Depok-Government public relations (PR) is a means of communication and interaction between citizens and the government. Government PR is also tasked with informing the public about government policies, steps, and actions. In addition, government PR also monitors public opinion on government policies and provides feedback as input. This was conveyed by Faisal Fahmi, S.H., M.H., Senior Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of State Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia, through a guest lecture of the Public Relations study program, Vocational Education Program, Universitas Indonesia (UI), on February 25, 2025. This guest lecture is integrated with the Public Relations Ethics and Law course.
Faisal explained that government public relations is within the scope of state administration which includes the executive, legislative, judiciary, and other state institutions. The main focus of government public relations is not only the public and stakeholders, but also all citizens or society. In addition, government public relations also strives to provide services to fulfill the rights of the community to gain access to information and communication.
Furthermore, Faisal said that public relations ethics need to be possessed in order to overcome problems faced by the organization. Some principles or pillars of public relations ethics are veracity (conveying the truth); non-maleficence (basic principles of moral behavior); beneficence (reducing the potential to harm others); confidentiality (maintaining the confidentiality of information); and fairness (justice and social responsibility). “The five principles or pillars are guidelines for decision making in various public relations practices,” said Faisal.
(Photo: Faisal explains the role and function of government public relations)
In the field of media relations or relations with the media, government public relations also coordinates with journalists or media responsible for producing news and articles in the mass media. Public relations also needs to present information honestly, correctly, and accurately to the media. In other words, public relations must adhere to and uphold public relations ethics.
On that occasion, Faisal also explained the evolution of communication. Starting from Communications 1.0 which only focused on one-way communication, to the current era of Communications 4.0 through the presence of the internet as a learning machine and making information very segmented. In this era, various new challenges have also emerged, especially on social media. Faisal said, “The era of communication machines has begun with the increasing number of real-time platforms, communication with big data, interrelated and complex communication flows, and the intensity of communication continues to occur at all times. So, the delivery of information must be done quickly and accurately.”
However, the acceleration of information needs to be accompanied by the accuracy and validity of good information. It is not uncommon to find various information that leads to hoaxes or false information. Faisal provides a number of tips in avoiding hoax information, namely reading news from credible sources, paying attention to the website address or media that publishes the news, checking accurate facts, studying information received from the internet and cross-checking from other sites, not being easily provoked, and others.
(Photo: Group photo with students after the guest lecture ended)
In the end, Faisal explained about the openness of public information based on applicable laws. The government has established several laws that stipulate the openness of public information through Law No. 14 of 2008 concerning Openness of Public Information. In this case, every public body is required to have an Information and Documentation Management Officer (PPID) to be responsible for storing, documenting, and providing information services in public bodies.
Head of the Public Relations Study Program, Mareta Maulidiyanti, S.Sos., M.M. said that students of the Public Relations study program can also have careers in government agencies. Of course, insight into the role of public relations in the government environment needs to be studied in a complex manner. “I hope that the presence of government public relations practitioners will provide new insights for students. So, students can understand the various roles played by public relations in maintaining reputation, providing public information, and improving a positive image from the government’s perspective,” Mareta concluded.
