Student Leaders? Gathering – Encouraging Media-Literacy Amongst College Students

In a workshop ?Bangkitkan Jati Diri Penerus Bangsa Melalui Media??an inspiring the public, particularly the youth, to use news media in an effort to honour this nation?s proud identity?held by UPH?s Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa, or the Executive Student?s Body, on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at the UPH Main Campus, Lippo Village, one of the main concerns that prevails in this country is the youth?s indifference with the various problems faced by the country.

The event invited the chairmen and members of the senate of some sixteen universities that make up the Jakarta Region 3 KOPERTIS?Koordinasi Perguruan Tinggi Swasta, or an institution to organize the privately-owned universities, and featured celebrated names in journalism as guest speakers: Putra Nababan, a news anchor/editor-in-chief of the Metro TV station, and Lie Nathanael Santoso, an alumnus of UPH.

Lie Nathanael urged the college students to learn to see things from a global perspective because the ICT facility all around us, thus the interconnection of our communication system, has made it easier for us to recognize an abundance of new things. When one possesses broad-based knowledge, one can act accordingly to their role in both workplace and society. He added, ?As the proud people of this country, we need to ceaselessly give contribution to our nation?s progress. One can start by realizing his/her talent and develop it with the attitudes of perseverance, professionalism, integrity, and leadership.?

One thing that can hamper our nation?s progress is an attitude called ?entitlement mentality?, as he explained, ?We must get rid of this entitlement mentality and, instead, embrace ?empowerment mentality?. One might need a helping hand in order to progress, but not everyone possesses the same level of talent or gift. Therefore, it is important to develop ?empowering education?: a good system of education that prepares its students to face future challenges.?

A true academic can inspire other people to think and hold a discussion. What taught in the classroom needs to conform to the real issues. The resulting concepts and new notions can be published in the papers; those who aspire to be on the TVs should possess ample knowledge on many subjects and a knack for critical thinking.

The case is different with lecturers; they appear regularly on TVs because they do read the papers and are able to analyze the information. It would be wonderful if both lecturers and college students enter a contest to feature as speakers on TV stations. To be able to do that, students must learn the ways to communicate the ideas in their mind through the available media. One can start from their neighborhood.

Once the guest speakers were finished, the students from the senate of each participating universities were given a brief course on how to write news stories properly. Afterward, a group of juries consisting of media practitioners evaluated the essays that had been written by those students. (rh)