By: Noke Kiroyan, Chairman & Chief Consultant KIROYAN PARTNERS  JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO – The initial uncertainty might be understandable. Previously, the world had also been hit by a devastating pandemic called the "Spanish Flu" that happened over a hundred years ago (1918). This pandemic has been rampant for more than two years. A third of the world's population at that time was infected. The number of deaths from this disease was estimated to be between 20-50 million people, there were even estimated to reach 100 million people. The exact number is never known. It's been a century and there's no memory left of that time, so we "started from scratch".    Returning to the current state of affairs, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has received international praise from all corners of the world for her firm but humane handling. Her public communication was flawless. The pandemic can be overcome and life in the country in 2021 is almost back to normal.  As soon as there was confirmation of the entry of the COVID-19 virus into New Zealand, the government immediately imposed a total lockdown. Public communication was carried out non-stop. The message was clear, consistent, and easy to understand. Information flooded the public through billboards, banners, social media, pamphlets, and brochures that provided directed guidance. Each afternoon Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Director-General of Health provided an update of the situation with the key message “Stay Home – Save Lives”. Although the geographical, economic, and educational conditions of Indonesia and New Zealand are clearly different, the most important lesson that can be learned from them is that public communication has received great attention from the government.  

By: Noke Kiroyan, Chairman & Chief Consultant KIROYAN PARTNERS  JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO – The convenience provided by the virtual world also provides extraordinary possibilities for exchanging news, in addition to true news, sometimes there are questionable contents or hoaxes. Hoaxes or fake news that is made intentionally to deceive. Hoaxes existed before the internet era. The difference is, the internet allows copying at speeds and volumes that were unimaginable a decade ago. These two factors make hoaxes a threat to society.  The most horrendous hoax in the world recently was related to the defeat of former President Donald Trump. In his bid to win the presidency for a second time, Trump lost a free and open election. About 60 complaints that the Trump team submitted to various courts in various states were eventually rejected. This is was not a deterrent to Trump from tweeting daily. He claimed he was cheated. He also incited his followers to thwart the election results in any way.  Many Trump supporters were outraged for believing in fake news. On January 6, 2021, thousands of his supporters stormed the House of Representatives (Capitol) ferociously. They wanted to thwart the approval of the November 2020 election results by the Senate. The building was in ruins. The members of the House of Representatives and the Senate survived the rampage of this mob, then by the United States press these mobs were called "domestic terrorists". 

By: Edri Susilo, Public Relations Institution of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia/DPP IPRAHUMA.  JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO – In the midst of public confusion to distinguish which information is accurate, the existence of credible sources of information is very much needed. According to Jalaluddin Rahmat in the book Psikologi Komunikasi (Psychology of Communication) (2005), it is said that credibility (communicator) is a set of perceptions about the characteristics of communicators.  The credibility component consists of expertise and trust. Expertise is an impression, formed by communicants about the ability of communicators in relation to the topic being discussed. The higher the skill, the more intelligent, capable, skilled, experienced, and well trained. While trust is the communicant's impression of the communicator, regarding his character. Is it honest, dishonest, sincere, or pretentious? and so on.  In an institution, the state civil apparatus (ASN) can be a credible source of information (communicator) in conveying information about government to the public. Because ASN must have knowledge and expertise in government affairs, as mandated by Article 5 of Law Number 5 of 2014 concerning ASN. 

By: Noke Kiroyan, Chairman & Chief Consultant of KIROYAN Partners  JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO –  It should be understood that apart from general rules of communication, the implementer of public communication should not make too much promise about unknown matters so as not to result in a loss of trust. If the public at large loses confidence in the messages conveyed by public officials, the public health situation will worsen because the directions given are not followed.  On that basis, the principle of communication for the COVID-19 pandemic is short and dense: “under-promise and over-deliver”. The meaning is, do not promise anything high, but try so that in fulfilling that promise, we go beyond what has been promised. The goal is to build trust. Once society loses confidence in what public officials say, the trust will be difficult to rebuild.  Trust is the essence of communication effectiveness. If we are unsure about the truth of a message, there is the risk that everything that is said in the message will be questioned. Especially when it comes to mass health problems that threaten society as a whole. One example of poor public communication occurred in the United States which resulted in unrest in the society of that country.  On May 15, 2020, President Donald Trump inaugurated "Operation Warp Speed". The term warp speed refers to the fictional movie Star Trek in which the travel between galaxies is possible at speeds exceeding the speed of light (300,000 km per second), which in the film is called warp speed. Thus, Operation Warp Speed can simply be translated as "Operation Fast as Light", even though the meaning of warp speed is actually faster than lightning. From the beginning, many felt uncomfortable with the name of this operation which too much feels like marketing and gave the impression of prioritizing speed above all else with such a bombastic name. 

By: I Gede Alfian Septamiarsa, First Expert Public Relations Officer of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau of the Regional Secretariat of East Java Province  JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO –  The dynamics of communication in a group is defined by Goldhaber as an activity carried out when two or more people convey messages face-to-face. They realize that other members in the group have a common interest which is stated as a goal to reach a mutual agreement.  However, not all communications have a positive impact or mutual agreement. Suppose we communicate with other people but there are differences in perception. This can lead to mutual disagreement or miscommunication between the two parties. Not only personal, but these problems can also occur between organizations. Miscommunication can lead to disputes.  Actually, miscommunication is a common thing in the communication process in every company. Communication within a company or organization involves many people from both the higher-ups and the subordinates. Miscommunication in the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI) is defined as the wrong acceptance or wrong response of a communication.  For example, Person A delivers a message to Person B. However, Person B doesn't get the message of Person A as a whole. Thus, this incident can be categorized as a miscommunication. In the end, miscommunication will have an impact on, for example, the low completion of the company's internal projects, and will have another impact on the company's business processes. 

By: Aldilla Evriyana, APPRIentice   JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO –  Being a reliable PR is not easy, it needs a lot of study, practice, and time. There is nothing wrong with taking an example from the Blackpink members.  Brave like Jisoo  For Blink, the name for Blackpink fans, Jisoo is known as a brave woman. Just like PR practitioners, they must also have a courageous mentality. Because this profession requires its people to be faced with new things. Regarding new things, Jisoo, who dreams of becoming a novelist, has good habits. She loves reading books. She was often caught on camera carrying books. By reading, we broaden our horizons to learn and absorb something new.   Strategic Thinking like Jennie  Jennie of Blackpink is the first member of Blackpink to release a single titled Solo. She is known to have a strategic way of thinking. Jennie is also often referred to as YG Entertainment's golden child because she has a strong, multitalented, and hardworking charm. Everything she has is the main asset to become a reliable PR.   Relevant like Rose  "Terima kasih! Mantul!" That was Rose's shout when closing the concert in Indonesia. Her words were greeted by hysterical screams by the Blinks. Rose not only has a beautiful voice, but is also able to communicate well with the audience. She learned to use several greeting languages from various countries. Just like she did at the concert in Indonesia. Greetings from the audiences in local languages make her relevant to the audience. Rose's habit can be an example of PR. Namely, PR must have the ability to communicate relevantly to everyone.   Different like Lisa  Lisa, who is the youngest member of Blackpink, is known to have two unique personalities. When on stage, Lisa looks energetic and sexy. Conversely, she will return to being a funny and silly person offstage. Her uniqueness forms a characteristic and makes it easy to remember her. Lisa really understands the importance of building personal branding.  Practice a lot and do these tips full of meaning and enthusiasm like the energetic Blackpink. Haenguneul bimnida (good luck)! 

By: Lizzatul Farhatiningsih, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Trade, Central Executive Board of Iprahumas Indonesia.    JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO –  Quoted from aptika.kominfo.go.id, during the implementation of work from home (WFH), internet users in Indonesia increased by 40 percent. This is an opportunity for government institutions to increase interaction with the public through social media. Therefore, I believe that social media management needs special attention, especially in today’s time.  In managing social media, it is very important for the government to first study the target audience. The public's enthusiasm for interaction can be seen from the large investment of time and energy they have allocated to be able to actively share and respond to content posted by organizations (Men, Tsai, Chen, & Ji, 2018). Learning from research related to citizen engagement conducted by Chen et al. (2020) in the central government of China, namely the National Health Commission of China, the emotional valence of the community seems to strengthen community engagement on their social media.  After the Covid-19 case became a crisis, the Chinese government took several steps to prevent the crisis from becoming increasingly critical.   

By: Noke Kiroyan, Chairman & Chief Consultant KIROYAN PARTNERS  JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO –  Then continue the question with, "What's the difference with the old normal?" The answer will be even less clear. I tried to search for meaning on Google with the key phrase "new normal guidelines for Indonesia", and there were about 40 million articles which would make it even more difficult for us to scrape information from various sources.  Finding information that is easily digested by the general public is not easy. There is a Minister of Health Decree dated May 20, 2020, namely No. HK.01.07/MENKES/328/2020. The contents are Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Office and Industrial Workplaces in Support of Business Continuity during a Pandemic. The content is commensurate with the length of the title, it’s difficult to digest.  Then on July 13, 2020, the Ministry of Health issued Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Very comprehensive, 214 pages thick. Again, digging up important information is not easy. 

JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO – In the 1970s, there was a lot of never-ending debate between supporters of economic development against those who wanted environmental preservation. Finally, the debate was pursed into one of the resolutions taken at the United Nations General Assembly on December 19, 1983. The United Nations inaugurated the formation of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) with Gro Harlem Brundtland who was former Norwegian Prime Minister, as the Chairperson and Mansour Khalid from Sudan as the Vice-Chairperson. There were 21 other commission members, including Dr. Emil Salim from Indonesia. The official name of this commission was rarely used, people know it better as the "Brundtland Commission", in accordance with the name of the Norwegian woman who became its chairperson. Nearly four years after it was formed, the commission completed its work in the form of a report entitled "Our Common Future" also known as the Brundtland Report. The point was advocating a new approach to balance economic development with environmental protection through a concept called Sustainable Development. The formulation of Sustainable Development in the Brundtland Report which has become the global reference until today is the "Development that meets the needs of the present without affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs". The Brundtland report was followed up in 1992 with the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Again, this official name was rarely used and this conference was better known as the Earth Summit or the Rio Conference. The follow-up meetings were also known informally as "Rio + 10" in 2002 in Johannesburg and "Rio + 20" in 2012 which were again held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Triple Bottom Line In 1994, a businessman who was also an intellectual and environmental activist in the United Kingdom named John Elkington translated sustainable development into a triple bottom line. The bottom line is an informal term in accounting that refers to the last number on the income statement that can be plus (profit) or minus (loss). So, the bottom line might be translated as a positive performance in Indonesian. This term is also known as economic or financial bottom line (financial or economic results). John Elkington argued that not only must companies produce economically positive results, but also socially and environmentally. Because of that, he called it the triple bottom line. Then, some made the slogan from the triple bottom line to 3P: People, Planet, Profit which is now better known than the original term triple bottom line. So, the essence of sustainability is a balance between economic, social, and environmental performance. If there is one element that dominates, then there is no balance anymore which results in the sustainability of a threatened business. For example, the company is very concerned about environmental and social issues, but it is not run economically so that the loss is prolonged so the business is not sustainable. Likewise, companies that merely pursue positive economic performance but forget environmental and social sustainability, this business is also not sustainable. By considering the things above and interesting to the Indonesian context, the emphasis on the "CSR Funds" which are often found by definition alone violates the principle of sustainability, because it emphasizes just one element, while there should be a balance between the three elements already explained above. Sustainability as a principle is rather difficult to describe operationally if there are no standard guidelines. There are two global efforts that have become guidelines for businesses who want to support sustainable development by running socially responsible businesses. First, the United Nations Global Compact was inaugurated by Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1999/2000 which covered four major areas, namely Human Rights, Labor Standards, the Environment, and Anti-Corruption. Companies or organizations that agree to implement it must make a written commitment, and in many countries including Indonesia, there is a network of supporting companies called the United Nations Global Compact Network. Martha Tilaar is one of around 60 entrepreneurs from all over the world who began their commitment to the Global Compact. Furthermore, there is an international standard called ISO 26000 on Social Responsibility that has been adopted and ratified by most countries in the world. In Indonesia, the National Standardization Agency (BSN) has included it in the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) with the ISO 26000: 2013 SNI code. Specifically, for public companies (Tbk) and SOEs, this standard must be a reference in developing CSR programs aimed at achieving sustainable development. ISO 26000 covers six areas, namely Human Rights, Labor Practices, Environment, Fair Operating Practices, Consumer Issues, and Community Development towards the goal of Sustainable Development. Deep understanding Performance measurement based on the triple bottom line principle is made possible by using reporting standards issued by the Global Reporting Initiative, which has also become a reference for public companies in Indonesia in preparing their annual reports, which not only include financial reports but also include performance reports in the field of the living environment and social environment. Thus, it is clear that the momentum created by the Brundtland Report in decades has been successfully operationalized. In addition to individual organizational or company commitments to support the achievement of sustainable development through CSR programs, there are also commitments by countries initiated by the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) which since 2015 have been replaced by SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Both in ISO 26000 and GRI reporting standards, the emphasis is on stakeholder engagement, namely interactions with stakeholders, because they are the ones most affected by and impacting on sustainable development efforts by each company. It is often found that in sustainability reports, companies mention efforts in supporting the achievement of SDGs of a certain number among the 17 targets agreed upon by all UN member states. Studies on sustainable development and the efforts of individual companies through CSR programs and then in relation to community activities, all includes in the area of public affairs. Thus, consulting companies engaged in public affairs must have a deep understanding of the whole complex, including stakeholder engagement and communicating commitments about CSR.