Teatime: Public Relations Duties in the Midst of a Pandemic
In times of crisis, the need for information is very fast. So does the flow of information. The number of needs and the flow of information often makes people panic, and confusing because of overlapping information. In an educational institution such as the Indonesian Islamic University (UII), a Public Relations (PR) team is needed to organize information.
This time’s teatime, Thursday, July 8, 2021, carries the theme of mitigating the COVID-19 crisis by Public Relations (PR) at the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII). Discussion of the role of PR in the midst of this pandemic invited Ratna Permata Sari. He is a lecturer in Communication Studies at UII, as well as the Head of Public Relations (PR) at UII.
You can imagine when a crisis occurs, people will wonder what happened, is there any new information, what should I do if a boarding housemate is infected with the coronavirus. What should I do if I am infected by corona? Not only that, confusion about online lectures also became a problem.
In this pandemic situation, PR must create a set of rules for the flow of information to stem the flow of information that is actually misleading. Correct information will make both students, parents, employees, and lecturers get clear and precise information.
In addition to providing information related to health protocols within UII, UII’s PR also creates a call center that will help all UII academics get precise and accurate information.
For example, information related to the affairs and regulations of lectures and work in the UII environment. “If there is information that is not clear, the source can be asked through the call centre. Information becomes one door so it doesn’t confuse people,” said Ratna, who is also a lecturer in the Visual Communication research cluster specialist.
In addition to creating a call centre, UII PR also makes a set of rules related to visits to campus. How to make rules that can mitigate the transmission of covid, for example by making Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for several types of cases. For example, limiting the number of guests, making rules, arranging rooms that may be used, as well as rules for using Covid-19 detection tools.
The condition of this pandemic is not always the same, it is always changing with an increase in cases, the spread of cases in one particular location, as well as changing government policies. Under these conditions, Ratna admits that this pandemic is not an easy crisis. He also gave an example of a number of countries that have not yet fully succeeded. “No one is really an expert in handling the crisis in this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Ratna.
In this uncertain condition of the crisis, the rules can change at any time. These rules must be based on current conditions and the possibility of what could happen in the future. “For example, genose, it is known that it is not very accurate in detecting the presence of the Covid-19 virus, so it must be changed,” said Ratna.
