How to commit PR Seppuku


Update: Senayan City’s PR officer Sri Ayu Ningsih tells Republika that Senayan City is saddened by Retno’s death and denies having said that the victim should have considered jumpin off elsewhere.

Was she misquoted? Did the journalist fabricate all those quotes? Is she guilty of denying something she said? Is the journalist guilty of fabricating her quotes or misquoting her? Can we get some answers? Perhaps we need a readers’ poll here:



This is the Republika story filed just before 1pm today. (Thanks to Aulia for alerting Unspun to this article)

JAKARTA–Pihak pengelola Senayan City kembali menegaskan keprihatinannya atas peristiwa bunuh diri Reno Fadillan Hakim (25 tahun). Warga Patal Senayan itu mengakhiri hidupnya dengan melompat dari lantai lima mal Senayan City, Senin (30/11) malam lalu.

Humas Senayan City, Sri Ayu Ningsih, mengatakan pihaknya sangat menyesalkan insiden tersebut. Ayu juga membantah bahwa dirinya pernah menyesalkan dipilihnya Senayan City sebagai lokasi bunuh diri, seperti dimuat Republika Online Selasa (1/12) lalu. “Saya tidak pernah mengatakan hal demikian,” ujarnya kepada Republika, Kamis (3/12).

“Yang pasti kami (Senayan City) sangat prihatin atas kejadian yang menimpa Reno. Bahkan, setelah ia terjatuh dari lantai lima, kami langsung membawanya ke RS Pelni. Kita juga sudah mengurus segalanya dengan pihak kepolisian,” tegas Ayu kepada Republika, Kamis (3/12). Sebelumnya, seperti dikutip Republika, Sri mempertanyakan dipilihnya Senayan City sebagai lokasi bunuh diri. c08/irf

Earlier posting….

If you understand Indonesian then gasp in indignation at what the public relations officer of Senayan City has to say about the suicide death of a 25-year old man, Reno, in the shopping mall on Monday.

If you don’t then you need to know that the PR officer said that Senayan City regretted the incident…and then goes on to ask rhetorically:” Why should reno kill himself in Senayan City and not somewhere else such as a bridge, an overpass or another tall building.”

And there is more: She goes on to say that according to her Reno was out to cause a sensation.

Perhaps they should change Senayan City’s abbreviated name from Sency to InSency instead?

(via @mistimaitimoe)

Pengelola Senayan City Sesalkan Tindakan Bunuh Diri Reno

By Republika Newsroom

Selasa, 01 Desember 2009 pukul 18:43:00

JAKARTA–Tindakan nekat Reno Fadillan Hakim (25 tahun) yang melompat dari lantai lima ke lantai satu disesalkan pengelola Senayan City. Aksi bunuh diri Reno dinilai berbau sensasi.

“Sebetulnya saya sangat menyesalkan insiden yang tadi malam. Kenapa Reno harus memilih bunuh diri di Senayan City, tidak mencari tempat lain seperti jembatan, jalan layang, atau gedung tinggi lainnya,” ujar Humas Senayan City, Sri Ayu Ningsih, Selasa (1/12).

Seperti diketahui, Reno, warga Patal Senayan, nekat mengakhiri hidupnya dengan melompat dari lantai lima Senayan City tadi malam (Senin) pada pukul 20.15 WIB. Akibat aksi nekatnya itu ia pun terjatuh tepat di atas karpet hitam yang ada di lantai satu Senayan City. Kendati tidak tewas seketika di tempat, akhirnya Reno menghembuskan nafas terakhirnya di RS Pelni.

“Menurut saya, si Reno terkesan mencari sensasi. Sampai saat ini belum diketahui sebab pastinya kenapa dia melakukan aksi nekat itu. Kalau dari CCTV (alat pemantau) kita sih dia terlihat sengaja menjatuhkan diri setelah keluar dari resto Takemuri di lantai lima,” tukas Ayu.

Meskipun merasa sedikit dirugikan akibat ulah Reno, namum Ayu mengatakan, akan tetap berkoordinasi jika kepolisian meminta keterangan dari pihak pengelola Senayan City. “Kita juga sudah menyerahkan CCTV sejak tadi malam ke Polsek Tanah Abang. Berbagai keterangan juga sudah kita berikan ke pihak kepolisian. Bahkan, saksi mata, customer service, security kita dan pengunjung mal sudah menjalani pemeriksaan polisi. Yang pasti, bagi kita saat ini kasus sudah selesai,” tambah Ayu. c08/rif

via Republika Online – Pengelola Senayan City Sesalkan Tindakan Bunuh Diri Reno.

Another conversation on this topic is also at Talking Points: Senayan City PR Fiasco: Time to raise the bar for PR?

12 thoughts on “How to commit PR Seppuku

Add yours

  1. A couple of things:
    1. If it indeed was true, Senayan City should release a statement distancing them from that statement.
    2. If it was a misquote from the newspaper, this is where things could get tricky. Denying the statement could be seen as covering up her mistake. An apology from the newspaper could be construed as being made to clean up her mess.

    What do you thing Ong?

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  2. @paman: no it is not difficult, not necessarily to say something nice but empathic in sudh situations.

    @aulia: Agree with #1. If #2 then Sency Management should suspend or fire her. Acknowledge that what was said was insensitive and inappropriate; apologize for it; send their condolences to the family and also outline the measures they are taking to avoid such bluners in the future. Companies sometimes do not realize that people can firgive a mistake if you’re contrite; but they’ll never forgive an attempt at denial or defensiveness.

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  3. Wow, of all the insensitive things people say, I think this is in the top 10 that I’ve ever read.
    Not only was she insensitive but she could have shown a little, no, a LOT more compassion. She is a PRO for God’s sake! Silly girl.

    Like

  4. @Aulia: Yeah, yeah blame me for your typos…

    @Miltu @rima: well, Sency managment through the same PR officer has denied that they ever made the comment. Which is all very strange because the denial was carried by Republika online as well and Republika said nothing. If their journalist had misquoted or fabricated the quote, Republika should apologize; if the journalist had done nothing wrong then they should have said that they stuck by their journalist. Unless, of course, if Sency is a large advertiser….

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