Political News in Local Media
Content Analysis of West Nusa Tenggara Election News 2018 in Lombok Post and Suara NTB Newspapers
Abstract
There were four pairs of candidates running for West Nusa Tenggara Election 2018. They were Moh. Suhaili Fadil Thohir and Muh. Amin (number 1), Ahyar Abdu and Mori Hanafi (number 2), Zulkieflimansyah and Sitti Rohmi Djalilah (number 3), and Moch. Ali Bin Dachlan and Lalu Gede Muhamad Wirasakti Amir Murni or Ali-Sakti (number 4). Inevitably, they were competing for the publication space in the popular mass media in West Nusa Tenggara Province. However, the media were required to be fair in reporting all candidates. Any candidates were not allowed to control the publication on mass media. This study aimed to look at the fairness of two local media (Lombok Post and Suara NTB) in publishing all candidates of governor and vice governor in West Nusa Tenggara Province election 2018.
The method used in this research was quantitative content analysis with the purposive sampling. Technically, Lombok Post and Suara NTB newspapers were chosen because the two newspapers were the most popular in West Nusa Tenggara. Then, this research put the edition of February 15 – June 23, 2018, because the periods were the official campaign periods according to the West Nusa Tenggara Election Commision. Furthermore, the unit of analysis was selected referentially. All words that referred to the four pairs of candidates in the headlines on the front page (the most important part of the newspaper) were analyzed.
The results of this study indicated that both Lombok Post and Suara NTB were unfair in reporting (unbalanced) the four pairs of governor and vice governor candidates of West Nusa Tenggara election 2018. The two local newspapers seemed to favor certain pairs, namely Ali-Sakti. It could be seen from the coverage of the two newspapers on the headline page during the campaign periods of the election. In term of frequency, the two local newspapers reported Ali-Sakti pair more than their competitors.
