The social meanings of media for Indonesian youth

This chapter discusses media and identity in the current generation of Indonesian youth. It draws on data derived from eleven focus group interviews conducted with eighteen Hindus in Singaraja, North Bali, in october 1999, and nineteen Muslims and nine Christians in Makassar, South Sulawesi, in January 2002. Interviewee ages ranged from 19 to 28. All were purposefully selected for tertiary education, community group membership, public speaking skills and strength of religious convictions - qualities deemed indicative of future leadership. During the course of the interviews they considered the impact of mass media on young Indonesians. Although the two interview trials were conducted nearly two years apart, in different regions of Indonesia, and involved young people of different religious persuasions, the answers given were remarkably similar