Political communication

The problem of communication, political communication in particular, has once again come to the fore, with the emphasis not on the normative aspects of the matter but on the practice of communication in our daily community life.

In his keynote address delivered at a seminar entitled A Reconstruction of our Republican Ideals at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences on Tuesday, State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja noted that political communication in our society is still poor. As a consequence we have difficulty in setting a course for political dialog that would bring awareness of our national ideals among citizens.

Our daily experience shows that those imperfections affect not only our political communication system, but society on a wider scale. Our intellectuals, who should be in a better position to develop a healthy climate of communication -- by its very nature, truth is always provisional and subject to change by new findings -- are among those who are blamed for this lack of communication. A diversity of views is part of the scholarly identity. Diversity creates and promotes a climate of creativity that can lead to conflicting opinions and thereby encourage dynamism. Independence as a part of the intellectual identity could create a fertile climate for dialog.

-- Kompas, Jakarta