By: Rahmat Sholeh )*
The co-19 pandemic did indeed have a wide impact on all sectors, not only the health and economic sectors that were affected, but the psychological side of the community also affected. The press and millineial are also considered to have a central role in maintaining the optimism of the nation through the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The continued spread of Covid-19 not only affected the public health sector, but also the national economy. This tendency is indicated by the increasing number (Termination of Employment) of layoffs which has an impact on increasing unemployment. As a result, there was a decline in the economy of the citizens ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Some people began to be pessimistic about how to survive during a pandemic. Of course there are various presidispositions behind it, besides increasing the number of layoffs, community non-compliance with protocols established by the government is also a basis for public pessimism towards the end of the co-19 pandemic.
Previously, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Wishnutama Kusubandio had invited young people, especially millennials and generation Z to remain optimistic in facing the challenges of the co-19 pandemic and prepared to welcome new normal post-epidemic conditions.
In the field of creative economy, Kemenparekraf encourages the presence of creativity in each destination, how to do training, coaching and others.
He added, in every crisis there are always opportunities, but there must also be a strategy to take advantage of these opportunities.
This momentum certainly depends on each individual to be able to use it, will it be someone who is pessimistic or will pass the pandemic and become a winner.
He also admitted that in a situation like this it is not easy for tourism to develop, and the whole world has experienced it.
The corona virus outbreak must be interpreted as a warning from God to push Indonesia into a situation or into a better era going forward.
At this time precisely when physical contact is not recommended, the technology also provides a solution in the form of a virtual meeting, which is certainly not previously thought of.
Of course young people in Indonesia are also expected to be able to create social media platforms made by the children of the nation so that Indonesia will increasingly have high competitiveness. Because, it is time for Indonesia to be able to encourage the domestic digital industry.
On different occasions, an online poll conducted by UNICEF between 27-31 March through the U-Report engagement platform, SMS and instant messaging application, received more than 7,000 responses from young people aged 15-30 years from 34 provinces in Indonesia.
Participants were asked to answer a series of questions to measure their feelings about co-19 and their understanding of symptoms and prevention. By choosing the set of emojis to express their current feelings.
The result is 29 percent of them answered that they were happy, 28 percent of them said that he felt normal, and the remaining 22 percent said they were sad.
Optimism to get past the co-19 pandemic also arose from the Chairman of the Press Council, Muhammad Nuh, himself mentioned that during the corona virus pandemic, the majority of the media mostly raised positive topics. As with the recovery of patients who were previously exposed to the virus.
He said, the majority of news topics related to the patient’s recovery is expected to build optimism to the community related to the corona virus, but it also does not mean that the ferocity of the virus is underestimated.
That is, this certainly shows great hope to foster public optimism by providing optimism in the community.
He also reminded all media to maintain the journalistic code of ethics in reporting the corona virus pandemic in the country. It is intended that the press does not convey information that confuses the public later.
An attitude of optimism will certainly keep people from overpanic which actually adds to anxiety. So that the press has a very strategic role to spread optimism to the wider community to continue to struggle through the co-19 pandemic.
In addition, the press is also expected to be able to build an atmosphere conducive to the growth of empathy and public discipline and the mobilization of the nation’s and state’s resources.
PES must also be a sterilizer in an effort to fight lies that are spread in the community. Apart from being able to foster an optimistic attitude, it can also increase social solidarity.
Optimism of the Press and Youth must be maintained during the pandemic, young people as the largest population and the press as a strategic institution in providing discourse, of course have an important role for public optimism in passing the Covid-19 Pandemic.
)* The author is a contributor of The Jakarta Institute