Jakarta – In communication, the messages conveyed are not free, but the messages must be bound by certain values that apply in society. Rocky Gerung’s criticism of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) was very out of character.
This was stated by Expert Communicologist Emrus Sihombing at the Klik Indonesia Evening program with the theme “Maintaining Ethical Democracy” at a National TV station, in Jakarta, Wednesday (02/08) evening.
According to him, every country has and adheres to a democratic system, but the implementation is not the same. Indonesia does not adhere to liberal democracy, but democracy based on Pancasila values. So a recognized democracy is a civilized democracy.
“Every country must have and adhere to a democratic system, but the implementation is not the same. We do not adhere to liberal democracy, but are based on Pancasila values. It contains the word civilized, so the democracy that we recognize is civilized democracy,” he said.
Civilization itself is in accordance with the values that exist in Indonesia, including ethics, politeness and respect for others. It must be separated between productive criticism and criticism wrapped in an agenda.
“I see that there is a diction that has emerged recently that is not quite right, this is an example of democracy going too far, such as the diction ‘stupid bastard’. Of course, what is conveyed with diction like that does not fit at all,” said Emrus.
According to him, from the point of view of communication science and other sciences, of course the message is very inappropriate, the application of science cannot be separated from the values prevailing in society. Rocky Gerung often expresses unproductive criticism of President Jokowi.
“In communication, the communication messages conveyed are not free, they must be bound by certain values. If it is said that the diction ‘Bastard-Stupid’ is a form of expression of friendship. If it is said that it is an expression of friendship, I deny that from the point of communication semiotics, “he said firmly.
Emrus added that the dictions built by Rocky Gerung so far have positioned himself as superior and others as inferior, others as inferior to him. During this time he also continues to seek justification. Even though in KBBI, the meaning of ‘bastard’ is a criminal, is it appropriate to address the Head of State?
“In my view, that is looking down on other people. Not only President Jokowi, but Rocky also looked down on the viewers and himself. Whereas in communication we should have an egalitarian position and there is equality,” he added.
What Rocky Gerung said was not very good, especially now that Rocky is justifying it, even though if you check the meaning behind it with the narration and context he is communicating, then it is self-defense.
“Rocky forgot that in communication messages, symbols and meanings can change. So the meaning should not be interpreted in terms of its history, but it must be seen from the shift in meaning and the context of the communication. The communication that took place there had absolutely no context of friendship,” said Emrus.
Rocky Gerung’s communication messages were unproductive and dangerous. Therefore, it would not be wrong for Rocky Gerung to apologize to the public and to President Jokowi. What he said was offside, outrageous and an uncivilized message.
“Anyone who speaks in a public space, Rocky Gerung must be careful because whatever is conveyed in a public space cannot be taken back because it will leave an imprint on the cognition map so communication must be conveyed carefully,” he concluded. [*]
