Mr. Simon Arsa Manggala (Vice Head of the English Letters Department) & Dulce Cicilia Sariri (Master of Ceremony) on the stage of Journalispeak 2023 taken by Erica Rafaella
September 23, 2023 – The annual Journalispeak has finally returned in 2023, with this year’s topic being “Beyond Clickbait: Countering Misinformation Through Responsible Journalism.” This year’s Journalispeak aims to teach young and upcoming journalists to understand the dangers within the world of clickbaiting and how it can misinform people around them.
Not only that, Journalispeak 2023 discussed some interesting matters that are currently circulating in the world of journalism and the consequences of clickbaiting. With the media constantly battling each other to get more clicks per rate on their pages, more media are mass-producing inaccurate information that may have consequences for those who read the article and digest the information.
Journalispeak 2023 answered the questions and even provided theories on why clickbait is getting more common in today’s era.
Many participants were interested in the topic of this year’s Journalispeak. Some participants asked questions such as “How can I identify clickbait easily?” “Will my boss realize that I have made clickbait in my article?” and “What consequences will people receive upon breaking the rules and committing clickbait?”
Gregorius Beryl (Chairperson of Journalispeak 2023) is giving the certificate of appreciation to Mr. Ahmad Mustaqim (Honored Guest of Journalispeak 2023) in the Journalispeak 2023 stage. Picture taken by Erica Rafaella
An interview was also conducted, and we asked the Chairperson of Journalispeak 2023, Gregorius Beryl, some of his thoughts regarding this year’s event. One important question we asked was about this year’s theme and why it was chosen for this year. He explained: “We chose this topic because, in the digital age, there is lots of misinformation being spread through the internet. So, we decide to use this as the topic is that we, as journalists, have a grasp on what kinds of clickbait are and go back to the basics of becoming a responsible journalist.”
Sanata Dharma University. On August 18, an Instagram post went viral in which INSADHA (Inisiasi Sanata Dharma) was the main focus of the topic. The headline of that post – “Emang boleh ospek kampus tapi seniornya seramah ini?” – made netizens wonder about the friendliness of INSADHA itself. Many doubted that the seniors were only friendly in front of the camera. Others believed that it was just for content and clout.
August 7, 2023, marked the beginning of INSADHA 2023 until the Inauguration Day on September 9. INSADHA has been known for the friendliness of the committee since back then. INSADHA was also known for taking care of the new students. While initiations at other universities are often done outdoors under the blazing sun, INSADHA was mainly held inside the iconic Driyarkara Auditorium.
Compassion is one of Sanata Dharma University’s core pillars, which is why it is deeply ingrained in the students’ selves. Not only that, every Sanata Dharma committee event must prioritize compassion in both mind and spirit. INSADHA has opened its doors to new students with warm smiles and laughter. Even in batch 4, which was not as intense as the previous batches, the INSADHA committees still happily welcomed this year’s students.
The history of Indonesian university initiation events has been a dreadful one. Many initiation events were rife with bullying and seniority. There were cases of seniors ordering new students to stand still under the sun for extended periods of time or shouting at them to instill fear. As such, many students were traumatized after the initiation ended. More importantly, they did not feel welcomed by the big family of their university.
On that note, it’s understandable why people have been doubting how sincerity of the INSADHA committee. Were they only being friendly in front of the new students and then talked about them behind their backs? Were they just acting nice for the camera? How much care and thought does the INSADHA committee really put into their work?
Azel, an English Letters 2022 student, recounted her experience as a group companion for this year’s INSADHA. “We were told to see the new students as our friends. We try to get rid of the seniority mindset. Like, that is the one thing we are always reminded of and always emphasized in our training sessions.”
Group Companions of INSADHA 2023. Source: Documenta INSADHA 2023
She also noted how the committee, mainly group companions, must always be joyful, even when they’re feeling low and dreadful. When asked about faking that happiness, she said, “It was hard to maintain that happy feeling on D-day, but when I met them – the new students – it felt like all my bad moods were gone. I would be cheered up again, especially if they happily greet me. So, for me, it’s not truly faking our emotions constantly.”
Helen, an English Letters 2023 student, reminisced about her experience as an INSADHA 2023 participant in batch 3. She smiled and shook her head when asked if the INSADHA committee had ever done something awful to its participants. “No, I have never seen any discrimination directed towards us by the committee. They’re all nice to me and the others. Although, I saw one of my group companions being too exhausted. Even then, he was never mean to us. Yes, he sometimes has quiet moments if he’s tired, but he tried to maintain that happy feeling throughout the event.”
Another INSADHA committee member from the security division, Ana, an English Letters 2022 student, shared that before INSADHA began, the 3rd vice chancellor gave all of the committee advice on remembering Sanata Dharma’s vision on humanism. “Humanism ideology is essentially the core of INSADHA,” Ana said.
It was hard to erase the stereotypical idea that university or school orientations always left a sour taste in people’s lives. It was logical for people to think that way if we track the records of bad orientation history in Indonesia’s institutions. However, despite people’s doubts about INSADHA being “too friendly” or “faking their friendliness,” INSADHA is a friendly and joyful (albeit exhausting) orientation based on the facts from the experiences of both the committees and new students.
(The performance of Ruang Tunggu actors and actresses. Left to Right, the Prisoner, the Prostitute, the Muslim Woman, the Husband, and the Wife; taken by Abraham Samuel Kalauserang and Josef Andi Setiadi)
Ruang Tunggu is the first public performance comeback of Teater Seriboe Djendela (TSD) since a hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This play was held on Sunday, September 10th 2023 at 17.00 o’clock. About 70 students from different study programs came to watch their jaw-dropping opening performance in K.22 room, Campus 1, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Through this play, TSD’s comeback has made its name famed once again. This could be proven by the enthusiastic applause of the audience after the curtain closed. Apart from that, what made this performance more special was that one of the scriptwriters also played as an actress in Ruang Tunggu.
This opening performance was greatly accepted by the TSD’s audiences. The performance itself was terrific, as it left the audience stunned by all of the aspects of the performance, whether its actors and actresses, its story, or its settings. Vimala Shella from the Economic Education Department and Kenar Kanayana from the English Letters Department proved successful as scriptwriters in presenting Ruang Tunggu as a new performance adapted from a short film entitled Parlour Game by Denny Sangra.
Ruang Tunggu tells a story about a group of people (the Muslim Woman, the Prostitute, the Husband, the Wife, and the Prisoner) stuck in a waiting room together in which the Game Master explained the possibility that one person can either have their wish come true or die by the end of the wait. As an inspired work, some minor changes were applied to its character backgrounds, such as the Husband and the Wife in which they are missing their departed instead of longing for a child they never had like the original one as explained by Kenar Syalaisha Kanayana as one of the actresses and scriptwriters.
(The QnA session of Ruang Tunggu taken by Abraham Samuel Kalauserang and Josef Andi Setiadi)
Ayu Aprilia Dewi as the Wife and Skolastika Putri S. W. as the Prisoner, with Agnes Seraphine reading the opening and closing poem. All actors and actresses starring in the Ruang Tunggu performance went through a selection process and have undergone training to support their performance.
Even though the performance itself ran smoothly, it cannot be ignored that there were some obstacles in the making process. “The preparation took around a month. During that time, we experienced obstacles. For actors, the hardest part was trying to get into the character. Other difficulties involved technical and artistic issues,” stated Maria Vionitha, the Social Media Manager and Lighting Operator of TSD Performance.
A lot of challenges were faced in the scriptwriting process. The differences between film and play script format made it difficult for the scriptwriters to adapt. It did not stop there, there was more to it. It was a play adapted from an open-ended film which made it difficult for the audience to interpret the meaning. Kenar Syalaisha as one of the scriptwriters had to anticipate this possibility and worked harder to make the delivery as clear as possible. She hopes that the audience can interpret the meaning and the moral of the story on their own.
All in all, TSD’s first opening performance after the COVID-19 outbreak is hoped to open the path to rise again and continue the old TSD tradition established by its predecessor before COVID-19. This performance was proof of TSD’s existence with unquenchable spirits that will always be brave to hit the stage through its stories and characters.
To have a hobby means to love doing something. Have you ever felt like having a hobby that is uncommon or unheard of for most people? If so, let me introduce you to the alums of English Letters of Sanata Dharma University batch 2020. His name is Yohanes David Kurniawan, or you can call him Jojo, and he has a hobby of playing a rhythm game titled Pump It Up.
Pump It Up is a rhythm game that requires your feet to play. The idea is like any rhythm game: you have icons that suit the beat of the music, and to press those icons, you step on the buttons accordingly. Pump It Up itself is very famous among rhythm game players. However, it may be unfamiliar to some people.
The first time he played this game was when he and his friends had just finished the national test for high school, but later on, he got addicted and started to play it more often. “When I started college, I could play five times a week.” Kak Jojo said, showing his range of playtime. While playing, he also met a lot of people who were in the Pump It Up community, and that got him more involved.
Being good at the game also needs practice and tremendous determination. To be where he is right now, playing at a high level, also comes with a background story. With the community and friends he made while playing the game, he also got challenges from his friends, such as playing the same song repeatedly until he got an S grade in that particular song, and so on. This experience builds his mentality to be hardworking and determined.
That’s one benefit of playing the game, but not the only benefit. Kak Jojo stated, “I have always been lazy to work, so playing this game helps me build my physical abilities.” He plays on a high level, and doing it trains your stamina because of how fast the note is, it almost feels like you ran for miles. To add to that statement, he also flexes that when he’s an actor for USD’s English Letters annual musical event EL the musical, he has the second-best stamina record. Side information about EL the musical is a musical performance held yearly by the students of the English Letters Department at Sanata Dharma University.
Yes, he always loved music, so he joined as an actor in 2018 for a piece titled Mamma Mia! He also joined the English Letters Music Organization, so with his experience playing Pump It Up, counting beats was his forte. Playing Pump It Up has a lot of benefits that we might not realize today, but it might come in handy later on in our lives.
Not forgetting about all the benefits above, the significant benefit is that enjoying yourself makes those other benefits come through. “There’s a lot of memories like when we played co-op together, and we might have fallen while doing it, and I missed it when those times died down.” Fun times like this are what make the process enjoyable because you get to meet a lot of new friends, connecting you with people who have the same passion for playing the game.
In conclusion, we all have something that we enjoy doing, and that thing might be underestimated by other people, but as long as we love doing it, who cares? A closing statement from Kak Jojo: “No matter how weird your hobby is, if you enjoy doing it, then go for it.”
