Public relations plays essential roles in communicating and building image of tourist destinations in order to attract a significant number of tourists. Starting from this consideration, this research investigates the role of hotel public relations practitioners in communicating Yogyakarta as the tourist destination. The growth of tourists arriving in Yogyakarta cannot be separated from the role of hotel public relations practitioners in communicating Yogyakarta as the great place to visit. This research employed descriptive qualitative approach. The data was gathered by conducting interviews with three hotel public relations practitioners in Yogyakarta who have experienced in this field at least one year. Based on activities they did to communicate Yogyakarta as the tourist destination, it can be categorised that hotel public relations practitioners in Yogyakarta play communication technician role by using the beautiful and unique cultures and landmarks as backgrounds to communicate their hotels to tourists, using both conventional and new media to strengthen the image of Yogyakarta.

Many studies have examined crisis management in various business sectors. However, COVID-19 has presented unique and interesting challenges. Using an online survey (n = 224 participants) and in-depth interviews, profiling public relations professionals’ communication strategies in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic based on gender was investigated. The findings reveal that male and female public relations practitioners have specific understandings of the COVID-19 pandemic, ways in facing the crisis, and differing public relations activities during the pandemic. They regard this pandemic as a challenge to be adoptive, innovative, and creative, enhance technology competencies, and build relationships with publics by providing up to date information. Female public relations practitioners use social media more than males and give more attention to communication programs dealing with customers, while male counterparts focus on capturing the market by strengthening the organization’s image and reputation through publicity in conventional media.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the shifting form of a community of cultural radio listeners, Sanak Kadang Jodhipati, from an off-line to a virtual community. Since adopting Facebook, YouTube, and audio streaming, Radio Jodhipati FM’s listeners have become part of a networked community. This study used a virtual ethnographic method, which allows researchers to conduct interviews and virtual searches from November 2019 to May 2020. The result shows that Sanak Kadang Jodhipati, as a social community, holds meetings in the Nganjuk Regency and other cities where Radio Jodhipati FM covers wayang kulit shows. As a virtual community, this community is more intensive in communicating through the WhatsApp group during the COVID-19 pandemic. The contents of the communication are not limited to discussing wayang kulit, gendhing, and other Javanese culture, it also addresses health, employment, legal, and political issues. Despite the diverse socioeconomic status, the members do not differentiate the form of communication, as fellow Javanese culture lovers.

Teachers’ professional identity is created in the dynamic process of interpersonal interaction. This research aims to investigate how teachers negotiate their interpersonal role identities across physical and digital student-teacher interactions. By employing a descriptive qualitative design, this research used the ethnographic method. An interview guide was designed to seek an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon by gaining insights from ten high school teachers from Metro Manila. After collecting the data, an inductive approach is used to analyse the data. The research reveals that the teachers’ interpersonal identity standards and their appraisal of their interaction with their students on Facebook and their network logic align and are congruent with one another. The teachers’ interaction with their students online and offline is always guided by their perceived roles and responsibilities and their limitations and boundaries as teachers.

YouTube becomes an alternative media to represent homosexual identity that is not portrayed by mainstream media. Dinda Syarief, one of transgender women, uses this platform to express herself as a transgender woman. This research investigates 32 YouTube videos uploaded on her YouTube channel by using content analysis from May 2019 to March 2020. The study reveals that based on the themes, the YouTube videos mostly discussed about her photoshoot activities, apartment tours, truths and dares about Dinda Syarief, modelling, her achievement to be the third winner of Miss International Queen in Thailand and make-up tutorial. Based on transgender-specific issues, disclosure becomes the issue mostly discussed in her videos such as the transition from male to female, surgery, and family reaction after she became a transgender woman. Meanwhile, based on the physical transition, hormones, surgery, voice, and non-surgical procedures become the issues mostly discussed.