UNAIR NEWS – Department of Communications, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) held another webinar on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. With “Industry and Bureaucracy: Communications Strategies in Pandemic” as the topic, the webinar presented three speakers, Ribut Purwanti, I Gede Alfian Septamiarsa, S.Sos., MIKom., and Dr. Suko Widodo, Drs., M.SI. who is also one of the UNAIR communications lecturers.
Ribut Purwanti is an UNAIR alumna of communication science who now works as Head of External Affairs Unilever Indonesia. I Gede Alfian Septamiarsa, S.Sos., MIKom., is also an alumnus of UNAIR communication science and now serves as Public Relations officer for Government of East Java Province.
Moderated by Traviata Bianca, the first presentation was delivered by Ribut Purwanti where she explained that during the pandemic there were several changes made in communication, especially in the industrial sector.
“Amid a pandemic like now, the response given in communication must be fast because conditions are always changing,” she explained.
She also revealed that in a pandemic situation, the industry can play a role in providing education on preventive measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Various educational information can be conveyed in the form of public service advertisements or disseminated through social media.
In contrast to the first speaker, I Gede Alfian Septamiarsa, usually known as Bli Gede, revealed that from the bureaucratic sector there are five communication strategies that are carried out so that information conveyed can be understood by the public. These communication strategies include showing empathy, using the right tone and language style, being transparent and clear, creating various kinds of content, and finally clarifying hoaxes.
“So the communication strategies that can be carried out as government public relations include showing empathy, using the right tone and language style, being transparent and clear, creating various kinds of content and the most important thing is clarifying false news ,” he explained.
In the end, Dr. Suko Widodo emphasized the importance of openness principle in conveying information to the public during a pandemic. He also gave a message that in the future more and more communications students should conduct research or communication audits so they could find out whether the information disseminated was understood by the public . (*)
Author: Dita Aulia Rahma
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
