“Diponegoro University is synergizing with the Democracy School to contribute and bring voices from the campus and journalists closer together. Hopefully, this will become a good forum for bringing experts in their fields together with the media to make Indonesia better collectively,” said UNDIP Rector, Prof. Dr. Suharnomo, S.E., M.Si. during the Democracy School event themed “The Economic and Political Challenges of the New Government: Welcoming the Prabowo-Gibran Cabinet” and the launch of the Journalist and Academic Forum (JUARA) UNDIP, on Friday (26/7).
This activity is a collaboration between UNDIP and LP3ES, Paramadina University, INDEF School of Political Economy, and KITLV Leiden, aimed at consolidating activists, practitioners, and intellectuals in Indonesia to plan the necessary steps to reorganize democracy after the 2024 elections. The event was held online over two days (Friday and Saturday, July 26 and 27, 2024).
The Journalist and Academic Forum (JUARA) UNDIP aims to encourage active participation of academics in public dialogue to discuss the latest issues in the public sphere, counter the surge of digital pollution in our public space with scientific truth to curb the firehose of falsehood, and enhance public literacy in political, media, and various social-political issues.
Vice Rector IV UNDIP and Head of the LP3ES Democracy School, Wijayanto, S.IP., M.Si., Ph.D., emphasized that the cadre development of national leaders is crucial and relevant to foster leaders who uphold democracy amidst the wave of democratic regression. The Democracy School encourages the emergence of young leaders with new ideas and new political practices. We hope that this Democracy School can produce young leaders capable of addressing the increasingly complex challenges of the times and their various problems.
“The establishment of this Journalist and Academic Forum is essential amidst the wave of disinformation affecting the world and having serious impacts on humanity. Disinformation and hate speech are among the factors causing democratic regression, leading to political polarization, and can even result in war and genocide, as in Rwanda,” he concluded. (LW-Public Relations)
