Broadcasters from twenty private radio stations of Indonesia last week attended a seminar in Jakarta to discuss the role of local radio on reporting and monitoring the upcoming Indonesian general elections. The seminar was organised under UNESCO's local radio project in the framework of special UNESCO programme to "Strengthen Democracy and Good Governance through Development of the Media in Indonesia".
The local radio project, which supports a number of privately own radio stations, to introduce news, current affairs and participatory radio programmes, is funded by the Royal Danish Embassy in Jakarta. The seminar focused on voter education through radio, giving equal opportunities for candidates to present their views, using radio as a channel for the voters to ask questions from candidates and parties and radio's role in ensuring a democratic non-violent elections through reporting and monitoring. The seminar was held after conducting four radio workshops, on news, current affairs and participatory radio programmes, held in different regions
Beside seminars and workshops the project also produced a handbook in Bahasha Indonesia for Journalists to report on elections and has established a website entitled "Local Radio Meeting Point" for all the participating radio stations to exchange news and information. The website contains, training manuals, information on project workshops and useful links on Indonesia election, news and information.
