Communication is integral to productive and peaceful communities. In remote areas, finding ways to facilitate exchanges between government and citizenry can be challenging. Community radio journalism plays a key role in this exchange and provides active, safe spaces for communication between citizens and government.

Through this form of decentralized journalism, citizenry voice their opinions on public issues, demands, solutions, and aspirations. These broadcasts provide valuable insight for the government.

Community Journalism is Firmansyah’s specialty. He began working in radio in the early 1990s – but it was the tumultuous end of the New Order in 1998 that convinced him that the future of Indonesian radio belonged in community hands. Decentralization made that a reality.

Firmansyah began by establishing Gema Reformasi (Reform’s echo), a radio program that broadcast across the greater Jakarta area. The success of that program led to contacts with the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Voice of America, as well as work with Internews. Firmansyah took full advantage of extensive trainings on conflict sensitivity and peace journalism. Inspired by what he learned he set his next goal as expanding the skills of his Indonesian colleagues, concurrently promoting his own breed of journalists. This he did by creating a consultancy to expand the knowledge and skills of his Indonesian colleagues, as well as promote his own particular brand of community journalism. In 2008, he founded PT Firmansyah and Friends (F&F), and pioneered Community Journalism projects across Aceh's highlands.

With the support of SERASI, F&F has introduced community journalism to Papua province. Firmansyah established partnerships with 10 radio stations in Jayapura city/ district, and neighboring Keerom, training 40 new and aspiring journalists in community journalism techniques, journalistic responsibility, and management. F&F’s approach is hands on, providing active mentoring of stations and journalists as they produced hard-hitting stories on community concerns including domestic violence, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS, among other stories. Firmansyah's dream is to establish community-based media centers across Indonesia, and broadcast the voices and concerns of remote communities currently under-served by print and electronic media.

SERASI is a USAID-funded project focused on creating stable, democratic communities. It is implemented by International Relief and Development (IRD).