Date

2006

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Teacher Education

Abstract

Feminist media production constitutes a key vehicle for envisioning and politicizing women's life experiences and their cultural meaning in the contemporary world. This research pursued questions on how Third World feminist media producers voice women's issues, and the obstacles they faced in building unity within their organization. Four journalists of women's radio RJP in Jakarta, Indonesia were interviewed and observed to conceptualize their lives, work, and backgrounds within feminist practices. Radio scripts and organization documents were also used to provide the detailed in-depth picture of the making of radio program. This study exposed a lack of unity of effort between radio producers and their management organization. Two sets of issues were responsible for this lack of unity. The first relates to the old cultural paradigm konco wingking (literally meaning woman is friend from behind), or construct, that governs Indonesian life. The second set of key issues revolves around the power relations caused by the organization's dependency on foreign or global funding, which created a hierarchical, undemocratic working environment. Both sets of issues essentially crippled the organization in that they precluded the development of a strategic focus related to the nominal feminist mission of the organization. This lack of focused goals led the journalists to follow their own designs and simply fantasize the fit and implementation of their personal goals in order to survive their commitment to the organization. These factors led to low staff sustainability and retention. This study suggests that this Indonesian feminist media women's NGO (non-government organization) needs to re-assess its efficacy for social change by building its own strategy, and by developing and implementing fund-raising efforts that will support those strategies. The ability to form their own direction will better serve their efforts and better assist the Indonesian people.

Comments

Thesis (M.A.) Teacher Education Department

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