This paper examines the harness of celebrity endorsers by government organizations as a strategy of political public relations. The purpose of this study was to broaden understanding of how celebrity endorsers and key opinion leaders work in the political realm, notably in supporting government policy. This descriptive-qualitative research uses a single case study on the promulgate efforts of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program using celebrity endorsements. Literature research and social media material from a celebrity endorser were used as data collection techniques. To discover propaganda techniques, content analysis was performed on Raffi Ahmad’s social media posts. Next, a group discussion with six key informants was held to confirm the findings. Given the context and focus of this study lies on government organizations, we offer a different approach in examining celebrity endorsements by using propaganda theories and concepts. Kahneman’s dual-system theory of fast and slow thinking was also fruitful to rationalize the work of endorsement and relevant to propaganda and other persuasion theories. We found that the key messages that Raffi Ahmad published on his social media contained propaganda elements that had the potential to influence public opinion before making a decision. Therefore, the use of celebrity endorsements by government organizations is likely to be effective in influencing public behavior, or at least in raising awareness of government policies. We conclude that celebrity endorsement can be a plausible option to be implemented in the government communication strategy to achieve certain objectives.

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Many surveys show that the level of public trust in the Indonesian parliament (DPR) often occupies the lowest position compared to other government institutions. This study aims the efforts of the PR Bureau of the DPR in organizing the Parlemen Remaja (the Youth Parliament) program as an attempt to improve public trust and reputation through political education for the younger generation, to understand better the reputation management and relationship management mechanisms applied by PR Bureau of the DPR. The research method using an evaluation was carried out using the reputation management theory and relationships management theory of political public relations. Data collection techniques were carried out through literature study and in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that the Youth Parliament program is considered helpful in increasing student interest in politics, providing opportunities to interact with the community, and can improve their perception of the DPR. Moreover, the students can be used as brand ambassadors for the DPR by endorsing the Indonesian parliament on social media and doing word of mouth in their social milieu. It can be concluded that the program is fruitful in increasing positive perceptions and bridging the relationship between the DPR and its key stakeholders, but it is not significant enough to increase public trust and the institution's reputation.

Background: The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has caused public fear alongside social stigma and discrimination. As a result, people hide the illness to avoid discrimination. This study focuses on investigating doctor-patient communication, their challenges when diagnosing suspected COVID-19 patients, and how the physicians communicated with patients’ mental issues. Methods: A mixed-methods approach examined this phenomenon and an online survey was conducted among 221 Indonesian doctors. The following were quantitatively examined: theme of Covid stigma and patient openness, patient/physician interaction and communication, and information and stigmatization of Covid. Qualitatively, two Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were conducted with five physicians and four COVID-19 survivors or their family members. Thereafter, interviews were set up with the selected four persons. Results: 74.2% of respondents encountered patients with lack of honesty or openness, while 55% of physicians claimed that 1-2 patients out of every 10 patients covered up about their illness. 27% of physicians indicated that 3-5 of 10 patients did not tell the truth. Majority of respondents opined that the media/social media played a large role in the promotion of stigma for those who had COVID-19. Conclusion: Study results affirmed belief in a link between the stigma of COVID-19 and patients’ dishonesty. Results indicated that many individuals are reluctant to disclose their true positions for fear of stigmatization by the people around them. This is linked to the stigma of COVID-19 and patient reluctance to be honest about their health/illness per impact of COVID-19.  This research concluded that doctors need to find creative ways to communicate with their patients so as to increase patient honesty about illness.