government, and can be found both in undemocratic and democratic systems. Graft and abuse are manifested in a systemic manner rather than a hodgepodge collection of illicit
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transactions. Consequently, this research brings to light new applications of civil resistance beyond the more commonly known cases against occupations, such as the Indian independence movement, and authoritarian regimes from Chile to Poland. It also expands our understanding about the dynamics of how people collectively wield nonviolent power for the common good. The focus of this research is on citizen agency: what civic actors and regular people—organized together and exerting their collective power—are doing to curb corruption as they define and experience it. Hence, the analytical framework is based on the skills, strategies, objectives, and demands of such initiatives, rather than on the phenomenon of corruption itself, which has been judiciously studied for more than two decades by scholars and practitioners from the anticorruption and development realms. I selected cases that met the following criteria: they were “popular” initiatives. They were civilian-based, involved grassroots participation, and were led and implemented by individuals from the civic realm, rather than governments or external actors, such as donors, development institutions, and international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs); they were nonviolent. They did not threaten or use violence to further their aims; they involved some degree of organization and planning, which varied depending on the scope—objectives, geographical range, duration—of the civic initiative; multiple nonviolent actions were employed (thus, instances of one-off demonstrations or spontaneous protests were not considered); objectives and demands were articulated; the civic initiative was sustained over a period of time." (Introduction, pages 2-3)
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"This article essentially shows how the development of commercial television in Indonesia has conflicted with the country’s media democratization, as illustrated by the growth of local media in the past 15 years. Compared to print media and radio, which are decentralized, Indonesia’s television
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industry is dominated by five large media corporations that are all based in the capital city of Jakarta. As a consequence, this fails to leave much growing space to television stations at a local level, which would be needed to strengthen Indonesia’s democratization. Media owners have successfully influenced the government in establishing a set of policies that sustain their dominance of the industry. Players within the television industry have even successfully swayed the direction of the broadcasting decentralization mandated by the Broadcasting Bill during Indonesia’s early political Reform period. The influence of these ‘Jakarta television stations’ stunted the development of television stations outside of Jakarta. Not only it deprives local actors of the economic value of developing their own television industry would bring, it also has resulted in the the loss of television's potential in functioning as a public sphere facilitating social control over democratic processes. Although the Reform era promised a new age of media democratization, the centralization of commercial television actually worsened media monopolies that were thought to have been done away with in post-Suharto Indonesia." (Abstract)
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"The following stories come from ten pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) in Indonesia that participated in Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Indonesia’s project to promote peace and tolerance in pesantren across Indonesia [...] Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Indonesia implemented this two-year pro
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ject from September 2011 to February 2014, in partnership with The Wahid Institute and Perhimpunan Pengembangan Pesantren dan Masyarakat (P3M). With a total number of 18,000 schools across Indonesia, pesantren are the oldest basis of Islamic education in the country and highly influential in spreading tolerance and peace. Through the production of radio and short films by pesantren students or santri, SFCG Indonesia sought to encourage male and female pesantren leaders, teachers and students to be critical in dealing with problems of intolerance and radicalism, while also disseminating the values of tolerance and peace in their communities. The stories documented in this book serve as a future reference of the project’s successes. The book records the significant changes experienced by the santri and their teachers, when these changes occurred and the important lessons learned from this project. Out of the ten pesantren that participated in the project, SFCG selected five pesantren to provide stories that illustrate the changes mentioned above. This book summarizes seven stories from the perspectives of pesantren students, leaders and teachers." (Foreword)
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"The emergence of digital media in Indonesia coincided with the country’s transition to democracy beginning in 1998. In some ways, digitization has catalyzed the development of diverse and independent media. Market reforms in favor of liberalization have gone hand in hand with convergence and prol
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iferation to produce a radical increase in the number of media outlets. The number of national television channels has doubled since 1998; commercial radio stations have tripled; and the number of print newspapers has more than quadrupled. This has occurred alongside and in tandem with a rapidly growing online news sector populated by a mixed ecology of established brands and new entrants. In other ways, however, digitization has merely helped to shift the locus of concentrated power from the state to an increasingly consolidated media elite. Despite the growing number of outlets, new entrants in conventional sectors have been rare and have been hampered by policies that have tended to favor commercial incumbents." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"This article describes the views of parents, children, and teachers concerning media use by Indonesian children. Survey data of parents (N=462), children (N=589), and teachers (N=104) show that children see themselves as more advanced users of new media than their parents. Their perception of their
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media experiences is also markedly different from that of their parents, while teachers' views are comparable to those of the parents. The latter claim to have established media use rules, which children tend to view as guidelines subject to debate rather than binding instructions. There is different use of old versus new media, parents show little awareness of or involvement with newer media." (Abstract)
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"This paper analyzes the dissemination of ‘Hijaber’ style through different forms of cyber media (blogs and social network sites) in order to determine how young, computer savvy Muslim Indonesians explore their gender and religious identities while working in the ‘creative economy’ through c
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yberspace. This article shows the plurality and flexibility of the Hijaber trend—compared to more conventional forms—and explores its significance for urban Indonesian youth." (Abstract)
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"Through the methodological framework of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the report measures the extent to which 144 economies, from both the developed and developing worlds, take advantage of ICTs and other new technologies to increase their growth and well-being. The NRI identifies the most r
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elevant factors driving ICT readiness and impacts, providing policymakers, business leaders, and civil society at large with a useful tool for designing national strategies for increased networked readiness and for benchmarking their country’s performance against other relevant comparators. The Global Information Technology Report 2013 features the latest computation and rankings of the NRI, and in referring to this year’s theme, dives deeper into the connection between ICTs and economic growth and job creation. As in previous years, it also showcases a number of ICT development stories of particular interest. In addition, the report includes detailed profiles for the 144 economies covered this year together with data tables for each of the 54 indicators used in the computation of the NRI." (Back cover)
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"Undoubtedly, politicians have awoken to the political power of social media and it will be increasingly adopted as a mainstream means of information distribution and communications as voters and young people are becoming more politically active in a number of the jurisdictions surveyed in this book
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. But it is not a wholehearted embrace. On the side of the voters, the interest in the electoral process derives from personal considerations, such as ethnicity and location, rather than the desire to become politically active. On the side of the candidates, the motivating factor behind their social media efforts is the desire to employ more cost effective communication methods that reach all relevant demographics. Still, the paradigm shift has begun, with varying degrees of impact in the region. A similar survey of voting habits and the impact of social media from years from now would almost certainly tell a different story. Judging by the trends outlined in this book, the same applies to potential electoral impact of social media which could be the major driving force of future elections in the region - along with the youth vote as young people realize the importance of social media to the political machines and, accordingly, flex their own fledgling political muscles across the electoral process." (Introduction, page 10-11)
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"The purpose of this research is to empirically examine Indonesian media content, their workings and the factors influencing their work [...] There is no open diversity in content. Content analysis of television shows that the coverage of majority and minority groups is unequal. We find that content
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is heavily Jakarta-centric in terms of geographical context, Islam-centric in terms of religious orientations and Java-centric in terms of ethnic identities. Content with geographical identities is ruled 34.1% by Jakarta (69.6% by Java), content with religious qualities is dominated 96.7% by Islamic identities and content with any ethnic reference is led by Javanese identities by 42.8%. This does not only imply that there is a lack of open diversity, but more dangerously that there may be evidence of hyper-impositions of content favouring the majority over the minority. Our research concludes that the profit-led media industry has left citizens on the edge of the media sector. Homogenous content is a simple proof that the media regard citizens merely as consumers rather than a group of people with rights." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"Aims to map the implication of the political economy dynamics of the media on citizens’ right to media from the perspective of citizens, in particular those who are vulnerable and weak(ened). Due to the effect of the contemporary political economy of media in Indonesia, the premise of equal citiz
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ens’ right to media has not yet been met. Business-powered media tend to prioritise the concerns of the majority over those of the minority. Since the existence of media remains vital to the society, it is essential that the media (industry) should first serve the interests of society, in particular in providing for the needs of minority groups and the vulnerable. The report provides four case studies from vulnerable groups (Ahmadiyya, Diffable, LGBT and Women-Children), in order to map the bigger picture on citizens’ right to media." (CIPG website)
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"The aim of this research is to highlight the trajectory of media policy in Indonesia and to assess its impacts on the different forms of media themselves and on the citizens and their rights, particularly with regards to their media rights. Such rights, in this study, are referred to as the right t
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o access media infrastructure, to access trustworthy information and quality media content, and to participate in the media policymaking process." (Executive summary)
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