SD Aisyiyah Kamila Gali Ilmu Seputar Media Relations at the Faculty of Communication UMM

Kapanlagi.com - Today, Friday (16/8), the Communication Laboratory of Muhammadiyah University of Malang (UMM) was quite crowded. It turns out that 16 teachers from SD Aisyiyah Kamila Dinoyo in Malang City came to participate in media relations strengthening training. This activity is part of a community service program by lecturers and students that lasts for one month. Through this activity, SD Aisyiyah Kamila is expected to build its image and reputation through mass media.

The community service team from UMM's Communication department consists of Farid Rusman, Sugeng Winarno, and Nasrullah. Meanwhile, the students partnering with the lecturers are those who are taking the Community Service Course (KKN). They are Gemilang Boy Aprillian, Divi Balqis Maharani, Agung Putra Gumilang, Daffa Tsalasta Putra, and Muhammad Faisal Husni.

The head of SD Aisyiyah Kamila, Reni Nur Farida, expressed her happiness that her school has become a partner of UMM's Communication department. This is the second year that the Communication faculty team has made her school a partner. Last year, the theme of the service was the optimization of social media for school promotion and branding.

"We want to build a school website that we can manage and fill with news about activities and achievements of the children," said Reni.

1. News and Opinion Writing Skills

Aisyiyah Dinoyo Elementary School Malang participates in media relations strengthening training at UMM (Photo credit: Personal Documentation)

To fill the website, writing skills for news and opinion are needed. That is why this training is focused on communication strategies, writing opinion articles, and strategies for writing press releases and media relations.

In delivering the material, Farid expressed that communication can have a strong, moderate, or weak effect. For marketing communication or public relations purposes, the effect can be directed to change the school's image.

"The effect of image can change a person's attitude, decisions, and actions to like or dislike, buy or not buy, choose or not choose," said Farid. Therefore, communication must be designed as well as possible to reach the decisions and actions we desire.

Actions, continued Farid, will lead to changes in relationships or connections. "Those who were once strangers become acquainted, those who were foreign become close," he added.

Meanwhile, Sugeng shared his experience writing opinion articles in the mass media. According to him, opinion articles are one way of personal branding for a teacher as well as for their school. A teacher who writes under their school's identity will certainly elevate the school's name.

"Writing opinions makes our name eternal," said Sugeng while inviting participants to check their names on Google. If our name appears, then that is an eternal digital footprint.

In order for opinion writings to be accepted by the mass media, a specific strategy is needed. Sugeng's advice is that writing should be current, attract public attention, and be conveyed in an effective language style.

However, many people find it difficult to start writing. One of the factors they face is a lack of ideas. For this reason, Sugeng encourages reading more and following current issues. "Like a jug, if it is not filled, it cannot pour out water," he stated.

2. Strategies for Creating a Press Release

SD Aisyiyah Dinoyo Malang participated in media relations strengthening training at UMM (Photo credit: Personal Documentation)

Another strategy to get opinions published is by sending them to the right media. "Know the characteristics of the media well," suggested Sugeng.

In addition to writing opinions, teachers are also encouraged to publicize the school through relationships with the media. One of the media relations strategies is to send press releases to mass media.

The material on press releases was presented by Nasrullah. This material focuses on how schools can brand themselves through mass media. Through media coverage, schools will become more recognized and appealing.

Press releases, according to Nasrullah, can be used for four purposes: event announcements, achievement releases, program launches, and crisis management. "If we diligently manage the media, many will know about us, like us, and eventually choose us," he stated.

Media do not necessarily publish the writings we send. Therefore, a strategy is needed for a press release to be accepted and published. Nasrullah shared some tricks, one of which is to use simple and clear language. Additionally, avoid jargon or technical terms that the general public may not understand. Lastly, his advice is to ensure that important information is at the beginning.

3. About SD Aisyiyah Kamila Dinoyo

SD Aisyiyah Dinoyo Malang participates in media relations strengthening training at UMM (Photo credit: Personal Documentation)

SD Aisyiyah Kamila Dinoyo is under the guidance of UMM Communication. As the Head of the Communication Study Program at UMM, Nasrullah agreed to assist the school until it can create and manage its own school website.

This elementary school was established in 2005 and is located in a village on Jalan Gajayana Malang. This elementary school is quite unique. This is evident from the tagline 'Kamila' that is attached to the name of this school. Kamila is an acronym for cadres of intellectual scholars and preachers.

SD Aisyiyah Kamila has a plethora of achievements. Recently, students from this school won 2nd place at the provincial level in East Java for the Islamic story competition at the Al Maun Award PWM East Java. In addition, they also won 1st place at the national level in the online competition for the level 1 Mathematics Olympiad.

"Alhamdulillah, our children have a very high spirit of achievement," concluded Reni.

(kpl/gtr)