Digital Revolution in Public Communication Management: A Review of Opportunities and Challenges for Maluku Regional Police Public Relations in the Digital Era
Abstract
This article examines the transformation of public communication management in the digital era, focusing on the case of the Maluku Regional Police (Polda Maluku). The study aims to explore both the opportunities and challenges brought about by digital developments in the field of public relations within law enforcement institutions. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and document analysis to understand the dynamics of communication practices in the digital context. The findings reveal that digital platforms—such as social media, online news portals, and mobile applications—present valuable opportunities to enhance transparency, foster community engagement, and strengthen public trust. However, several challenges also emerge, including the spread of misinformation, data privacy concerns, and the urgency of timely crisis communication. Organizational factors such as digital readiness, infrastructure availability, leadership orientation, and internal culture further influence the effectiveness of digital communication strategies. The novelty of this study lies in its contextual focus on Polda Maluku, offering a nuanced analysis that connects digital transformation with institutional capability and socio-cultural environments. This article contributes to the development of social and humanities scholarship by providing a critical lens to understand how public institutions navigate the complexities of digital communication. It recommends the advancement of infrastructure, digital literacy, and regulatory frameworks as key steps toward responsive and inclusive public communication in the digital era.
Downloads
References
Achmad, W. (2021). Citizen and netizen society: the meaning of social change from a technology point of view. Jurnal Mantik, 5(3), 1564–1570.
Acs, Z. J., Song, A. K., Szerb, L., Audretsch, D. B., & Komlósi, É. (2021). The evolution of the global digital platform economy: 1971–2021. Small Business Economics, 57, 1629–1659. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00561-x
Afdhal, A. (2023). Peran Perempuan dalam Perekonomian Lokal Melalui Ekowisata di Maluku: Tinjauan Sosio-Ekologi dan Sosio-Ekonomi. RESIPROKAL: Jurnal Riset Sosiologi Progresif Aktual, 5(2), 208–224. https://doi.org/10.29303/resiprokal.v5i2.427
Arni, A. (2024). Public Service Bureaucratic Reform At The One Door Integrated Services Department of Bone District. Baileo: Jurnal Sosial Humaniora, 1(2), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.30598/baileofisipvol1iss2pp166-175
Bauer, P., Dueben, P. D., Hoefler, T., Quintino, T., Schulthess, T. C., & Wedi, N. P. (2021). The digital revolution of Earth-system science. Nature Computational Science, 1(2), 104–113. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-021-00023-0
Birner, R., Daum, T., & Pray, C. (2021). Who drives the digital revolution in agriculture? A review of supply‐side trends, players and challenges. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(4), 1260–1285. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13145
Christensen, T., & Lægreid, P. (2020). The coronavirus crisis—crisis communication, meaning-making, and reputation management. International Public Management Journal, 23(5), 713–729. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2020.1812455
Creswell, J. W. (2017). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage publications.
De Vries, G. (2020). Public communication as a tool to implement environmental policies. Social Issues and Policy Review, 14(1), 244–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12061
Gabor, D., & Brooks, S. (2020). The digital revolution in financial inclusion: international development in the fintech era. In Material Cultures of Financialisation (pp. 69–82). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351002103-6
Garrido-Baserba, M., Corominas, L., Cortés, U., Rosso, D., & Poch, M. (2020). The fourth-revolution in the water sector encounters the digital revolution. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(8), 4698–4705. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b04251
Hidayati, A. F., & Siregar, Y. A. (2024). Commodification of Local Culture in The Development of Wayang Villages Tourism. Baileo: Jurnal Sosial Humaniora, 1(2), 176–191. https://doi.org/10.30598/baileofisipvol1iss2pp176-191
Irwin, A. (2021). Risk, science and public communication: Third-order thinking about scientific culture. In Routledge handbook of public communication of science and technology (pp. 147–162). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003039242-9-9
Kickbusch, I., Piselli, D., Agrawal, A., Balicer, R., Banner, O., Adelhardt, M., Capobianco, E., Fabian, C., Gill, A. S., & Lupton, D. (2021). The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on governing health futures 2030: growing up in a digital world. The Lancet, 398(10312), 1727–1776. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01824-9
Knell, M. (2021). The digital revolution and digitalized network society. Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, 2(1), 9–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-021-00037-4
Korte, M. (2020). The impact of the digital revolution on human brain and behavior: where do we stand? Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(2), 101–111. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2020.22.2/mkorte
Lee, J. J., & Meng, J. (2021). Digital competencies in communication management: a conceptual framework of Readiness for Industry 4.0 for communication professionals in the workplace. Journal of Communication Management, 25(4), 417–436. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-10-2020-0116
Macnamara, J. (2021). A ‘Macro’View of Strategic Communication Management: Beyond ‘siloes’, dominant paradigms, and pandemics. ESSACHESS-Journal for Communication Studies, 14(27 (1)), 65–91.
Mas, J. M., & Gómez, A. (2021). Social partners in the digital ecosystem: Will business organizations, trade unions and government organizations survive the digital revolution? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 162, 120349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120349
Miguélez, F., Planas, J., & Benítez, P. (2021). Digital revolution and sociocultural change. Towards a Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities between Europe and Latin America; López-Roldán, P., Fachelli, S., Eds, 141–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48442-2_5
Naumova, E. N. (2021). Public health inequalities, structural missingness, and digital revolution: time to question assumptions. In Journal of Public Health Policy (Vol. 42, pp. 531–535). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-021-00312-y
Patel, K. R. (2023). Enhancing Global Supply Chain Resilience: Effective Strategies for Mitigating Disruptions in an Interconnected World. BULLET: Jurnal Multidisiplin Ilmu, 2(1), 257–264.
Pencarelli, T. (2020). The digital revolution in the travel and tourism industry. Information Technology & Tourism, 22(3), 455–476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-019-00160-3
Popkova, E. G., & Gulzat, K. (2020). Technological revolution in the 21 st century: digital society vs. artificial intelligence. The 21st Century from the Positions of Modern Science: Intellectual, Digital and Innovative Aspects, 339–345. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32015-7_38
Raniolo, F., & Tarditi, V. (2020). Digital revolution and party innovations: An analysis of the Spanish case. Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana Di Scienza Politica, 50(2), 235–253. https://doi.org/10.1017/ipo.2019.27
Recker, J. C., Lukyanenko, R., Jabbari Sabegh, M., Samuel, B., & Castellanos, A. (2021). From representation to mediation: a new agenda for conceptual modeling research in a digital world. MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems, 45(1), 269–300. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2021/16027
Tam, L., Kim, J.-N., Grunig, J. E., Hall, J. A., & Swerling, J. (2022). In search of communication excellence: Public relations’ value, empowerment, and structure in strategic management. Journal of Marketing Communications, 28(2), 183–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2020.1851286
Copyright (c) 2024 Kevin Chrisya Siregar, Yustina Sopacua, Ronald Alfredo

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.