Whatever I want: media and youth in Indonesia before and after 1998

• Published in: Inter-Asia cultural studies Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 139 - 143
• Main Authors: Juliastuti, Nuraini, Lestari, Camelia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.03.2006
• Subjects: Community; Indie press movement; Indonesia; Media; Political change; Press; reformation; Social movements; Students; Youth; zine
• ISSN: 1464-9373; 1469-8447
• DOI: 10.1080/14649370500463786

This paper aims to explore the changes in creative activities of young people - especially in the alternative media - in Indonesia before and after Reformasi. It begins with the story of the dynamics of a student press, from my personal experience - which I believe is a typical form of student/youth movement in Indonesia - and how the student's life obviously depends on the political situation, the university policy, and the dynamics of the student's life at that particular time. Reformasi caused political change and freedom but simultaneously, and ironically, placed the student press in a state of meaninglessness, such that it was painfully forced for search for new meanings to keep it contextually relevant in the new era. I end the paper describing the latest form of the alternative media scene of Indonesian youth, whose focus is dramatically shifting from 'big' political issues to issues of the celebration of communities and self-existence.