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JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

Abstract

This article examines how political mediatization operates at the local level through environmental civil society activism in post-authoritarian Indonesia. Focusing on the West Sumatra chapter of the Indonesia Forum for Environment (WALHI) as a critical case, the study argues that media logic is not merely imposed by political elites or mainstream media, but is strategically appropriated by local civil society organizations to contest oligarchic power, shape public agendas, and sustain democratic engagement at the subnational level. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews with environmental activists and youth organizers, and an analysis of organizational documents, digital platforms, and media coverage. The findings show that WALHI West Sumatra integrates digital media into its core advocacy practices, allowing localized environmental and agrarian conflicts to gain public visibility and political resonance. Political mediatization at the local level takes a hybrid form, combining offline grassroots mobilization and legal advocacy with online campaigning, narrative framing, and networked alliance-building. Youth collaboration emerges as a key mediating mechanism that expands advocacy frames and amplifies issue visibility across digital public spheres. Despite structural constraints such as limited resources and oligarchic governance, mediatized activism remains an important source of strategic agency. This study contributes to political mediatization scholarship by situating it within the context of local environmental activism in post-authoritarian Indonesia.

Bahasa Abstract

Artikel ini menganalisis bagaimana mediatisasi politik beroperasi di tingkat lokal melalui aktivisme masyarakat sipil di bidang lingkungan hidup di Indonesia pasca-otoriter. Dengan memfokuskan kajian pada Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI) Sumatera Barat sebagai kasus kritis, studi ini berargumen bahwa logika media tidak semata-mata dipaksakan oleh elit politik atau media arus utama, melainkan diapropriasi secara strategis oleh organisasi masyarakat sipil lokal untuk menantang kekuasaan oligarki, membentuk agenda publik, dan mempertahankan keterlibatan demokratis di tingkat subnasional. Menggunakan pendekatan studi kasus kualitatif, data dikumpulkan melalui observasi partisipan, wawancara mendalam dengan aktivis lingkungan dan penggerak pemuda, serta analisis dokumen organisasi, platform digital, dan liputan media. Temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa WALHI Sumatera Barat mengintegrasikan media digital ke dalam praktik advokasi utamanya, yang memungkinkan konflik lingkungan dan agraria yang bersifat lokal memperoleh visibilitas publik dan resonansi politik. Mediatisasi politik di tingkat lokal mengambil bentuk hibrida, yang menggabungkan mobilisasi akar rumput luring (offline) dan advokasi hukum dengan kampanye daring (online), pembingkaian naratif, serta pembangunan aliansi jaringan. Kolaborasi pemuda muncul sebagai mekanisme mediasi utama yang memperluas bingkai advokasi dan memperkuat visibilitas isu di seluruh ruang publik digital. Meskipun terdapat hambatan struktural seperti keterbatasan sumber daya dan tata kelola oligarkis, aktivisme yang termediatisasi tetap menjadi sumber agensi strategis yang penting. Studi ini memberikan kontribusi pada keilmuan mediatisasi politik dengan menempatkannya dalam konteks aktivisme lingkungan lokal di Indonesia pasca-otoriter.

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