The role of radio as the public sphere for public political education in the digital era: Challenges and pitfalls

Abstract As one of the mass media, the existence of radio in carrying out its role as a social institution to provide education for citizens, especially political education in a democratic country is an interesting topic. The purpose of this study is to analyze the way radio runs and controls political education programs for citizens in public spheres and uncovers radio strategies to survive in the face of competition in the digital era. This study adopted descriptive qualitative methods and qualitative content analysis using radio interactive programs. The data were collected through interviews with the manager or directors of each radio. The subjects of this study were four radio stations in East Java, Indonesia. The results showed that radio carries out this role by organizing programs that involve participants. All radios have a mechanism for selecting participants, news and experts/informants. In carrying out its function as a social institution to provide education for citizens including political education, radio has made serious efforts by producing content that: 1) provides knowledge about local political dynamics; 2) criticizes public policies; and 3) activates citizen participation in public issues. Selectively choose the content of the program. Radio’s ability to survive was strongly supported by its ability to utilize of income opportunities and elegantly avoid economic and political pitfalls by empowering the role of the public sphere through massive involvement of external sources. Thus, the constructed opinion seems to be more of an extra media influence rather than an internal initiative of the radio organization.


Introduction
Radio is one of the most important mass media of the 20th century and still exists today for the delivery of information, entertainment and education. As part of the mass media which is known ABOUT THE AUTHORS Anang Sujoko is an associate professor at the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia. Email: anangsujoko@ub.ac.id Dyan Rahmi is an assistant professor at the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia. Email: dyanrahmi@ub.ac.id Fathur Rahman is an assistant professor at the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia. Email: fathur_rahman@ub.ac.id as the pillar of a democratic country, radio contributes as an information provider to support national development (Ibrahim & Wahab, 2020). Radio has the ability to influence people's thinking, hence it can also be used as a means of political communication Ibrahim and Wahab, 2020y interested parties. The media transmit political communication originating from various media themselves and outside parties, as well as distribute political messages constructed by journalists (McNair, 2013). In a democratic era, the media becomes a public sphere that facilitates the people involved in the political process. However, political communication in the current media era is very volatile due to the dynamic influence of the media environment as an industry and the rapid development of internet-based communication technology. Changes and developments in the media may alter the existing public sphere (Shirky, 2011). From the positive effects of internet technology on the public sphere, Mossberger (2008)found a positive effect of the internet on young people in political discussion, political interest and political knowledge. Unfortunately, the recent increasing more liberal media climate has led to several problems.
First, the emergence of efforts to co-opt the media by interested parties to gain economic and political benefits. This situation is demonstrated by the involvement of media owners in the practical political arena and efforts to massively utilize the media for their political interests. In a democratic climate, political communication is fundamental in determining the dynamics of democracy that occur. The role of the media watchdog or press as one pillar the four pillars of democracy shows the power of control not only to the executive, judicial, and legislative but also to the community. The presence of the mass media with the role of carrying out the functions of education, information, entertainment, and social supervision. The media have played an important role in determining the development of democracy (J. Lim, 2011;Su & Borah, 2019). However, these media are mostly belonging to the oligarch power that supports the ruling government (Tapsell, 2015). At this point, the media is very vulnerable to being used for the benefit of the owner or ruler (oligarchs) rather than the public interest. These media are not only funneled that represent and present political rhetoric to the oligarchs for the sake of their interests but also become the political machine. The government needs to help provide political education to its participants so that people are not easily exposed to hoaxes or fake news that have the potential to cause riots.
Second, the emergence of fake information, the black campaign and the euphoria of freedom of expression that lacks ethics and morality hampers the development of a democratic society. One of the causes of fake news and media crimes is the development of information technology which is unbalanced with civil literacy. The presence of new communication technology (new media) has disrupted conventional mass media such as radio, television and print media in becoming a public sphere in a democratic country. Social control which was previously easy to do with conventional mass media, after the presence of new communication technology (new media) has become increasingly difficult due to the abundance of information in public spheres (Lin & Atkin, 2014). But unfortunately, in an increasingly liberal media climate, if it is not accompanied by increased media literacy and political education for its citizens, then what will happen is the emergence of hoax information and unethical/civilized euphoria of freedom of expression (Buschman, 2019;Utami, 2018).
Along with the complexity of the problems of media literacy and educational literacy of the Indonesian people, the role of the mass media in the political education process is increasingly complex, few studies have been done on this topic. A minimal literacy culture makes people easy to believe everything. Worse, this condition led to the polarization of society and mass violence. In several years of Indonesian political development, Kathleen Azali found an increase in cases of fake news (fake news) and cases of persecution (Azali, 2017). These cases do not only occur in Jakarta but in many areas in Indonesia. This case is a symptom of the development of democracy that has gone "too far" and the condition of society that is already in the post-truth era.
The liberalization of the media climate and the emergence of false information, black campaigns, and the euphoria of freedom of expression that do not have the ethics of the new media (social media), have become a serious threat to the development of radio. The presence of new media eroded radio subscribers, causing radio's market share to decline. This causes the situation of public sphere played by conventional media such as radio to be increasingly disrupted by the increasingly massive penetration of internet users (Ibrahim & Wahab, 2020), thereby creating a paradoxical public sphere for democracy. The condition of the public sphere in Indonesia played by conventional media such as radio is increasingly disrupted by the increasingly massive penetration of internet users, which creates a paradoxical public sphere for democracy. On the one hand, the public sphere supports the development of democracy through the provision of political channels for the people, but it actually contributes to weakening democracy-for example, on the national and local political stage in Indonesia, it is marked by the strengthening of identity politics and an increasingly polarized society (M. Lim, 2017;Romli, 2019). This condition has contributed to the condition of democracy which is now in the status of democratic regression, namely the condition of democracy which tends to weaken (Aspinall & Warburton, 2017). The results of a survey on the press freedom index score according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in 2022, Indonesia was ranked 117th out of 180 countries, with a score of 49.22 (less free). Thus, the deteriorating condition of the public sphere has a close connection with the creation of a status or a regression of democratic conditions. Therefore, this research is urgently carried out so that the role of radio media in public political education can be further optimized by evaluating the results of this research.
Current anxiety about the socially-destructive role of social media platforms-their monopoly power based on surveillance capitalism (Couldry & Mejias, 2019;Zuboff, 2019); their uses and abuses by political and corporate elites, or movements of exclusionary populism, illiberalism, and intolerance (misogyny, racism, nativism, xenophobia, and religious fundamentalism)-often ignore the fact that there are many states around the world in which authoritarian power structures prevail, freedom is severely limited by government surveillance and mainstream media organizations are either directly censored or subject to stifling political pressure. For human rights dissidents in such states, social media remain an important means of communicating, organizing, and mobilizing against monolithic oppression.
The role of radio has been reported in several studies. In the past, the central role of radio was very clear in supporting the people's struggle against colonialism (Ibrahim & Wahab, 2020;Muttaqin, 2019), community education in rural areas , education (Ullah & Khan, 2017) and preserving culture (Chikaipa & Gunde, 2021;Zein & Dewi, 2019). The role of radio in organizing the public sphere is still rarely studied, because the majority of public sphere studies are still general in nature covering all types of media, especially new media (Bruns & Highfield, 2015;Rahmanillah, 2018;Singh & Thakur, 2013;Triana, 2022).
It is interesting to study the efforts to survive radio amidst the onslaught of other media, especially social media, freedom of expression and the increasingly heated political situation. Facing this situation, radio is also inseparable from challenges and obstacles that have the potential to trap. This study aims to analyze the way radio runs and controls political education programs for citizens in public spheres and uncovers radio strategies to survive in the face of competition in the digital era.

Radio as public sphere
Radio as a mass media is believed to have the ability to increase people's participation in the political arena. Mass media with their capabilities in the production, reproduction and distribution of knowledge and information may have a significant impact on public opinion and behavior (Heryanto, 2018). The radio may interpret the existing reality (knowledge) into accessible information to the people (Habermas, 1989). Habermas's initial idea defines the public sphere as a free place to foster people's participation and reach a consensus (Dahlberg, 2004). The emergence of mass media such as newspapers, radio and television may reconceptualize the public sphere (Downey & Fenton, 2003). Therefore, radio as a mass media can be a public sphere to grow people's participation in the political context. Several actions are pivotal to foster public sphere function such as: maintaining the principle of human equality, hinting at problems in areas or general domains (including politics) that attract people's attention; associating with the interests of the community, and the object of discussion can be accessed by anyone.
Radio as a public sphere can realize its goal through interactive programs by involving community participation. The involvement of community participation can become social control for groups of power, both political power and economic power. Ideally, radio as a mass media avoids market (economic) interests, as well as the political regime (Effendy, 2014). Related to these conditions, Heryanto (2018) has provided arguments regarding the role of mass media such as radio to become a free public sphere from business interests (market-economy) and political pressure. Therefore, radio must be able to control economic and political interests of participants in its broadcast program. Radio can become a free public sphere so as to foster rational arguments for the benefit of the wider community. In this case, McNair (2017) refers to the mass media as the essence of a substantial communication institution for society and a sphere for public discussion. Finally, democracy may grow through community participation with logical and rational arguments (Effendy, 2014). Hence, a communicative society grows in social, cultural, and political contexts (Couldry & Hepp, 2013). Optimizing the role of radio as a public sphere to grow political participation in the community can be an effort to maintain democracy (Effendy, 2014)-because community participation is the essence of democracy (Bekkers & Edwards, 2007). Improving the role of radio as a public sphere may have implications for the process of community empowerment. It sequentially develops a more stable democratic country (Gaynor & O'Brien, 2017).
The role of radio as a public sphere drives community participation to play an active role in politics (Bello & Wilkinson, 2017). A study in Tanzania shows that community radio has a significant impact on political action for the community. Political knowledge packaged in interesting content through Tanzanian community radio raises political awareness for community/local communities to further participate in supervising decision-making from local-level officials. However, opinion leaders are needed by the community to be able to provide rational arguments so that it becomes a guide for the community to act (political action). The findings from Bello and Wilkinson (2017) reinforce the main idea of Habermas (19891989) that even though public sphere is filled with rational arguments, it is for the sake of creating consensus for the interests of the wider community.
The position of the media as a "bridge" between the political system and people's lives (McNair, 2017), has formed three elements in political communication namely the political system, the media, and society. With the formation of these three elements, McLuhan's (2019) idea applies, which argues that media is an extension of the human senses that absorb various information in the surrounding environment, reflecting various daily activities including political activities or events. So, political and media relations have become a necessity in political communication. The relationship between the two (politics and media) should ideally have a beneficial impact on the public. That way, the state can run a democratic system properly-which places the mass media as one of the pillars of democracy that supplies political information to the public (Sujoko et al., 2020).
De Tocqueville and Tocqueville (1985) places the media as one of the main domains of democracy -among political parties and political association groups. The media provide a channel through which public opinion is formed and the transmission of that opinion. Tecqueville's notion of media as one of the main domains of democracy actually requires media independence from political and economic interference. Media may be owned by elites or representatives of established power but it must avoid practical political and economic interests. That way, the media may function in the realm of politics to fight for and protect the interests of society (Sujoko et al., 2020).

Internal and external influences on the mass media
In carrying out its role in conveying news and information, the media must convey information objectively. The public or listeners want to hear the truth of the news that is free from distortion by various parties. According to Kovach and Rosenstiel (2021), journalism's first obligation is to convey the truth in a fair and balanced manner. This statement shows that journalists must rely on objectivity. The notion of objectivity in the world of mass media is a method used to present a picture of the world that is as honest and accurate as possible within the limits of journalistic practice. Objectivity is generally related to news and information. Objectivity may only be one of the requirements for a news story, but objectivity also has an important role as a key for the public to judge whether the news can be trusted and reliable or not.
The perspective on objectivity is that journalists must be impartial in collecting, processing and reporting the news. Objectivity also helps increase public trust in the truth of information and also opinions offered by the media (McQuail, 2020) The principle of objectivity can be achieved when the two major dimensions, namely factuality and impartiality are fulfilled. The dimension of factuality relates to the quality of the information displayed in the news that can be checked truth to news sources. Factuality includes reporting according to the principles of journalistic truth, namely based on facts, accurate, complete and relevant (Westerståhl, 1983). The impartiality dimension relates to whether a news story has presented information from all sides of events in a fair manner. Impartiality requires a fair attitude and does not discriminate against news sources and objects, meaning that a news story must provide an opportunity for all parties involved to argue and present all sides without selecting a particular side (Westerståhl, 1983). Information is said to be objective if it is accurate, honest, complete, in accordance with reality, can be relied upon and separates between facts and opinions. Information must also be balanced (neutral) and fair, in the sense of reporting alternative perspectives in a non-sensational and unbiased manner.
In fact the news does not only present the existing reality. Media content that is conveyed to the public does not come from a "vacuum" that is neutral, free of interests, and is channeled by a medium that is free of distortion. News is the result of the internal policy influence of media organizations and the external influence of the media itself. Ideological Factors Shoemaker-Reese emphasized that internal and external factors influence the content of media coverage. This influence is divided into several levels, namely individual media workers (individual level), media routines (media routines level), media organizations (organizational level), outside the media (extra media level), and ideology (ideology level). Individual factors are related to the background and professionalism of individuals who manage information in media. Routine factors and media routines are related to the mechanism and process of determining news. Organizational factors are related to the structure that affects the news. Extra media factors, these factors relate to the environment outside the media (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996). Two external factors, namely economic and political factors, have a strong influence on the media so they can intervene the media to become less neutral and produce biased news.

Theoretical framework
This study proposes two formulations of research questions, namely how does radio carry out and manage its role as a public sphere related to the political education of citizens and how can radio survive competition with other media in the digital era? To answer those research questions, this study will first examine whether radio selects news. How does radio select news? What are the criteria used? And how can radio counteract waste information from participants? To answer these questions, this study refers to the theory of news value and objectivity of the media. According to this theory, lists of news are sometimes labeled differently as news factors, news criteria, or the like, such as those made by Galtung andRuge (1965) andO'Neill &Harcup (2020). To assess the participant, news and informant selection, this study refers to the theory of objectivity or neutrality (Habermas, 1989;Lasswell, 1949;Schramm, 1949;Tuchman, 1977). To assess the role of radio in activating citizens to be critical of the government's status quo refers to research by Vanhaeght (2019), and optimizing radio communities as a public sphere for political participation refers to research by Gaynor and O'Brien (2017). Finally, to discuss the influence of external parties on the media, this research refers to the hierarchy of influences model for understanding the complex factors shaping media-particularly news-content: from the individual to social-system level by Shoemaker and Reese (1996).

Research methods
This study adopted a qualitative descriptive method which is elaborated by the qualitative content analysis method to explain in-depth related to "Broadcast Radio and Public sphere for Community Political Education". The research was presented to fill the existing gap by submitting a research question what is the role of radio as a public sphere in providing political education for citizens? The subjects of this study consisted of four private FM (Frequency Modulation) radios in East Java, Indonesia, located in Surabaya City (Radio A), Malang City (Radio B), Kediri City (Radio C), and Tulungagung Regency (Radio D). Radios A and B are located in relatively large cities, while Radios C and D represent radios originating from small cities (Table 1). Radios were selected purposively from big cities and small towns based on listener range, reputation and willingness to participate in the research.
The qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze the four radio programs to obtain the characteristics of the program that became the space public-which aims to provide political education for community empowerment. The focus of this research is in the form of interactive programs or talk shows from each radio under study. This study uses two data collection techniques, namely in-depth interviews and documentation. Semi-structured interviews were selected in this study by preparing questions before the interview begins with research informants, then questions were developed along with the answers given by research informants. Then, the documentation technique was carried out by tracing the content and programs related to political education from the four radios. For the documentation technique used in this research, transcripts and analysis of the program were then be carried out which reflects the role of radio as a public sphere that provides political education that fosters community participation and empowerment in politics.
In connection with this research will conduct in-depth interviews with informants, then this study set several criteria for informants to obtain validation of the data to meet the research objectives. The following are some of the criteria for informants: (a) Media workers with 4-6 years of experience, (b). responsible for taking policy direction of content or over radio programs which is one of the focuses of this research, (c) have insight and have handled radio programs related to politics, so they can provide valid data to answer the objectives of this research. The informant consisted of 5 persons, one from each radio except Radio B (two informants).
Then, the data obtained through documentation techniques on radio programs of the four radios were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis model (Mayring, 2014) which utilizes inductive logic to provide meaning from content by prioritizing the interpretation of researchers assisted by a conceptual framework certain. The process of qualitative content analysis is divided into three stages. First, collect raw data through documentation techniques on radio programs which are then carried out in a summary format. Second, establish a clear relationship between the research objectives and the summary of findings, to ensure transparency and justify these relationships according to the research objectives. Third, interpreting the relationship between summary findings and research objectives by utilizing the "public sphere" conceptual framework as follows. Furthermore, informant answers were analysed using the NVivo program to create frequency tables and concept maps.

Results and discussion
Based on the NVivo classification, the results of this study indicate that in general informant answers can be categorized into three discussions, mechanisms to run and control programs for Public Sphere, Political Literacy and Economy Challenges (Figure 1)

Mechanism to run dan control program for public sphere
As a mass media, radio has the role as a medium for freedom of expression of public opinion. Radio carries out this role by organizing programs that involve participants. Through this mechanism, radio plays a role as the public sphere. Actually, the programs were created to provide flexibility for participants to express their voices or opinions. Regarding freedom, informant 1 explained that programs that are made like interactive talk shows are a means of public sphere that seeks to give freedom for participants to express their ideas.
"Radio A's talk show program is a program to give space to the public, convey reports, suggestions, and constructive criticism. The aim is to provide information to the public, for example, reports of road congestion, missing persons, and unattended items. Reports can also simultaneously provide suggestions, for example, those related to facility damage that must be repaired by the government. Criticism can be conveyed both to the public and the government". (Informant 1) The same thing was conveyed by informant 2 who stated that the interactive program was created as a public sphere that can accommodate the opinions/ideas of the participants so that they have a channel to convey their ideas about facts or their opinions about ongoing issues that are of public concern. The following is an excerpt from the interview explaining this: "Because this talk show is a public program, they are free to speak to express opinions, convey constructive ideas. The goal is to develop. How to build, accelerate the growth of a region . . . ". (Informant 2) The same thing was also conveyed by informant 5, as follows, The public has the right to speak, the public must speak about their facts or opinions about the issues being discussed, but don't let there be slander, that's a freedom that our newsroom team protects.
The quote above showed that radio has carried out its function as a public sphere by organizing programs that involve community participation. The granting of freedom to participants is not absolute, but freedom that is limited by "conditions" so that it does not make public spheres more "cloudy" or full of noise. Because of that radio has various mechanisms so that the voices of the participants represent the aspirations of the listeners. First, radio sets requirements so that participants do not make public spheres noisy, and avoid news containing slander that violates social norms. Second, establish a registration process so that the identity of the listeners is recorded and first ask for information that will be conveyed prior to on air.
"However, before appearing on air, our gatekeeper team first carried out the registration process so that the identity of the reporter could be accounted for. We also asked them first so that the information conveyed was more focused". (Informant 1) Third, limiting access for politicians. This happened on radio D, as conveyed by Informant 4 as follows, I do not want to give space to a particular person, especially to politicians, let alone pragmatic members of the council, who may contaminate my radio. I'm sorry . . . indeed freedom is always there for the public sphere. But on my radio, participants are free to convey what they need, such as a damaged road, a power outage, or traffic jams like we give freedom, and the radio provides a solution in the form of contacting the relevant parties to be able to solve the problem. My interest is how I facilitate my audience.
The fourth is to choose a relatively neutral talk show guest speaker. As a radio that serves listeners with various cultural and religious backgrounds, radio is selective in choosing sources. This was conveyed by Informant 1. My radio listeners come from diverse backgrounds. So, we have to find expert that are neutral and acceptable to all listeners. Radio has a mechanism to pre-select informant who meet the criteria, they must have qualified knowledge and be acceptable to all groups.

Political literacy through radio programs for educating the participants
As a medium for social communication, radio also plays the role of political education in the form of support for the freedom of expression. There are three forms of radio's role in political education. First, developing a program that contains knowledge about developing political situations. The talk show programs on Radio B and D were dominant in providing knowledge to participants about local political developments and dynamics, especially in their respective areas (coverage). Qualitative content analysis of the talk show program on the topic "Officials Violating Health Care Procedures, Fined or Sentenced" found how a source from legal observers explained to participants present in the discussion, namely the construction of legal logic used for officials who violate Health Procedures during a Pandemic is neither fined nor punished', but rather 'punished or administratively sanctioned. Likewise, the principle of equality before the law is explained even though it is applied to both officials and civilian participants.
The findings showed that the informants provided education or education to participants regarding the ongoing political and legal commotion during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, knowledge of the legal process against members of the legislature was also narrated by a speaker from the Tulungagung Police, he explained that the legal process had been completed at the Police and the files had been transferred to the Prosecutor's Office, hinder the legal process from proceeding. Thus, knowledge about a political and legal event was provided by resource persons from academic observers and sources from the Resort Police to participants through the discussion forum of the talk show program.
Second, deliver criticism as an instrument for pushing the authority to overcome the problem. For example, on the topic of face-to-face learning in Malang City, criticism also arises against the policy discourse because it is considered that Malang City is still not fully under control in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. So, taking this policy may lead to a new cluster risk in Malang City.
The findings of the data above show that a critique delivers problem-solving related to face-toface learning in Malang City. Informant 2 also said that the criticisms that appeared in Radio programs in Malang at the same time proposed alternative solutions to make it easier for the authority to overcome these problems. A similar situation is also experienced by Radio C, which acts as a medium for the public to criticize policies and implementations in the field, such as in the case of electricity disruptions. This also emphasizes how a radio program that contains criticism of public officials and public agencies becomes a political education, meaning that it provides an understanding to participants that criticism is one of the instruments in democracy enforcement and problem-solving of problems of a public policy nature. Thus, a radio program containing direct criticism of officials or public agencies becomes an important part of political education for participants, especially in countries that adhere to a democratic system. Third, activate public participation through the concept of citizen journalism as a form of participant political education. As previously explained, the four radio stations developed a citizen journalism approach to create news content that was disseminated to participants. The citizen journalism approach can be a political education for participants, meaning that radio provides an opportunity for participants to participate in democracy by voicing ideas and facts concerning the public interest.
The citizen journalism approach developed by each radio can be an alternative to educate participants in the political realm that concerns the public interest. Referring to the interview excerpt above, it also explains how participants with the citizen journalism approach developed by the media became a participating facility to participate in controlling village government institutions. This demonstrated that citizen journalism approaches both media management and political education for listeners. According to informant 1, the citizen journalism approach becomes a space for participants to voice their rights, or a space to carry out daily political activities.

Strategy radio to survive and cope with economy challenges
As a commercial institution, the demand to survive or obtain maximum business financial profit becomes an unavoidable logic of economic pragmatism. This can be a pitfall for radio managers, to be able to consistently maintain the principles of accountability, objectivity and neutrality. The economic interests behind these radio programs were created by the managers in different ways. Radio B tries to present an advantage behind the program by bringing out the 'influence of the program on participants. In this case, the program managed by Radio B's managers is as influential or beneficial as possible for the participants. With the influence or benefit of the Radio program in Malang on these participants, the economy came in the form of sponsorship or advertising. The following is an excerpt from his interview with Informant 2: In terms of the economy, I think when the program has an effect, sir, it may have an impact on the economic aspect. What we are doing now is not talking about money first. But we how to create a good product that is in demand by the market. Now, when the market responds with the influence of the program, it will automatically make it easier for us to offer to clients who want to take advantage of our already large market.
Another different approach taken by Radio A, the strategy called the informants as penetration by establishing closeness with public officials is a dimension of the economic and political interests behind this radio program. The informant explained that the penetration strategy by building personal closeness with public officials is not only to get advertisements for this radio, but the reciprocal relationship makes it easier for Radio A to create events such as jazz festivals, which will bring profit to Radio A. One of the penetrations is done by creating discussion forums between Mayors and Regents in three areas around Surabaya. The discussion forum is carried out "behind the scenes" by discussing existing problems, then looking for ways to solve them.
In certain cases, the influence of economic and political interests is so strong that the Radio A program is used to change public policy. This is a pitfall for radio because they play in the gray zone. The informant gave an example when Radio A succeeded in the cancellation of the East Java Governor's public policy regarding online transportation-behind the program that had been set for agenda setting, Radio got an order from one of the start-ups whose business was threatened by the East Java Governor's policy. Radio A played the rhythm of the program by providing an evaluation critique of the Governor's policy for 4 months, by utilizing the academics that had been provided by the start-up party that ordered the radio. In this case, Radio received a fairly high financial benefit because the policy of the Governor of East Java was cancelled. The information was stated by Informant 1 as follows We are processing the case of regulation by the Governor threatening the existence of business in East Java, we first build a narrative and logic about the necessity of the digital economy. Continue slowly and then we enter into the drafting. The strategy is to involve a team of experts who are presented with one frequency in the drafting process as resource persons.
Compared to the big radio stations located in the provincial capital, the regional radios facilitate the promotion of products from local companies. Radio B and D have a way to continue to survive by increasing programs that can provide opportunities for partners to fill in events as well as promote their products. The radio talk show also invited several speakers from various state and private universities, government, community leaders or business people who have consequences for promoting their products. For example, when raising the theme of urban planning, the radio also invites housing developers, so this becomes a medium for resource persons to introduce the housing products being developed.
Radio C has a different way. Apart from generating funding from many advertisements related to local products, for example, hospitals in Kediri and private schools, several talk show events are held at radio business locations, such as restaurants/cafés. Thus, talk show activities are also used as a means of promotion by radio. Apart from that, this radio also aggressively promotes the products of the under bow business unit. What's quite interesting is that at the broadcasting center, this radio has an outlet to display its products.

Discussion
This study found several characteristics of radio programs as a public sphere, including freedom, interactivity, public interest discourse, and solutions. These characteristics become entities that characterize radio programs as public spheres. It also provides political education for participants in several ways. Political education or otherwise known as political literacy is an effort to provide knowledge and understanding of political processes and political issues that enable the public to participate actively and effectively as state participants (Persson, 2015). This active and effective participation is expected to become social control for political authorities in deciding the appropriate policies (Ridha & Riwanda, 2020). Broadcast programs or content distributed through conventional radio (on/off-air) and new media are expected to provide political education for participants so they can participate in a democracy like in Indonesia.
This study found that radio has organized programs to support its role in the public sphere, selecting participants, news content, and sources. In determining news content and sources, radio has quite strict criteria so that the news conveyed represents the aspirations of listeners. The selection of experts is based on expertise and neutrality. News selection is a necessity for mass media. Mass media including radio has the authority to determine news content. The mass media can also choose the right news diction that voices the aspirations of the media. When opening a program that allows public participation, however, radio selects news based on certain criteria, the clarity of the participants and the news conveyed. The content of the news delivered by participants must represent aspirations, be relevant to the theme and have an impact. Several radio stations, for example, Radio A and B, have programs that allow participants to convey news about traffic problems, missing items or people, and other useful information. Other radio stations even firmly reject the involvement of politicians in conveying public ideas. In this context, the choice of radio criteria is in accordance with the theory of news value, namely the criteria of clarity and meaningfulness (O'Neill & Harcup, 2020). As for the selection of experts as informants, radio sets neutrality and expertise as the main criteria. This refers to the theory of journalistic objectivity. Neutral expert is expected to deliver more objective information. This situation meets with Lasswell's scheme, for those who assume that the media is only a neutral channel of information (Lasswell, 1949). This policy was taken by Radio, because it realized that Radio is a medium for news that is less persistent, so it is not suitable for practical political interests. Therefore the involvement of politicians in political campaigns on radio can be a blunder for radio. However, radio still has a role in public political literacy, namely through educational programs.
In this study, political education of broadcast programs and radio content, meaning that broadcast programs and content produced and disseminated by radio ultimately provide political education for participants. Political education in this case is divided into 3 forms: knowledge of developing political dynamics, criticism of public policy, and active public participation through citizen journalism. Political education in the form of criticism of public policy is classified at the second level of political literacy offered by Dudley and Gitelson (2002), namely regarding the attitudes of participants towards politics. In this case, participants need to have an attitude towards politics, so that participants are not apathetic to politics that create policies that regulate the lives of many people. A critical attitude toward public policy is the main goal of political literacy in the form of criticism. The forms of criticism conveyed by each radio are different, such as Radio B and Radio C which indeed opens space through interactive programs to allow participants to express criticism of officials and public policies-or these criticisms have been represented by an invited speaker. In contrast to Radio in Surabaya, which chooses to submit criticism behind the scenes through discussion forums, which will be raised on radio broadcast programs when resolved. Meanwhile, Radio in Kediri prioritizes criticism of policies carried out by participants, in this case, Radio in Kediri plays a role in channelling these criticisms through a citizen journalism approach. The citizen journalism approach can be a political education for participants, meaning that radio provides an opportunity for participants to participate in democracy by voicing ideas and facts concerning the public interest. At this level, political education achieves its main goal, namely to make participants participate in the political system or participants to be actively involved in democracy (Persson, 2015;Sujoko et al., 2020), as Dudley and Gitelson (2003) refer to as the formation of political behavior by state participants.
Another goal of all radio public sphere radio broadcasting programs is problem-solving. In this case, problem-solving are expected to solve ongoing political problems, or in the participants' daily social life. The ability to propose problem-solving information can lead radio to be an agent of social change. As Zhang (2009) explains the function of mass media as agents of change is to participate in creating social change both morally, socially, and culturally. In this case, radio content that becomes problem-solving helps to create changes in both the social and political spheres. This finding also strengthens the findings of several studies that emphasize the importance of radio as a mass media that strengthens the role of state participants (Harun & Ardianto, 2017), as agents that encourage socio-political change (Aminah, 2015;Novadila et al., 2019), and as a media that contribute to the national building (Nwaolikpe, 2018).
An interesting finding in this study is the dimensions of the economic and political system that characterize the management of public sphere radio broadcasts as political education for participants. The findings showed that the media is inseparable from the economic and political pitfalls, thus making their program implicitly carry these interests. The example of the case of Radio A which received orders from big start-ups in Indonesia to carry out agenda setting for the Regional Regulation of the Governor of East Java in 2016, is a clear example of how the interests of capital guide the media industry. Some literature also mentions how the political economy makes the media lose its independence (Tapsell, 2017), becomes a propaganda tool (Kuyucu, 2014) and manufactures consent for social reality (Herman & Chomsky, 1988), and media content only represents the interests of investors (Bagdikian, 2004). Radio's ability to avoid economic and political traps is elegantly supported by its expertise in setting agendas.
Agenda-setting theory assumes that the media has the ability to transfer issues that can affect the public agenda. The concept of agenda-setting was born because the media had to be selective in reporting news (Littlejohn & Foss, 2009). At this stage, the Gatekeeper is tasked with sorting out which information must be reported including how to report it. Although as an organization, the preparation of the media agenda cannot be separated from the pressure of interests. The media agenda is also determined by various combinations, ranging from managerial and editorial decisions as well as those with social influence such as government officials and advertisers.

Conclusion
Radio carries out this role by organizing programs that involve participants. Through this mechanism, radio plays a role as the public sphere. All radios have a mechanism for selecting topics and news content. Programs that involve public participation have been screened prior to release the news on-air. Radio also strictly monitors the involvement of expert/informant who intend to carry out practical political activities. In carrying out its function as a social institution to provide education for citizens including political education, radio has made serious efforts by producing content that: 1) provides knowledge about local political dynamics; 2) criticizes public policies; and 3) activates citizen participation in public issues. Selectively choose the content of the program. Radio's ability to survive is strongly supported by its ability to take advantage of income opportunities and elegantly avoid economic and political traps by empowering the role of the public sphere through the massive involvement of external sources. Thus, the opinion that is formed seems to be more of an extra media influence rather than an internal initiative of the radio organization. This study recommends further research to describe the political-economic aspects behind media content covering political education by utilizing concepts from Vincent Mosco and Christians Fucs and enlarge the informant to include the public and the government and also the private sector as an ecosystem as listeners, regulators, political parties ID/political communicators and industrial parties.