Local Champion: Communication Characteristics in Community Empowerment Based on Local Innovation

This research is focusing on the community development and empowerment in underdeveloped villages of Trenggalek regency by focusing on strengthening role of local champions in each village. The result from this study was the villages were villages with IDT (Inpres Desa Tertinggal) and IDB (Inpres Desa Berkembang) status, the consequence of which was often to get assistance from the government.Yet, not all of the villages were successful in optimizing government assistances. Tasikmadu, Winong, and Tegaren were the examples of successful villages in stepping up from underdevelop to developing villages. This qualitative study used focus group discussion and in-depth interview in order to get genuine data from local people. The data was not taken for granted, but verified by check-crossing from one local spot to another local spot. In sum, the application on the empowerment of underdeveloped rural communities is strongly supported by strengthening role of local champions from each village. Local champions act as driving forces to support the community in increasing their ability to get out of poverty

However, the large potential that Trenggalek Regency has, there are several obstacles that cause its people to still live at the lower threshold of welfare. The villages in Trenggalek Regency are categorized as underdeveloped and developing. Winong Village is a village under the administration of Tugu District.
This village is underdeveloped status and has an IDM (Building Village Index) score of 0.545. Tegaren Village is still classified as a developing village with an IDM score of 0.618. Even though it has a developing status, it does not show any significant development in its nature from the local community. In fact, apart from the potential of agriculture, Tegaren Village also has economic potential in the form of tourism objects.
Based on the conditions presented above, a response emerged from the researcher to take a deeper look at the empowerment of rural communities in an effort to create and develop local innovation-based home industry businesses.
Therefore, the main focus of this research is a community empowerment model and local potential-based innovation development in underdeveloped villages of Trenggalek Regency. In this study, a model of community empowerment and development of local potential-based innovation in underdeveloped areas of Trenggalek Regency will be developed which will combine elements of strategic planning from the government with participatory planning. This research will also JOSAR, Vol.

Methodology
According to Silalahi (2009), the classification of the types of a study must still be mapped according to its benefits, objectives, subjects, methods, time, data collection and data analysis. However, researchers must determine the type of research based on these classifications. Therefore, this study uses a descriptive-exploratory research type. Descriptive research type is a type of research that provides a detailed description of situations, configurations of phenomena or socio-political relationships that occur in society. The situation, phenomenon, configuration or socio-political relationship referred to in this case can be in the form of activities, characteristics, changes, similarities or differences between one phenomenon and another (Sukmadinata, 2009).
Descriptive research also does not use given or controlled treatment and without hypothesis testing. Meanwhile, explorative research is research that aims to find things that have not been previously identified or described. Exploratory research is more about discussing everything that is related to the research theme, the formulation of research problems, and still paying attention to the limitations of existing research.
In addition, this study uses a combination approach, namely quantitative and qualitative approaches (Creswell, 2007) or a mixed method (mix method). This combined approach departs from a qualitative approach, which means that researchers see phenomena in society and describe these phenomena as they are. Because qualitative research allows researchers to describe a phenomenon by taking part, in-depth interviews, and understanding these social interactions.
Complex social phenomena can be explained through clear relationship patterns.
Researchers will go directly to the object, so that problems can be found clearly. While the second foothold is a quantitative approach, which means that the researcher confirms factuaL

Discussion
The concept of empowerment in the discourse of community development is productive sources that enable them to increase their income and obtain the goods and services they need; and (c) participate in the development process and the many decisions that affect them (Suharto, 2005) The role of the government is also urgently needed to improve the quality and quantity of accommodation facilities for tourism objects, particularly the rehabilitation of main facilities and infrastructure that are already damaged and the construction of new facilities to complement the needs of tourists, such as health clinics. Third, the local community is expected to always maintain cleanliness, tidiness, beauty, comfort and environmental safety. Fourth, in terms of promotional activities carried out by managers both through the internet and brochures, so that they are included in more detail, increasing promotional activities such as placing brochures in strategic places such as airports, hotels, shopping centers and restaurants. The main condition for community empowerment is the formation of environmental conditions. conducive society.
Meanwhile, the prerequisite for having a conducive condition is the high level of life skills of the community. Life skills are of a special urgency when talking about community empowerment. Life skills are abilities, abilities, and even skills possessed by a person so that that person's life is lightened by challenges and obstacles. More than that, life skills are needed so that a person is able to face life's problems naturally and without feeling depressed.
Apart from life skills in a conducive environment, in the context of community empowerment, there must be one thing discussed in it, namely productive character. Empowerment must be accompanied by a productive character, because without a productive character, the empowerment that will be carried out In simple terms, the local champion concept is a political communication concept used by an individual or a group of local enablers to mobilize the community with the help of a leader in the community unit. The leader referred to in the concept of local champion is not someone who has a high social position (political-administrative position), but is someone who has a leadership spirit and is able to mobilize many people (Dureau, 2013). Therefore, a local champion cannot be recognized in a short amount of time, but must be recognized through intensive and continuous observation and interaction. In the context of empowering local communities, a local champion can be a young man who has innovation in his area. So that the young man is able to attract the attention of many people as well as be able to move many people afterwards. A local champion can also be a customary head (or elder) in the social structure of the local community. This elder person is commonly known as an individual who prioritizes wisdom in living. Therefore, individuals like this usually have the ability to be heard by many people. Finally, a local champion can indeed be a leader in a political-administrative order, such as village heads, village secretaries, heads of farmer groups, and others.

A local champion, according to the empowerment method of asset-based community development (ABCD) developed by John McKnight and Jody
Kretzmann (in Dureau, 2013), has a very important role. In community empowerment which aims to strengthen the resilience of the intellectual knowledge of the local community, the local champion does not only play a role in spreading a positive spirit and encouraging the community, but also as an ideal figure for how empowerment should be carried out so that it is hoped that a local champion can be multiplied in one local community. . Thus, the communication that is established is not only efficient, but can also be very effective because the regeneration of local champions will occur in a community. With the regeneration of local champions, it is hoped that the progress and empowerment of the community will also be regenerated. Therefore, the local champion is one of the innovations in the context of local-based community empowerment.  Villages confirm that a local champion is an understanding that is born and formed from the privileges (special privileges) of the local champion's family or relatives.
There are many cases that village officials who are still relatively young have blood relations with retired village officials. This has advantages and disadvantages in the context of local community political communication. The advantage of this phenomenon is that local champions do not have to start from that in order to be easily accepted by the community and followed by the community. However, the drawback of this phenomenon is that this kinship sociopolitical culture often kills the potential for the birth of local champions, and also has the potential to disrupt the multiplication of existing local champions-local champions.
It is recorded that only Tasikmadu  large. Not only for the present but also for the future. Thus, the local champions are expected to be able to communicate massively with the local community so that the empowerment of existing villages and communities can increase rapidly.

CONCLUSION
This research, which focuses on Tegaren Village, Winong Village, and Tasikmadu Village, aims to offer a mass communication model based on local community innovation. By adapting the local champion concept to empowering village communities, the research team found that there are several preconditions and / or conditions needed to make the local champion concept an effective offer for the village community, especially villages in Trenggalek Regency.
The problem of urbanization can become a pre-condition for a better regeneration of local champions. If the inequality of the generations of the resident population is not that great, then the possibility of mass communication that occurs is also better and more effective. In addition, the existence of strategic planning is important for the village, but according to the research team this has not been done by many villages in Trenggalek Regency, including Tegaren Village, Winong Village, and Tasikmadu Village.
Planning strategies that also include local community participation strategies are an important aspect of community empowerment. Therefore, it is best if every village must have a strategic plan both in written documents and in the form of existing programs. This can also support the use of the Village Fund, which is disbursed annually by the central government.