The portrayal of Rohingya refugees in Indonesian news media: A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis

Imam Munandar, Yunie Amalia Rakhmyta, Rahmanita Zakaria, Sungkawati Kardi Wahyuningsih

Abstract


This research investigated the representation of Rohingya refugees stranded in Aceh province in the Indonesian news media during the four-year crisis between 2020 and 2023. The study aimed to examine how Rohingya refugees were represented in the media during the crisis using the Critical Discourse Analysis and the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA). The research employed a mixed method analysis to analyse the corpus data of 46,769 words extracted from 62 news articles published in two mainstream Indonesian publications, namely the regional Serambi Indonesia and the national Jakarta Post, between June 24, 2020, and March 27, 2023. Using corpus linguistics and Van Dijk’s CDA, the research uncovered four prominent argumentation strategies used in the media to portray the refugee crisis. Serambi Indonesia and the Jakarta Post utilised the Humanitarianism and Administration argumentation the most, concentrating on precarious conditions and efforts to handle the influx of refugees. Nevertheless, the local daily Serambi Indonesia used some Threat/Danger argumentation, portraying refugees as dangers and threats to local safety. The study further reveals how the media’s alignment with the government agenda is decisive for the press to construct public narratives. The narrative is expected to influence people’s attitudes and behaviours toward refugees in the province of Aceh.

Keywords


Aceh province; corpus linguistics; critical discourse analysis; discourse historical approach; Rohingya refugee’s crisis

Full Text:

PDF

References


Alfiyah, N. I. (2018). Peran pemerintah Indonesia dalam upaya membela pelanggaran hak asasi manusia oleh Myanmar terhadap etnis Rohingya [The role of the Indonesian government in efforts to defend human rights violations by Myanmar against the Rohingya ethnic group]. Dialektika: Jurnal Ekonomi Dan Ilmu Sosial, 3(2), 43-52. https://doi.org/10.36636/dialektika.v3i2.153

Al Farisy, I.H., & Mandarani, V. (2020). Textual Analysis of Rohingya Crisis in CNN News. International Journal on Integrated Education, 3(5), 72-75. https://doi.org/10.31149/ijie.v3i5.434

Alunaza, H., & Juani, M. K. (2017). Kebijakan pemerintah Indonesia melalui sekuritisasi migrasi pengungsi Rohingya di Aceh tahun 2012-2015 [Indonesian government policy through securitization of Rohingya refugee migration in Aceh in 2012-2015]. Indonesian Perspective, 2(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.14710/ip.v2i1.15535

Aluthman, E. (2019). A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of the discursive representation of immigration in the EU referendum debate. SSRN Electronic Journal, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3308245

Ancarno, C. (2020). Corpus linguistics. In Gillings, M., Mautner, G., & Baker, P. (Eds). Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (Elements in Corpus Linguistics) (pp. 165–185). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009168144.

Baker, P. (2012). Acceptable bias? Using corpus linguistics methods with critical discourse analysis. Critical Discourse Studies, 9(3), 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2012.688297

Baker, P. (2018). Language, sexuality and corpus linguistics: Concerns and future directions. Journal of Language and Sexuality, 7(2), 263 - 279. https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.17018.bak

Baker, P., & McEnery, T. (2005). A corpus-based approach to discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in UN and newspaper texts. Journal of Language and Politics, 4(2). 197-226. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.4.2.04bak

Baker, P., & McEnery, T. (2015). Corpora and discourse studies; integrating discourse and corpora. Palgrave Macmillan.

Baker, P., McEnery, T., & Gabrielatos, C. (2007). Using collocation analysis to reveal the construction of minority groups: The case of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants in the UK press. Proceedings of the 4th Corpus Linguistics Conference (pp.1-12). University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Bartoszewicz, M. G., Eibl, O., & Ghamari, M. El. (2022). Securitising the future: Dystopian migration discourses in Poland and the Czech Republic. Futures, 14(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2022.102972

Brookes, G. (2014). Review of Partington, Duguid & Taylor (2013): Patterns and meanings in discourse: Theory and practice in corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS). International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 19(2), 292-300. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.19.2.07bro

Chen, M., & Zhou, H. (2022). Comparison-and-contrast in research articles of applied linguistics: A frame-based analysis. Lingua, 27(6), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2022.103387

Cheng, W. (2012). Corpus‐based linguistic approaches to critical discourse analysis. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0262

CNN Indonesia. (2022). Data BPS Aceh masih jadi provinsi termiskin di Sumatra [BPS data shows Aceh is still the poorest province in Sumatra]. CNN Indonesia. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20220202140455-532-754072/data-bps-aceh-masih-jadi-provinsi-termiskin-di-sumatra

Esses, V. M., Medianu, S., & Lawson, A. S. (2013). Uncertainty, threat, and the role of the media in promoting the dehumanization of immigrants and refugees. Journal of Social Issues, 69(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12027

Fitriani, S. S., Ananda, R., Irawan, A. M., Samad, I. A., & Weda, S. (2021). Representation of 212 rallies in the Jakarta post articles: A hybridity of CDA and SFL analysis. Studies in English Language and Education, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v8i1.16836

Gabrielatos, C., & Baker, P. (2008). Fleeing, sneaking, flooding: A corpus analysis of discursive constructions of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK Press, 1996-2005. Journal of English Linguistics, 36(1), 5-38. https://doi.org/10.1177/0075424207311247

Isti’anah, A. (2019). Themes in southeast Asian newspaper headlines on Rohingya Issue: Critical discourse analysis. Register Journal, 12(2), 181-205. https://doi.org/10.18326/rgt.v12i2.181-205

Kitishat, A. R., Kayed, M. Al, & Al-Ajalein, M. (2020). A Corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordanian newspapers. International Journal of English Linguistics, 10(6), 195-201. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v10n6p195

Lin, P., & Adolph, S. (2023). Corpus linguistics. In The Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics (2 ed.). Routledge.

Macaulay, L., & Deppeler, J. (2020). Perspectives on negative media representations of Sudanese and South Sudanese youths in Australia. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 41(2), 213–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2020.1724908

Mustafa, M., & Pilus, Z. (2020). #welcomerefugees: A critical discourse analysis of the refugee resettlement initiative in Canadian news. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2020-2004-03

Nurrahmi, F. (2022). Mediated representation of sharia in Aceh: A hybrid approach to media frames. Religions, 13(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090857

O’Doherty, K., & Lecouteur, A. (2007). “Asylum seekers”, “boat people”, and “illegal immigrants”: Social categorisation in the media. Australian Journal of Psychology, 59(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530600941685

O’Regan, V., & Riordan, E. (2018). Comparing the representation of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in the Irish and UK press. Journal of Language and Politics, 17(6), 744-768. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.17043.ore

Paksoy, A. F. (2022). The great Syrian exodus: A discourse-historical approach to Syrian asylum seekers in the Turkish press coverage (2011–2015). Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research, 15(1), 87-106. https://doi.org/10.1386/jammr_00042_1

Parker, S., Bennett, S., Cobden, C. M., & Earnshaw, D. (2022). ‘It’s time we invested in stronger borders’: media representations of refugees crossing the English Channel by boat. Critical Discourse Studies, 19(4), 348–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2021.1920998

Rashid, N. Z., & Saidin, M. I. S. (2023). ‘#SayNoToRohingya’: A critical study on Malaysians’ amplified resentment towards Rohingya refugees on Twitter during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Round Table, 112(4), 386-406. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2023.2244287

Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R. (2008). The discourse-historical approach (DHA). In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds). Methods of critical discourse studies (pp. 23-61). Sage

Saeed, A. (2007). Media, racism and Islamophobia: The Representation of Islam and Muslims in the media. Sociology Compass, 1(2), 443–462. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00039.x

Salahshour, N. (2016). Liquid metaphors as positive evaluations: A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the representation of migrants in a daily New Zealand newspaper. Discourse, Context and Media, 13, 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2016.07.002

Saldaña, J. (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Research. Second Edition. Sage.

Serafis, D., Greco, S., Pollaroli, C., & Jermini-Martinez Soria, C. (2020). Towards an integrated argumentative approach to multimodal critical discourse analysis: evidence from the portrayal of refugees and immigrants in Greek newspapers. Critical Discourse Studies, 17(5). https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2019.1701509

Sijani, N. (2023). A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the representation of Syrian refugees in Canadian newspapers. Discourse and Communication, 17(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813231156748

Taylor, C. (2021). Metaphors of migration over time. Discourse and Society, 32(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926521992156

UNHCR. (2023). Perkembangan terbaru mengenai pengungsi Rohingya di Aceh Indonesia [Latest developments on Rohingya refugees in Aceh Indonesia]. https://www.unhcr.org/id/16531-perkembangan-terbaru-mengenai-pengungsi-rohingya-di-aceh-indonesia.html

Van Dijk, T. A. (1993). Principles of critical discourse analysis. Discourse & Society, 4(2), 249-283. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926593004002006

Vestergaard, K. T. (2020). The battle for the public perception: how increases in asylum seekers and media framing affected the perception of the refugee crisis and support for additional measures across the left-right spectrum. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 28(4), 411–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2020.1773775

Vu, H. T., & Lynn, N. (2020). When the news takes sides: Automated framing analysis of news coverage of the Rohingya crisis by the elite press from three countries. Journalism Studies, 21(9), 1284-1304. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1745665

Wodak, R. (2009). The semiotics of racism: A critical discourse-historical analysis. In J. Renkema. Discourse, of course (Eds). An overview of research in discourse studies (pp. 311–326). Benjamins Publishing.

Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2009). The discourse-historical approach. Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. Sage.

Wodak, R., & Richardson, J. E. (2013). Analysing fascist discourse: European fascism in talk and text. Journal of Argumentation in Context, 2(3), 352-358. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203071847

Zhou, Y., & Shen, L. (2022). Confirmation bias and the persistence of misinformation on climate change. Communication Research, 49(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502211028049




DOI: https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v11i3.34839

Article Metrics

Abstract view : 0 times
PDF - 0 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Print ISSN: 2355-2794, Online ISSN: 2461-0275

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


View Journal Stats