The "Public Affairs" Challenge: Harmony of Business Interests and "Stakeholders"

PRINDONESIA.CO | Monday, January 04, 2021
“Public affairs yang kita pahami sekarang adalah komunikasi atau menjalin hubungan dengan stakeholders dengan memerhatikan konteks politik, ekonomi, sosial, budaya,” kata Noke.
Roni/PR Indonesia

There are still many questions milling about public affairs. What is public affairs? What's the difference with public relations? To its relation to government relations. Noke straightened it out here. 

JAKARTA, PRINDONESIA.CO – According to Noke Kiroyan, Chairman and Chief Consultant of Kiroyan Partners, the questions above are reasonable. This is because public affairs (PA) is a relatively new specialty, especially in Indonesia. "In its journey, there have been many changes in the meaning and function,” Noke said, quoted from his book Public Affairs: Practice and Theory. 

Based on the experience at Kiroyan Partners, Noke concluded that about 50 percent of the activities between PA and public relations (PR) are the same. The difference is that the PA concerns the public policy and legal framework regarding certain economic sectors. Thus, the person needs an understanding of the system and political dynamics at a macro level to make an analysis. 

In practice, PA includes activities that are generally carried out by PR such as media relations and event organizing.