Students win 'wall magazine' prize

Students win 'wall magazine' prize

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Until his second year at state high school SMU 113 in Lubang
Buaya, East Jakarta, Dion hardly paid any attention to what was
on the school display wall placed beside the teachers' room.

"It doesn't have an attractive layout ... It mostly just
displays messages among students or, sometimes, posters of school
events. Besides that, it is located near the teachers' office.
Who wants to go there just to read?" the 15-year-old said.

A senior student at SMU 29 in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta,
Fandri, found his school's display wall boring because the
articles displayed were months old.

"The editorial staff doesn't understand what readers want.
They should display actual news about entertainment and sports,
not merely poetry and messages. Moreover, they should also have
deadlines," he said.

Dion and Fandri were among the dozens of students attending a
workshop on how to formulate an attractive majalah dinding
(literally, "wall magazine", meaning a notice board), or mading
for short, on the sidelines of the Jakarta Book Fair 2005 at Bung
Karno Sports Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Mading is one of the school's extra-curricular activities,
where students interested in journalism can hone their skills and
express their ideas by arranging their work -- written or printed
in color papers -- on big sheets of carton paper.

"The notice board should no longer function as the school
authority's megaphone. Students who are in charge of the contents
should pay attention to what the readers -- their fellow students
-- want to read," said Yorgi Gurman from Hai youth magazine, who
was the sole speaker at the workshop.

Yorgi told The Jakarta Post that students have neglected the
bulletin board's publications since the Internet caught their
attention in early 2000.

"To revive the board's popularity, editorial staff should
think carefully about where it is located, as well as formulating
eye-catching layouts and covering entertaining news. They should
be aware that they are competing with other media," he said,
adding that the staff should also work to deadlines like
professional journalists.

Supporting the workshop, the City Secondary Education Agency
held a competition for school notice boards.

SMU 47 in South Jakarta beat 14 other high schools in the
competition, taking home a cash prize and a trophy.

Agency head Margani Mustar said that as a school publication,
the notice board was an important tool for the students to
communicate with each other.

"The notice boards are vital as a media for students to
express their thoughts and creativity. Moreover, it is a extra
curricular activity for high schools. The agency wants to
motivate students to improve their skills in formulating such
media," he said.(006)