Universitas Multimedia Nusantara Lecturer Presents Program Supported by The Pulitzer Center

Head of the Digital Journalism Study Program, Samiaji Bintang Nusantara, explains the ISF 2023 program. (Doc. Aditya Heru Wardhana)

Tangerang – Head of UMN’s Digital Journalism Study Program, Samiaji Bintang and lecturer of the Media and Environment course, Aditya Heru Wardhana, attended a meeting that took place at Nusantara II Building, FISIP University of Indonesia on Monday (20/2). The meeting was also attended by Jon Sawyer, President of the Pulitzer Center, Grenti Paramita, Southeast Asia Education Manager of the Pulitzer Center and several lecturers and students from the UI International Relations Study Program, Research Center for Climate Change (RCCC UI).

Bintang explained the achievements of the Reporting Climate and Labor for Journalism Students program, which received a 2023 Pulitzer Center Impact Seed Fund (ISF) grant. Some journalistic works produced by Pulitzer Center Grantees are used as teaching materials in In-Depth Reporting lectures. 

Not only in the classroom, the students also organized a field trip to the Bogor Botanical Garden to learn about the rich biodiversity. Students also learned about the relationship between urban forests and the climate crisis.

“They are thrilled because they know many new plants they have never seen before,” Bintang said.

From the class materials and field trips, students then proposed a journalistic coverage proposal. The mentors provided direction and guidance so that the coverage could be more accurate, in-depth, and engaging for readers.

The best coverage raised the phenomenon of young marriages among fishermen due to economic difficulties due to the climate crisis, which caused the number of fish catches to decrease and the catch area to be farther away. The story was published on Ekuatorial.com, a media that specializes in environmental issues and climate crises.

UMN Media and Environment lecturer Aditya Heru Wardhana explains the ISF 2022 program (Doc. Samiaji Bintang Nusantara)

The next presentation was by Aditya, who explained the running of the ISF 2022 program. For two years, UMN has received a grant from the Pulitzer Center. The program carried out was to develop a syllabus for Environmental Communication and Journalism involving lecturers from seven universities, namely Samiaji Bintang Nusantara, ST., M.A (Universitas Multimedia Nusantara), Gregoria Arum Yudarwati, S.I.P,. M.Mktg.Comm, Ph.D (Atma Jaya University Yogyakarta), Herri Novealdi, S.H., M.H. (UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi), Putri Nurdiana Jailan (Bumi Hijrah University, Tidore), Dr. Indah Sulistiani, M.I.Kom (Muhammadiyah Papua University), Dr. Eli Jamilah (Bakrie University), Ayi Jufridar, SE .., MSD (Malikussaleh University), Aditya Wardhana, STP., MA (Universitas Multimedia Nusantara).

The preparation of the syllabus went through three Focus Group Discussions (FGD). First, the lecturers shared experiences and conditions on campus. There is an Environmental Communication course at Bakrie University, while UMN has been offering a Media and Environment course for quite some time. Whereas on other campuses, in general, no courses specifically discuss the environment and climate crisis.

The second FGD presented several speakers such as Dhana Kencana, IDN Times journalist and RFJ Pulitzer Center Grantee, Helena Rea, BBC Media Action, Anna Agustina Ph.D Dean of FIKOM Pancasila University Arfan Azis, Ph.D academician UIN Jambidan Harry Surjadi, RFJ Southeast Asia coordinator.

The discussion results were finalized in FGD 3, resulting in the Environmental Communication and Journalism syllabus. The syllabus can be a guide for universities to develop teaching materials.

The other program actively involved students from the Media and Environment course. The students were divided into several groups. Each group studied the journalistic works of journalists who received grants from the Rainforest Journalism Fund (RFJ) Pulitzer Center. After dissecting the work, the students interviewed journalists and produced multimedia reporting consisting of podcasts, articles and photos.

A meeting attended by Universitas Multimedia Nusantara, Universitas Indonesia, and the Pulitzer Center (Doc. Aditya Heru Wardhana)

The results of the student’s work are published on Greenesia.id, a platform built as a forum for works that review environmental issues and the climate crisis.

“Students not only learn journalistic skills but they are inspired by journalists who are so passionate about voicing environmental issues and climate crisis,” Aditya explained.

Representatives from the University of Indonesia also explained the program that was carried out, namely a field study on the lives of indigenous Dayak people in Ensaid Panjang, Sintang, and West Kalimantan. The community there is experiencing pressure due to deforestation and palm oil land that surrounds them.

Jon Sawyer appreciated the various achievements of the ISF program. In the future, Jon hopes that there can be a collaboration between universities, not only in Indonesia but also with universities in the United States. “The Pulitzer Center has a network of many leading campuses in America, and it would be very useful if we could hold joint activities.”

Jon also emphasized the importance of the role of journalists as a conduit of information between scientists and the public regarding the climate crisis.

By The Communications Faculty of UMN

English translation by Levina Chrestella Theodora

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