USU Public Relations - Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) hosted the 2023 Indonesian Broadcasting Conference, which was themed "Election Broadcasting Studies Towards the 2024 Democratic Party." The conference occurred on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at the Hotel Adimulia Medan.

Prof. Dr. Muryanto Amin S.Sos., M.Si, Rector of Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), welcomed all guests and thanked them for their confidence in USU as the host.

Prof Mury stated that communication and information are the most difficult challenges in the face of technological advances, such as the emergence of new media that emphasize less journalistic ethical indicators when disseminating information to the public.

As a result, the discussion at this conference is expected to yield results that will result in more transparent elections and more responsible broadcasting.

"The issue of communication and information is the most challenging challenge. "At the moment, the most challenging issue is social media or new media, followed by the advancement of digital technology, which is nearly impossible to stop if we use journalistic ethics indicators," said the USU Rector.

"As a host, it is important to disseminate the results of this discussion and conference so that we can contribute to making the election better and broadcasting more responsible," he added.

Ir. Lies Handayani Siregar, M.MA, General Administration Assistant of North Sumatra Province, represented the Governor of North Sumatra and emphasized that this conference is important because the progress and development of the broadcasting industry drive it.

As a result, she explained, this development was accompanied by supervision and regulation, ensuring that broadcasting media provided healthy information services to the public.

"Due to the progress and development of the broadcasting industry today, this conference is crucial." Of course, this evolution must be accompanied by supervision and regulation so that broadcast media remain obligated to provide the public with healthy information," she stated.

Concerning the 2024 General Election, Chairperson of Commission I of the House of Representatives Meutya Viada Hafid urged the public to be involved and proactive in assisting the government in succeeding in the common task of the 2024 General Election. One way to participate in the community is to become a critical society or not easily consume information that circulates.

"Completing the 2024 General Election is not easy; it is our shared responsibility." On this auspicious occasion, I urge the broader community to get involved and assist the government in becoming a critical society, which means it is not readily consumed by information. "First, the information received must be verified," she stated.

Ubadillah, Chairman of the Central Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), hoped for academic support in realizing KPI's goal of becoming a broadcasting regulator, given the current political climate and the need to discuss the broadcasting bill related to digitalization and journalism.

"We hope that academics will strongly support KPI." Because our broadcasting as commissioners representing the public cannot function independently, KPI, as a regulator, receives a lot of input, particularly on our overly lengthy regulations. Hence, the issues discussed are the broadcasting bill, digitalization, and election journalism," he said.

According to KPI Research PIC Amin Shabana, involving academics from universities can help monitor the content of election broadcasts. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission is committed to further strengthening through the 2023 Indonesian Broadcasting Conference.

"Involving university academics to monitor the content of electoral broadcasts at the center." The Indonesian Broadcasting Conference, which was started by the previous commissioners and has been going on since 2019, is something we will keep doing and even improve, he said.

Author: Bambang Riyanto - Humas

Interviewee: - - -

Photographer: Amri Simatupang - Humas