Government Public Communication Strategy Webinar during the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Department of Corporate Communications, Faculty of Communication Sciences, Padjadjaran University held a webinar entitled “The Government’s Public Communication Strategy during the COVID-19 Pandemic”. The webinar took place on Thursday, November 25, 2021 online via Zoom Meeting and was attended by more than 250 participants.
Although this is not the first time this theme has been discussed, Dr. Dadang Rahmat Hidayat, SH, S.Sos., M.Sc., feels that this discussion is still very relevant to be discussed. “Perhaps it becomes very important that, in conditions like this, the source that is really eagerly awaited and should be trusted is a source from the government,” said the Dean of Fikom Unpad. “We hope that this webinar can provide the best benefits so that the COVID-19 pandemic can end soon with the right communication strategy,” he said.
Director of the West Java Development Institute, Padjadjaran University ( Injabar Unpad), Prof. Dr. Keri Lestari, M.Sc., Apt., also gave a speech and opened the webinar. Before entering the material presentation session by the speakers, more than 200 participants who joined took a group photo as part of the Government’s Public Communication Strategy Webinar series during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Sumedang Regent, Dr. H. Dony Ahmad Munir, ST, MM, became the first resource person to present the material. He raised “Government Public Communication in the Pandemic Era” as the topic discussed in this webinar.
He conveyed what strategies the Sumedang Regency government had taken in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them is related to SPBE (Electronic-Based Government System). “What we are doing to deal with the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are making various applications,” said the Sumedang Regent. Some of these applications include MAUNEH (Want to Update Data so that Social Assistance is Not Weird), MAIJAH (Let’s Work and Prevent COVID-19), MARKONAH (Let’s Work Online from home), and AMARI COVID-19 (Application for Self-Insight), not forgetting that the Sumedang government also utilizes social media used by many people, namely WhatsApp, and opens the WA KEPO service (WhatsApp for Information Needs and Online Services).
Furthermore, the Deputy Dean of Fikom Unpad, Prof. Dr. Atwar Bajari, M.Sc., explained the topic “Government Communications for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Developing a Communication Strategy”. He conveyed several recommendations which were the result of discussions between the Injabar Study Team and the BP2D Team to formulate communication principles and policies at the West Java Province level. The recommendations include, prioritizing a public communication approach that is carried out with a risk mitigation and communication approach; use careful and consistent communication planning; to implementing a one-door strategy, so that the information conveyed does not overlap.
Lecturer of Public Relations Study Program Fikom Unpad, Dr. Heru Ryanto Budiana, M.Sc., was the next resource person who delivered material on “Government Communication Based on Local Wisdom, Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic”. In his presentation, he conveyed the importance of public involvement in the risk communication approach. “Because if the public is not involved, then there will be no change in the desired behavior in the communication objectives conveyed,” he said. He added, “Local wisdom is actually a value , a value, a norm, an order, which is already known by our society.”
After the speakers gave their presentations, the next series was a question and answer session. The questions asked were about consistency in handling COVID-19 to how to deal with hoaxes. (NA)
