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49Copyright © 2023 by Cherkas Global University
Published in the USA
International Journal of Media and Information Literacy Issued since 2005 E-ISSN 2500-106X 2023. 8(1): 145-167
DOI: 10.13187/ijmil.2023.1.145 https://ijmil.cherkasgu.press
Exploring the Image of Indonesia in International News Media through a Comparative Analysis of Leading News Websites from the World
Ibtesam Mazahir a , b , *, Yuyun Wahyu Izzati Surya b, Safeena Yaseen a, Junaid Ansari c
a Bahria University Karachi Campus, Pakistan b Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia c Institute of Business Management, Pakistan
Abstract
The media's role in shaping public opinion is evident through several studies done on the subject previously. Media also tends to influence audiences' perceptions and the country's image. The purpose of this study is to explore the portrayal of Indonesia in international news media. This study examines the identification of the Indonesian image as depicted by the international community (the international news media's perspective is chosen for this case). Comparative content analysis is performed to examine three international news websites to study the perception of the world towards Indonesia.
Findings reveal that Indonesian Politics is the most mentioned topic portrayed by the media in three countries followed by Indonesian State Actors as the most quoted source of information. Similar patterns were found while framing news about Indonesian image in Qatar and United States. Both countries portrayed Indonesia with a negative valence while Singapore portrayed Indonesia more positively and neutrally.
This research potentially contributes to providing an overview of Indonesian image in foreign countries to actors responsible for national branding or Public Diplomacy in general. In future, this research can be used to develop the concept of nation branding or Public Diplomacy strategy, especially towards the United States, Qatar, and Singapore. Finally, recommendations for future studies on suitable national branding practices for Indonesia are suggested in this study.
Keywords: media, portrayal, framing, content analysis, Indonesia, news, websites.
1. Introduction
Indonesia is the only G-20 member among Southeast Asia countries. In the recent past, the country has decided to restore its leadership role within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN (Sukma, 2011; Widiyana, Djatmiko, 2019). These authors further state that Indonesia wants to be recognized globally by fostering itself as the world's third-largest democracy, the largest modest Muslim-majority country, and as a 'bridge-builder' and a 'problem-solver' in the overall global community. Therefore, Indonesia is considered a potential market for investment as it has become one of the most attractive tourist destinations (Weatherbee, 2019). Furthermore, the analysis of the World Investment Potential Survey (WIPS) suggests that developing economies and tourist destinations are subject of importance for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). However, the top five tourist destinations haven't changed drastically in recent years but eventually, the interest of host economies has shifted over time.
* Corresponding author
E-mail addresses: ibtesam.mazahir@gmail.com (I. Mazahir)
The economies of developing Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Taiwan have remarkably increased since the active participation of FDI in these destinations. However, in late 2011 and early 2012 when Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service raised the country's sovereign-credit rating to investment grade, that was the time when international investors were attracted to Indonesia. Eventually, these investors were further attracted by the Strong consumer demand, steady economic growth, and ample supply of natural resources in the country. Therefore, the term "MINT" was coined by economist Jim O'Neill for the emerging economic giants, and it refers to Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey respectively. As chosen by 25 million users of the social travel network WAYN, Indonesia stands as one of the top seven tourism destinations in the world, and the data was selected by using the method of market research and tracking user engagement data of the website (Widiyana, Djatmiko, 2019).
Thus, keeping the above points in account this research aims to measure how international news media has captured Indonesia's image in different geographies. As per the literature stated above this study is expected to provide lessons for the development of Indonesia's national branding strategy in the future. This research will answer questions about how Indonesia's image is depicted in foreign news media, and how it differs among countries. Therefore, Indonesia's image at the international public level is not the scope of the study, rather this study focuses on this phenomenon at the country level. To look at international news media portrayal of Indonesia, this researcher has considered three theoretical underpinnings, namely, Nation Image that explain the dimensions influencing the country's reputation. Secondly, this study has looked at it through the lens of International World Information, this concept highlights the flow of information and the factors that affect this flow. Thirdly, this research has used the concept of framing in its simplest form to describe how mass media portrays events.
2. Materials and methods
Content analysis is a type of research method in which the researcher interprets and replicates the texts and "other meaningful matter" according to the context of the study. Moreover, the "other meaningful matter" indicates that artwork, pictures, maps, voices, signs and symbols, and even statistical data are also included as part of content analysis. Content analysis is to analyze the text to answer the research problem. However, this analysis is based on several other factors, such as centralizing, sampling, coding, data sorting, interpreting context, and narrating the answer according to research queries (Krippendorff, 2013).
Thus, news articles from three foreign news media have been analyzed to identify the portrayal of Indonesia. However, this study utilizes cross-cultural comparative content analysis. In a nutshell, the Cross-cultural comparison describes the differences and similarities among mass media analysis within different-cultural contexts. This concept coincides with the study that stated that the "possibilities for the uses of content analysis are to reveal international differences in communication content; detect the existence of propaganda; identify the intentions, focus or communication trends of an individual, group or institution; and determine the psychological or emotional state of persons or groups" (Berelson, 1952). To conduct content analysis, this research has used the research tool "codebook" for the coding of samples i.e., news articles. This coding sheet is divided into two parts: Formal categories that record the formal information of the news article and Content categories consist of variables derived from the research questions.
Formal categories
In this category, media characteristics and news articles are coded. It covers basic information about the article, such as page section, story size or the number of words, article number, the title of news, publishing date, country of origin of the media (the United States, Qatar, and Singapore), website (CNN, Aljazeera, Channel News Asia).
Content categories
Content categories are composed of many variables that are divided into five sections to comprehensively analyze the portrayal of Indonesia in news. These categories are respectively; news values, news topics, source of information/quoted actors, visual illustration (pictorial representation), and associating terms.
News values
The term news values are operationalized as the newsworthiness of events related to Indonesia that are covered in the international media. The coding sheet is comprised of nine news values namely, magnitude, clarity, ethnocentricity, consonance, surprise, elite-centeredness,
negativity, human interest, and composition. It is identified through the codebook what news values are present in the news article.
News topics
This section aims to identify the topics of the news article. The coding sheet includes topics based on six possible dimensions (physical dimension, financial dimension, leadership dimension, cultural dimension, social dimension, and political dimension) that portray the nation's image. Besides the topic identification, this research also aims to know if these dimensions of each topic constitute a news share. This coding sheet also analyzes if each dimension of every topic is present in news. Moreover, the valence of the full article is measured along with the dimensions. By valence, it means the tone of the news is either comforting (positive) or alarming (negative). It could be both comforting and alarming at the same time (ambivalent) and neither positive nor negative (neutral).
Source of information
The coding sheet of this section is based on the codes of quoted actors in the article. To analyze these actors, "four categories of possible actors" are developed in the codebook, these actors are: (1) Indonesian news source, Indonesian actors quoted in the media coverage, (2) domestic news source, actors of the same origin as news media, (3) international news source, actors other than Indonesia and respective news media country, (4) transnational actor, quoted actors in the media coverage that represent the transnational entity. The possible actors in categories (1), (2), and (3) are mainly government officials, politicians, businessmen, NGOs, associations, experts, spokespersons of a company, journalists, common citizens, and others. However, category (4) has specific actors who are related to politics (e.g., UN, EU, ASEAN), military (e.g., NATO), NGOs (e.g., Greenpeace), and others. The three most quoted actors in the articles are included in the coding sheet.
As stated in the Research questions, every quote will be analyzed in terms of its valence (whether it is positive, negative, neutral, or ambivalent) and dimensions (physical dimension, financial dimension, leadership dimension, cultural dimension, social dimension, and political dimension). The concept of quote valence and dimension is applied to each quoted actor.
Associating terms
This section aims to cover the list of terms used in a news article to address Indonesia. The coding sheet has twelve categories of "associating terms". These categories are; economic rise (e.g. South East Asia's top economy, emerging market, rising economy, booming economy, etc.), a poor economy (e.g. poorer region), natural disaster (e.g. earthquake, volcano eruption, ring of fire), environmental problem (e.g. forest fire, illegal burning, etc.), host of the international event (e.g. APEC host, Miss World host), government misconduct (e.g. corruption, bribe, etc.), country product/commodity (e.g. palm oil, Luwak coffee, etc.), Natural resources (e.g. diverse ecosystem), Population (e.g. the most populous Muslim nation), poor infrastructure (e.g. threadbare public transport system, the decrepit prison system, etc.), social movements (e.g. separatist, militant, etc.), and democracy (e.g. robust democracy). To analyze associating terms researchers had to count the frequency of each term that appeared in the text and categorized it accordingly in the codebook.
Country Selection
Geographical proximity and media systems play an influential role in how news media frames and portrays the image of another country. The research sample of this study is comprised of three countries that have different physical proximity. The sample is focused on how mass media structures information in these three countries namely, the United States (US), Qatar, and Singapore. However, the selection of the sample is based on each country's involvement in Indonesia's economic development. The sample countries share the same financial condition that is categorized as high-income economies by the World Bank. Following is the explanation of each country (Chang, 1998; Hiebert, Gibbons, 2000).
United States
The United States, being a superpower, has an influential role in world affairs including Indonesia. The United States has created numerous joint ventures with Indonesia in many fields such as food security, environment, peacekeeping, trade and investment, education, science and technology, and global health initiative. As per the records of 2012, the US has the fourth-highest investment in Indonesian trade. The main reason for the selection of the US in this study is to represent western countries. The United States has a Libertarian media system. The study of the
Libertarian media system is based on the concept that individual rights are more important as compared to the state, culture, and organizational rights as a whole. This concept further says that public media should be completely free from the government's supremacy and should be governed by the public. Furthermore, this theory explains the purpose of this media system is not only to earn capital but also to work as a watchdog for unequal power distribution in government and corruption (Hiebert, Gibbons, 2000).
Qatar
On the contrary, Qatar is chosen to represent the Middle Eastern zone. Qatar and Indonesia share the same religious background, as both of them are Muslim-majority countries. However, besides having the same official religion, Middle Eastern countries are a great source of investment in Indonesia's economy. As reported by Indonesia's Central Statistics Agency, the Data, and Information Center of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia, tourists from the Middle East have increased in size in 2013 as compared to the report of 2012. Moreover, tourists from the Middle East in Indonesia spend more money on their vacation as compared to other countries of ASEAN; Asia, Europe, America, Oceania, and Africa. Qatar is also a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). However, it is a constitutional monarchy, but its political system is more liberal than other Gulf countries. Qatar's media is free from the government's monopoly since they lifted the ban on media censorship and eradicated the Ministry of Information in 1998.
Singapore
However, Singapore is chosen for the sample because it shares the same geological location as Indonesia. Besides having the same physical location as both countries, Singapore has the highest investment ratio in Indonesia which supports the economic growth of the country. Singapore's investment in Indonesia is 4.9 US dollars, followed by Japan (US $2.5 billion), South Korea (US $1.9 billion), the U.S. (US $1.2 billion), and Mauritius (US $1.1 billion).
Moreover, the radio and TV in Singapore fall under the government institution. The government of Singapore falls under the 'authoritarian regime' that sees press freedom as less important than the purpose of a sitting government. Media in Singapore is under the constant pressure of official restraints and government policies that curb its freedom to write news related to national interest and public harmony (Chiu, Pyun, 2019).
Authors have highlighted a research problem that how in the United States the mainstream media influences the political knowledge of the audience, the study concluded that people seek news primarily from print media, and those who are not active learners of political news acquire this through TV. The less interested audience gets the news from TV. On the contrary, the newspaper is mainly read by those who seek political news in detail. Newspapers are more authentic and have in-depth follow-up stories of political events. However, the influence of TV appears to be stronger than in previous research. Another study found that at the national level TV indulges in stronger framing and agenda-setting than the print media. However, newspapers have stronger framing at the local and confined level (Chaffee, Frank, 1996).
Therefore, to achieve the research objective this researcher has selected to analyze the leading TV news channel of the respective country. The list includes Channel News Network (CNN) on behalf of the United States, Al-Jazeera used for Qatar, and Channel News Asia (CNA) for Singapore. These media outlets were selected not only because of prominence but because they portray the ideology of their respective region such as CNN representing the United States, Al-Jazeera portraying the middle eastern perspective, and lastly CNA portraying the point of view of Asia.
Channel News Network (CNN)
The origin of CNN lies in the US, and it was founded by media conglomerate Ted Turner, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. CNN is often indicated as CNN/U.S. to differentiate between CNN America and CNN International. CNN being the leading TV news channel has bureau offices and correspondents throughout the world. The media is well-known to represent US and western perspectives and it is the leading news in America since 1980. Therefore, CNN achieved global presence by giving 24/7 news coverage to major newsworthy stories such as Tiananmen Square and 9/11 coverage. CNN has not only emerged as a leading broadcast industry but media studies all over the world are also affected by this news channel. The term "CNN effect" was coined when numerous researchers such as (Livingston, 1997; Robinson, 2002) studied the CNN effect. It also stated that the idiom of the 'CNN effect' has summarized the idea that communication technology can incite key reactions of public and political entities to international happenings.
Al Jazeera
The reason for the selection of the Al Jazeera channel as the population sample in this study is that it is one of the leading news channels in Qatar. However, the data from the Gallup poll found that Al Jazeera is the most-watched channel in Arab countries. According to the findings, media audiences from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Lebanon prioritize Al Jazeera to know the international happenings. This data suggests that Al Jazeera in the Arab world is considered an authentic news source (Zayani, 2005).
The origin of Al Jazeera dates back more than fifteen years ago, as the first-ever independent news channel in the Arab for unbiased reporting in the region. Al Jazeera's headquarter is in Qatar. This news media has emerged as a primary source of the regional voice in global media (Wu, 2013). This study coincides with the study results of studies conducted by other scholars as well. These scholars believe the emergence of al Jazeera has damaged the hegemony of western news media and its coverage as Al Jazeera is seen as the rival of CNN as an international source of information. There are two prime reasons for Al Jazeera's success, firstly it originated in a region with most media censorships and restrictions, and secondly because the audience of the region needed a channel to express their frustration and a network to stand up against the authoritarian and totalitarian Arab government. However, seeing the growing significance of Al Jazeera in Arab representation, academics are interested in studying the "Al Jazeera Effect" (Bahry, 2001; Wu, 2013; Lynch, 2006).
Channel News Asia
CNA is an all-news TV channel, it is headquartered in Singapore and on-aired in the English language. It is Set up by Singapore's MediaCorp in 1999 (it is the leading media company in Singapore with the most platforms such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, digital media, and outdoor advertising). The news channel shows the latest information and advancement to provide a local worldview from Asia to an International audience (Natarajan, Xiaoming, 2003). CNA is publicized as the most important channel from Asia in the global arena along with the wider range of satellites in the Asian region (Wu, 2013).
However, considering its growing importance in framing the "Asian View" several academic kinds of research have been conducted on the comparison of Channel News Asia to CNN and Al Jazeera. Furthermore, scholars have argued that CNA has a striking format as compared to CNN and CNBC Asia, and thus it is fair to see it as an all-news channel after them. Likewise, another study aims to discover if CNA can provide the Asian perspective and insider insight, by comparing it to Al Jazeera (Natarajan, Xiaoming, 2003; Wu, 2013).
Moreover, another explains that online information and virtual communication have made drastic changes in society, it has changed the production, verification, and dissemination of news. Now, news outlets need to adapt to this change to survive in society, for this purpose most news media is shifting to online media and IPS (Internet Presence Site). Few of them have made news websites (e.g., CBS's Marketwatch) and portal services (e.g., NBC's Snap.com) (Chan-Olmsted, Park, 2000). However, this shift has added the element of direct and speedy interactivity between the audience and medium (Seo, 2013).
Therefore, while probing the content and structures of news channels' websites another research revealed that the new media is safe, and news channels are restructuring and re-purposing their news products for online platforms (Chan-Olmsted, Park, 2000). Therefore, this study assumes that the website and TV news channel's content is similar and for this purpose, this research has focused on the news website of selected television channels in respective countries: CNN (www.cnn.com) in the U.S.; Aljazeera (www.aljazeera.com) in Qatar; and Channel News Asia (www.channelnewsasia.com) in Singapore.
Thus, the data is taken from an article downloader application Lexis Nexis that helped to download sample news articles from three news websites (stated above). The time frame of sample size ranges from January-November 2022. The time range is deliberately selected to analyze the current affairs covered by the media. Data was collected from the archive section of each news website by using the keywords of "Indonesia" or "Indonesian". In a nutshell, Table 1 reveals the sample size consists of 1804 news articles. However, data is sorted under various conditions to make it a valuable and proper research sample. The pre-conditions of the sample are:
The article language should be English, every article other than English is excluded from the sample. The article should have at least 75 % discussion about Indonesia. Articles with fewer keywords and small and indirect discussions about Indonesia have been ignored. The 75 %
discussion is the minimum requirement for a reliable sample to have an accurate analysis. Articles based on personal opinion are treated as a sample. However, it shows a personal view, but it has already passed through the criteria of the editorial board. There is a great chance that readers are influenced by an opinionated article on the portrayal of Indonesia. Repetitive articles have been ignored. These are articles that have 75 % content similarity with already covered articles. After sorting out the articles, according to the above-mentioned conditions, 610 articles were obtained out of 1804 articles. These are respectively; 66 articles from CNN, 52 articles from Al Jazeera, and 492 articles from Channel News Asia.
Table 1. Distribution of news samples representing the U.S, Qatar and Singapore
TV News website origin TV News website Retrieved articles Relevant articles
United States www.cnn.com 150 66
Qatar www.aljazeera.com 202 52
Singapore www.channelnewsasia.com 1052 492
Total 1804 610
However, a training session was conducted before actual data collection to familiarize the researcher with a coding sheet. Initially, the researcher coded 10 % of the articles in the training session and then penned down the problem to understand the codebook during the process. Moreover, the coding sheet was also revised after the training session. Extra coding guides and more examples were added afterwards to improve understanding of the code.
The research quality of quantitative content analysis lies in the validity and reliability of the research. By validity, it means codes measure what they should measure, and reliability refers to that to what extent a similar method produces the same results on repeated trials (Neuendorf, 2002). In other words, reliability measures if identical content is coded in the same way by the researcher. However, to ensure reliability, a pre-test was conducted before data collection. Intra-coder reliability was conducted as all samples are coded by the researcher himself. 15 % of the sample was randomly selected to conduct intra-coder reliability. The researcher coded the articles based on the coding sheet, with a time difference of two weeks. In the following two weeks, the researcher coded repetitive articles.
After conducting intra-coder reliability, Holsti's coefficient was calculated. The reliability in terms of the percentage of agreement has been determined through Holsti's coefficient. Scholars have explained that percent agreement is also known as a simple agreement, percentage of agreement, raw percent agreement, or crude agreement. In the percent agreement, all coding decisions are made by pairs of coders on which the coders agree (p. 590). Thus, the percent agreement has a value of .00 (no agreement) to 1.00 (perfect agreement). Additionally, a minimum reliability coefficient of 0.80 or greater is acceptable in Holsti's formula for content analysis (Lombard et al., 2002; Wimmer, Dominick, 2006).
The result shows that the codebook has a Holsti coefficient of .89, which means that the coding sheet is reliable. A reliable result has been achieved for both the formal and content categories. The formal category has a coefficient of 1.00 that shows a perfect agreement. While the content category coefficient is 0.86. Nonetheless, there are seven variables out of 59 variables that have obtained low-reliability coefficient, respectively: news values magnitude (.72), subtopic leadership (.66), overall news valence (.77), the valence of leadership dimension (.69), most quoted actor 1 (.77), the valence of actor 1's quote (.66), valence of actor 2's quote (.77). However, each variable is extensively explained in the coding sheet along with results of a variable. The aim to explain variables is to enhance the researcher's understanding of those variables and to improve their reliability.
Before the coding procedure, another pre-test was conducted to identify a list of associating terms (Research question 1e of the research at hand). There are several steps involved in identifying news frames referring to "associating terms" (Tankard, 2001). These steps are taken to "elaborate the range of possible frames, to add these frames in a list, make keywords, catchwords and symbols to distinguish each frame, use frames as per categorization in content analysis, and get coders to code articles of each category". The researcher has selected 15 % of articles randomly21
as a pre-test sample to apply these steps into the study. The associating terms found in articles are distinguished by keeping in mind the 11 focal points suggested by (Tankard, 2001). These points involve; headlines and tickers, subheadings (small headlines over the main headlines), pictures, photo captions, leads (the beginning of news stories) source of information, quotes selection, pull quotes (quotes that are blown up in size for emphasis), logos (graphic identification), statistics, charts, graphs, and conclusion of the article. However, the researcher has grouped similar meanings into one category from the list of associating terms i.e., found in a sample. These categories of associating terms are then added to the coding sheet.
3. Discussion
Good image and reputation are important for nations along with products and companies, it is by no means only restricted to brands and organizations (Passow et al., 2005). He further argues that countries nowadays are more concerned with their image in comparison to other countries and they are taking effective measures to manage their reputations (Mariutti, 2019; Mariutti, 2017). Therefore, a country's reputation strongly influences the flow of international capital (Kunczik, 2001). Well-reputed countries can provide a suitable setting for tourism, foreign trade, potential job market, and political relations (Anholt, 2008a). Therefore, managing a country's image is a basic concept in public diplomacy (Wang, 2006). However, in 1996 Simon Anholt devised the term "Nation Branding" that in simple terms is known as the management of national image (Pamment, 2018).
According to available literature, multiple factors create the nation's image (Moffit, 1994; Martin, Eroglu, 1993). Yang and fellow scholars have summed up the available frameworks into two types of individual experience i.e., Personal and Second-Hand experience. He further added that Personal experience is based on travel, usage of products, cultural activities, and interacting with the international public at an individual level. However, Second-Hand experience comes from secondary and global sources of communication e.g., mass media that in simple terms means that you also learn from others' experiences rather than your own (Yang et al., 2008).
Therefore, several studies argue that the external public's worldview is parallel to mass media coverage that coincides with the concept of second-hand experience stated above. Few other scholars have explained in their study that News exposure is the ultimate key to international knowledge/experience, and it also shapes the viewers' perception (Golan, 2008; McDevitt, Chaffee, 2000). However, news exposure shapes the audience's perceptions of coverage of a well-reputed nation or the country they have smooth relations with (McNelly, Izcaray, 1986). Another study found that the public perceives the countries with the most coverage as beneficial for national interest (Wanta et al., 2004). However, foreign affairs coverage by the media also shapes a nation's image in another nation (Kunczik 2003). To expand the above findings, authors like Entman indicate that "several actors" are involved in media framing to influence the public, including presidents, chief foreign policy advisers, elites, and the media itself (Entman, 2004).
Moreover, several researchers have also discussed the influence of media in public diplomacy and nation branding practices and this concept explores how framing by several media outlets is influencing public opinion and perception (Nisbet et al., 2004; Rehman, Johnston, 2019; Soroka, 2003; Wanta et al., 2004). However, according to the theorization of 'image' formation, the international news media has the power of injecting popular opinion and world view into the masses (Lippmann, 1949).
In his study, Wilke, observed that over time as the mass media became influential the coverage of newspapers changed the 'world's image' in four European and North American countries. Moreover, he argued that the media creates political consequences based on the "Psychological Reality" that is shown to the audience (Wilke, 1987; Lippmann, 1922). The Dependency Hypothesis proposed identifies that news is the major and sometimes the only source of the public's perception of the world. Thus, the above literature signifies that it is high time to see how mainstream media portrays foreign countries (Lippmann, 1922).
Moreover, several studies have extensively explained the power of news media in framing any nation's image in the masses (Ball-Rokeach, DeFleur 1976; Brewer et al., 2003; Edelstein, 1993; Livingston, 1997; Manheim, Albritton, 1984; Palmgreen, Clarke, 1977; Perry, 1985, 1987, 1990). Thus, a lot of literature is available on the topic of media portrayal of foreign countries, but these are about the image of developed countries and popular cultures such as the United States (Atwood, 1987; Larson, 1984; Rubin, 1979) and Europe (Gavin, 2000; Kevin, 2003; Tsuruoka,
2006, 2008; Chaban et al., 2009). Meanwhile, literature available on the media portrayal of developing countries is very rare. Thus, this study is being conducted to enrich empirical data on Indonesia on this particular topic. It would be interesting to know how a developing country, namely Indonesia's image, is portrayed in developed countries through mass media.
Additionally, according to the first stage of the Competitive Identity program, it is important to analyze the current image of the country and to know how and why it needs to be changed. He presented the three point's framework. Firstly, a country needs to be introduced if it is unknown to a target audience; secondly, the country needs to target more accurately if it is known to the "wrong audience"; and thirdly, the nation needs to work on its "false image" known to the audience. Therefore, it is important to analyze Indonesia's image in current circumstances (Anholt, 2007).
Source of information (actor), quotes, visual illustration, associating terms.
Magnitude, clarity, ethnocentricity, consonance, surprise, elite-centeredness, negativity, human interest, composition, location reporting, actuality
Fig. 1. Exploring the image of Indonesia in context of news framing, news topics and news worthiness.
Research Questions
RQ1. How is Indonesia portrayed in international news media of the world?
RQ2. What are the similarities and differences in news coverage of foreign countries in Indonesia?
This study proposes a research model as mentioned in Fig. 1 based on the concepts derived from the literature review and research questions. To analyze the foreign media portrayal of Indonesia, this research has incorporated the framework to find each dimension of the country's image depicted in news. For this purpose, this study possesses the concept of the RI-Fombrun Country Reputation Index (CRI), which looks at a country's image from six dimensions, namely: Emotional dimension, Physical dimension, Financial Dimension, Leadership dimension, Cultural dimension, and Social Dimension. To propose the best possible theoretical underpinnings this study has excluded the emotional dimension and has added the factor of the political dimension (Passow et al., 2005).
4. Results
During the time frame of January - November 2022, 610 news articles were found discussing Indonesia on three international television news websites (www.cnn.com, www.aljazeera.com,
www.channelnewsasia.com). The most coverage of Indonesia is found on www.channelnewsasia.com, with several news article 492 (80.8 % of total articles). It is followed by CNN and Aljazeera, with 33 (10.9 %) and 52 (8.6 %) news articles respectively.
Fig. 2. Distribution of news articles covering Indonesia in international news media websites (N = 610)
The finding on the uneven distribution of news covering Indonesia in three different countries confirms the world information flow, which stated that countries in the world are not treated the same to be news in international communication (Chang, 1998). In this research, the news covering Indonesia retrieved from Channel News Asia, a Singapore-based television news website, marks the highest number compared to CNN (United States) and Aljazeera (Qatar).
600
500
400
300
200
100
140
124
84 82
tteflji. j
location negativity magnitude elite clarity surprise consonance human composition actuality ethno -
reporting centeredness interest centricity
Fig. 3. Frequency of news values covered in the international news in threecountries (N=2,212)
Another interesting finding is that news values including negativity, magnitude, and elite-centeredness are found to be relatively higher than other news values. In other words, news stories about Indonesia in the three countries mostly highlight conflict, issues with a large impact, and prominent persons or institutions. However, "ethnocentricity" was least presented among all news values; news reflecting the audience's cultural experience is the least found in overall countries.
2
0
The more events that satisfy the criteria (news values) mentioned, the more likely that they will be registered as news. A one-way between-subjects ANOVA was conducted to compare the number of news values per an article in three different countries (Galtung, Ruge, 1965).
The result shows that there is a significant difference in the average news values per article at the p<.05 level among the three countries [F (2,302) = 9.57, p = 0.000]. Post hoc comparisons using the Tukey HSD test indicated that the mean score for the United States (M = 3.67, SD = 1.19) was significantly different than Qatar (M = 4.46, SD = 1.27).
Similarly, the mean score for Singapore (M = 3.5, SD = 0.98) was also significantly different than Qatar (M = 4.46, SD = 1.27). However, the mean score of the United States did not significantly differ from Singapore.
This finding suggests that Qatar media present more news value criteria than the United States or Singapore. However, although the average news value in the United States is slightly higher than in Singapore, it does not appear to be significantly different.
Table 2. Mean of news values per article in three different countries (N = 610)
Country N Mean (SD)
United States 66 3.67 (1.19)
Qatar 52 4.46 (1.27)
Singapore 492 3-5 (0.98)
Total 610 3.63 (1.06)
Looking specifically at each country, the researcher coded whether or not a specific news value is present within each news article. Every single news value present in all article are counted, and further, total news values in each country are ranked. As seen in Table 3, negative news values are consistently one of the most constructed news values within the news depicting Indonesia in all three countries. Although it is not always directly referring to Indonesia, negativity still dominates the news selection or construction in all three countries.
These findings support the claim that negative news will be preferred to positive news for several reasons which also relate to other news values: (a) Negative news satisfies the frequency criterion better, as it needs less time (Galtung, Ruge, 1965). As an example, a social trend (positive) takes place over a long period compared to murder (negative); (b) Negative news will more easily be consensual and unambiguous in terms of the agreement on the interpretation of an event as negative; (c) Negative news is said to be more consonant; and (4) Negative news is more unexpected compared to positive news, in terms of its rarity and less predictability. Covering several other news values, it can also be argued that the probability of a negative appearance in the news will be relatively higher than other news values. Relating this finding to television, it is argued that the conflict (negativity) format drives the selection and presentation of political news and news of controversial issues. Further, "without a conflicting format, the event cannot be news because journalists cannot satisfy notional fairness required by most codes of practice for broadcasting or statements of principle regulating and guiding press behavior".
Table 3. Ranking of news values constructing news about Indonesia in three different countries (N = 2,212)
United States (N = 242) Qatar (N = 252) Singapore (N = 1738)
Negativity (20.7 %) Negativity (20.7 %) Location reporting (27.6 %)
Location reporting (19 %) Location reporting (18.1 %) Negativity (18.9 %)
Magnitude (14 %) Magnitude (14.7 %) Magnitude (18.8 %)
Actuality (9.9 %) Actuality (12.1 %) Elite-centeredness (13.6 %)
Elite-centeredness (8.3 %) Elite-centeredness (10.3 %) Clarity (6.7 %)
Surprise (8.3 %) Human interest (9.5 %) Surprise (5.4 %)
Human interest (8.3 %) Surprise (4.3 %) Consonance (4.3 %)
Clarity (6.6 %) Composition (4.3 %) Composition (2.5 %)
Composition (2.5 %) Clarity (3.4 %) Human interest (2.3 %)
Consonance (1.7 %) Consonance (2.6 %) Actuality (0 %)
Ethnocentricity (0.8 %) Ethnocentricity (0 %) Ethnocentricity (0 %)
Specifically in the United States, a consistent finding has been showing that US news media usually limit coverage of international news to events involving natural disasters and scandals (Golan, Wanta, 2003). In other words, Americans learn about mainly negative news from foreign lands (Masmoudi, 1979). Noting the statements from Golan and Wanta aswell as Masmoudi, it also seems relevant to the online news media format, as in this research it is found that negativity dominates the news coverage in the United States.
Similar to the United States, negativity is also found to be the most news value presented in Qatar. Meanwhile, location reporting dominates the news selection criteria in Singapore. However, as for Qatar (or the Middle East in general) and Singapore, there is no specific research has been acknowledged that discusses how news values are presented in the respective media. The closest relevant research is the study by authors Kheirabadi and Aghagolzadeh, which explore news factors in Iranian Newspapers. Their study found that reference to elite people (mostly top-ranked politicians) and consonance are the most frequent news factors in Iran's journalistic atmosphere. However, the study was only limited to Iran, and cannot be generalized to the Middle East region, and thus cannot be used to support or undermine the findings of this research (Kheirabadi, Aghagolzadeh 2012).
Amongst all news value criteria, ethnocentricity seems to be less important in the news selection process in all countries. The result shows that ethnocentricity becomes the least presented news value found in the United States, Qatar, and Singapore media. One of the possible explanations for this finding could be that in the current era, propaganda is the least preferable method for Public Diplomacy (a country's effort to influence opinions and actions to advance their interests and values to other countries).
The news about Indonesia in three countries presents a varied topic. Each topic shares a different amount of coverage in the media as mentioned in Figure 4. Most news articles present political topic (31.8 %), which covers the political condition of Indonesia, its international relations with other countries, the stability of political environments, and its political history. Further, news about Indonesia's products and services, infrastructure, and its people (physical dimension) is being the second most covered topic in the media (24.9 %). It is followed by news about the Indonesian government (leadership) as much as 17 %, Indonesia's economic condition (15.7 %), its social condition (5.9 %), and its culture (4.6 %).
physical financial leadership cultural social political
dimension dimension dimension dimension dimension dimension
Fig. 4. Representation of topics covering Indonesia in international news media (N = 610)
Besides the main topic, this research also analyzes to what extent the six dimensions of the national image were presented in the news supporting the main topic. As presented in Figure 5, the result shows that leadership is the most constituting dimension to the image of Indonesia in the news (38 %), followed by the political dimension (16 %) and physical dimension (16 %), financial dimension (14 %), cultural dimension (8 %), and social dimension (6 %)
45% 40%
35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%
38%
16%
16%
14%
=B=
8%
■ 6%
z=B
physical financial leadership
dimension dimension dimension
cultural social political
dimension dimension dimension
Fig. 5. The representation of the nation's image dimension in the news as a subtopic(N = 474)
In general, news about Indonesia was mostly represented in neutral valences (29.8 %) Toget a detailed picture of how each nation's image dimension is presented in the news, this study also measured the valence of each dimension in each news article. The results from Table 4 show that physical and social dimensions are mostly reported in negative valence (62.3 % and 69 % respectively); financial and leadership dimensions are mostly reported positively (39.5 % and 67.4 % respectively); while cultural and political dimensions are mostly reported in neutral valence (82.8 % and 36.2 % respectively).
To compare news topics in three different countries, a Chi-square test was conducted. The results from Table 5 show that news topics are significantly different among countries (x2(df=io) = 34.24, p < .001).
Compared to other dimensions, the physical dimension is the most reported in the United States (60.6 %) while in contrast, the financial dimension was the least (3 %). Subsequently, Qatar and Singapore share a similar pattern in terms of the most and least reported news topic; political news is dominant in these two countries (38.5 % and 33.3 % respectively), while the cultural dimension is the least reported in Qatar (o %) and Singapore (4.9 %).
Table 4. News valence per dimension in percentage (N = 1016)
Valence Physical dimension (N = 212) Financial dimension (N = 152) Leadership dimension (N = 282) Cultural dimension (N = 58) Social dimension (N = 58) Political dimension (N = 254)
Positive 16 % 39.5 % 67.4 % 17.2 % 17.2 % 28.3 %
Negative 62.3 % 26.3 % 12.1 % 0 % 69 % 25.2 %
Ambivalent 16 % 30.3 % 14.2 % 0 % 0 % 10.2 %
Neutral 5.7 % 3.9 % 6.4 % 82.8 % 13.8 % 36.2 %
From the elaboration above, it can be seen that news topics presented in Qatar and Singapore media portrayed the general findings; Indonesia's political condition is the most reported topic and culture is the least. However, media in the United States shows a different distribution of topics than other countries, which presents the highest portion of news about Indonesia's physical dimension and the least of financial dimension.
How certain topic is presented in the news media can influence the audience's perspective towards certain issues. In other words, the news tone of how the topic is presented in the news determines Indonesia's image in the eyes of the international public. A Chi-square test was conducted to compare overall news valence in three different countries.
Table 5. The amount of Indonesia's nation image dimension represented in the news topic within three countries (N = 610)
Dimension United States Qatar Singapore Total
Physical dimension 60.6 % 26.9 % 19.9 % 24.9 %
Financial dimension 3 % 3.8 % 18.7 % 15.7 %
Leadership dimension 9.1 % 19.2 % 17.9 % 17 %
Cultural dimension 6.1 % 0 % 4.9 % 4.6 %
Social dimension 6.1 % 11.5 % 5.3 % 5.9 %
Political dimension 15.2 % 38.5 % 33.3 % 31.8 %
The results from Table 6 show that, in general, news about Indonesia is presented with neutral valence (29.8 %).
Looking more detail into each country, news with negative tones is mostly found in the United States (33.3 %) and Qatar (50 %); while neutral news valence is mostly found in Singapore (31.7 %). However, based on the Chi-square test, the news valences do not statistically differ among countries. The percentage difference in this result may be because of the different amounts of samples in each country.
The finding in Table 6 resonates with the findings in the news values section, which shows that negativity dominates news coverage in the United States and Qatar.
Table 6. Representation of News Valence about Indonesia in three countries (N=610)
News valence United States Qatar Singapore Total
Positive 18.2 % 7.7 % 18.7 % 17.7 %
Negative 33.3 % 50.0 % 22.0 % 25.6 %
Ambivalent 27.3 % 19.2 % 27.6 % 26.9 %
Neutral 21.2 % 23.1 % 31.7 % 29.8 %
The same explanation could also be relevant within the news valence context. First, negativity comprises several other news values (clarity, consonance, and surprise), thus that the probability of negativity appearing in the news will be relatively higher than other news values. Second, previous studies suggested that the United States limit its coverage to negative events on foreign news which makes those studies still relevant to the findings of this research (Golan, Wanta, 2003; Masmoudi, 1979).
The selection of sources quoted in the news by the media is one of the lists of framing devices (Tankard, 2001). To answer one of the research questions, this study aims to identify ranges of actors quoted in the news about Indonesia in the United States, Qatar, as well as Singapore. For each article, this study coded the three most quoted actors. Coding 610 articles as samples, all in all, 430 actors were found. These actors fall into four categories: (1) Indonesian actors, actors that are from Indonesia;
(2) Domestic actors, actors who are from the same country as the news media being analyzed;
(3) International actors, actors who are from the other country than Indonesia and the origin country of the news media being analyzed; (4) Transnational actor, organization that represents a
transnational entity. A Chi-square test was conducted to see if there is a statistical difference among actors quoted in the news among three different countries as discussed in Table 7.
The result shows that there is a significant difference in quoted actors among countries (x2(df = 12) = 26.47, p < .009). Generally, Indonesian actors are the most quoted source of information on the international television website, comprising 40.2 % state actors and 22.6 % non-state actors. A Chi-square test was also conducted to compare the topic quoted by Indonesian state actors (N = 171) and the valence of their quote (x2(df = 18) = 144.41, p < .000). Overall, Indonesia state actors' quoted leadership dimension (38.2 %). Further, the leadership dimension (N = 67) is mostly presented with positive valence (66.7 %). A similar test was also conducted on Indonesian nonstate actors (x2(df = 14) = 18.42, p < .188).
In overall countries, Indonesian non-state actors (N=99) was also found to give statement mostly regarding leadership dimension (35.1 %). Interestingly, within the leadership quote topic by the Indonesian non-state actors (N=35), the most found valence is negative (38.2 %). However, the result on Indonesian non-state actors is found to be insignificant, which means that the quote valence is not statistically different among quote topics.
Table 7. Most quoted actors in the news within the three countries (N = 862)
Actors United States (N = 112) Qatar (N = 69) Singapore (N = 681) Total (N = 862)
Indonesian state actor 30.4 % 29.4 % 42.9 % 40.2 %
Indonesian non-state actor 16.1 % 32.4 % 22.6 % 22.6 %
Domestic state actor 3.6 % 0.0 % 3.8 % 3.5 %
Domestic non-state actor 7.1 % 0.0 % 4.7 % 4.7 %
International state actor 19.6 % 8.8 % 14.7 % 14.9 %
International non-state actor 14-3 % 14.7 % 8.5 % 9.8 %
Other actors 8.9 % 14.7 % 2.6 % 4.4 %
Looking into detail to each country, Indonesian actor is also being the most mentioned source of information in each country. Indonesian state actors dominate in the United States and Singapore (30.4 % and 42.9 % respectively), while Indonesian non-state actors dominate in Qatar (32.4 %). In contrast, quotes from domestic state actors are found to be relatively low compared to other actors in every country; the United States and Qatar domestic state actors are the least quoted (3.6 % and 0 % respectively) in the news.
Further, the most quoted actor in each country is analyzed in more detail. In the United States media, Indonesian state actors mostly quoted neutral valences and presented issues regarding Indonesia's physical dimension (33.9 %, x2(df=42) = 75.36, p<.001). As covered by Qatar media, Indonesian non-state actors mostly quoted statements with negative valence and presented leadership dimensions. In Singapore media, Indonesian state actors are mostly quoted positive valence (45.2 %, x2(df=24) = 70.15, p<.001), and similarly to Qatar, discussing leadership dimension (40.4 %, x2(df=42) = 156.22, p<.001).
To be reliable, news has to present a credible news source. Reporters select sources for what they know, their position in an organization, and/or their status in society, which is according to the norms and practices of their news organization (Kurpius, 2002). Sources selection is also heavily based on the topic discussed in the news. It can also be interpreted that Indonesian actors are considered the most credible news source for international news media. This finding aligns with the 'cascading activation model' by Entman, which suggested that "government (the president and top advisors) enjoy the most independent ability to decide which mental associations to activate and the highest probability of moving their own thoughts into general circulation" (Entman, 2004).
Further, the high frequency of Indonesian state-actor as news sources in international news media can be related to the news topic. The finding of this research shows that the news regarding Indonesia's political dimension is dominating in overall countries, and also found to be the most reported news topic in Qatar and Singapore. The political dimension, which refers to activities that relate to influencing actions and policies of the government or getting and keeping power in a
53.2%
1 20.2% 14.8%
-1 „% ■ 3.4°% 4.9%
physical financial leadership cultural social political
dimension dimension dimension dimension dimension dimension
Fig. 10. Dimension of main visual illustration presented in the news about Indonesia(N = 408)
government and also the activities of governments concerning the political relations between states, is closely related to government or state actors. Thus, selecting an Indonesian state actor as a source on Indonesia's political dimension becomes relevant.
Analyzing visual illustration, it is interesting to identify how visual illustrations represent each nation's image dimension in the news. Overall, there are 408 main visual illustrations and 12 supporting illustrations were found in the sample. The amount of supporting illustrations is found to be very small compared to the main visuals, thus the analysis of visual illustration will only concentrate on the main visuals.
Figure 10 shows that the most of visual illustrations in the news portrayed the physical condition of Indonesia (53.2 %). Looking more detail into how they differ in each country, every country presented the same result; the physical condition of Indonesia is the most portrayed dimension in the main visual illustration (79.2 % in the United States, 42.9 % in Qatar, and 50.6 % in Singapore). However, a Chi-square test result shows that there is no statistical difference in the dimension of the main visual illustration among the three countries (x2(df=i0) = 11.65, p<.309).
The physical dimension in this study refers to Indonesia's infrastructure, products or services, and natural resources. One of the reasons why this dimension dominates visual illustration might be because it is costly to obtain visuals on foreign news, and media corporations demand larger profits. Visual illustrations of Indonesia's infrastructure may be considered neutral, in terms of their applicability to support any news topic.
Subsequently, it is also relatively easier to obtain (such as from image bank sources, news agencies, or correspondents), and less costly. Foreign correspondents can obtain any city landscape, for example, without being fully aware of the topic and national news interest. Besides the dimension of visual illustration, this study also aims to identify the valence of visual illustration in international news. In general, news about Indonesia is presented with neutral visual illustrations.
50.0
40.0
43.8
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
29.1%
24.6%
2.5%
positive
negative
ambivalent
neutral
Fig. 11. The valence of the main visual illustration in the news about Indonesia (N = 408)
Further, the valence of each dimension of visual illustration was elaborated. A Chi-square test shows that the valence of visual illustration is significantly different among dimensions (x2(df=is) = 31.3, p<.008). As the physical dimension is the dominating the visual illustration, it is interesting to pay attention to its valence. Most physical dimensions are presented in neutral valence (48.1 %), although the percentage of negative valence is also quite high (35.2 %). In another dimension, neutral valence also constitutes the biggest share in three dimensions: finance (42.9 %), culture (71.4 %), and politics (46.7 %). On the other hand, visual illustrations with leadership dimensions are mostly presented positively (41.5 %), while visual illustrations with social dimensions are mostly negatively presented (70 %).
Table 8. The valence of each dimension in visual illustrations (N = 230)
The valence of Visual dimension Physical (N = 108) Financial (N = 7) Leadership (N = 41) Cultural (N = 7) Social (N = 10) Political (N = 30) Total (N = 230)
Positive 14.8 % 28.6 % 41.5 % 28.6 % 30.0 % 33.3 % 24.6 %
Negative 35.2 % 28.6 % 17.1 % 0.0 % 70.0 % 16.7 % 29.1 %
Ambivalent 1.9 % 0.0 % 4.9 % 0.0 % 0.0 % 3.3 % 2.5 %
Neutral 48.1 % 42.9 % 36.6 % 71.4 % 0.0 % 46.7 % 43.8 %
Another Chi-square test i.e Table 9 shows that the valence of visual illustrations differs significantly among countries (x2(df=6) = 20.32, p<.002). Although neutral visual illustration dominates overall visual illustration, neutral visual illustration as the most visual valence reported among other valences is only found in Singapore (43.8 %). Meanwhile, visual illustrations with negative valence are dominating in the United States and Qatar (37.5 % and 42.9 % respectively).
Looking into more detail on the dominating valence in each country, it is also interesting to identify to which dimension the valence of visual illustration is referring. It is found that the negative valence of visual illustrations in the United States are addressing physical dimensions (100 %); the negative valence of visual illustrations in Qatar are mostly addressing physical and political dimensions (33.3 % for each dimension); while neutral valence of visual illustration in Singapore is mostly addressing physical dimension (56.6 %).
Table 9. The valence of main visual illustration in the news in three countries (N=408)
Valence of visual illustration US (N = 49) Qatar (N = 43) Singapore (N = 316) Total
Positive 25 % 19 % 25.3 % 24.6 %
Negative 37.5 % 42.9 % 25.9 % 29.1 %
Ambivalent 4.2 % 14.3 % 0.6 % 2.5 %
Neutral 33.3 % 23.8 % 48.1 % 43.8 %
The result found in the visual illustration aspect resonates with the finding on the news topic and overall news valence. It shows that the visual illustrations presented by the media in all countries correspond to the main topic. Likewise, the valences of visual illustration in all countries also reflect the overall news valence.
Analyzing how Indonesia is depicted in the news, it is also interesting to find out the terms or labels that are used by the media to address Indonesia in the news. To analyze this dimension, two steps of the coding procedure were conducted. First, coding involves 15 % of total samples and a recorded list of terms or labels stated by the media in the news to address Indonesia. From the list of available terms, twelve groups of associating terms were developed, which later are incorporated into the codebook. The second coding involves a total sample of 305 news articles. In the second coding procedure, each associating term in an article is counted, and further, the frequency of associating terms that appear in the article is coded.
Overall, the most mentioned term that is used to address Indonesia in the news falls into the economic rise category, which praises Indonesia's economic condition. The second most used terms fall into the environmental problem category, which belittles Indonesia's environmental condition. The third most used term to associate Indonesia in the news is within the natural disaster category, which in the news is often associated with Indonesia's location within the "Ring of Fire". In contrast, democracy is the least used term to address Indonesia in international news.
Table 10. Categorization of associating terms
Category Associating Terms
1. Economic rise Southeast Asia's biggest economy, a large and resilient economy, a best-performing country in G20, the world's third largest middle class, emerging economy
2. Economic inferior poor(er) country
3. Natural disaster Earthquake, volcano eruption, Ring of Fire
4. Environmental problem Forest fire, illegal burning, illegal land clearance, deforestation, Southeast Asia's most smog outbreak
5. Host international events APEC host, host of Miss World
6. Government misconduct World's most graft-ridden countries, corruption, bribe
7. Country product World's top exporter of steam coal, resource-rich, world's biggest supplier of palm oil, world's most expensive coffees
8. Natural resources World's most diverse ecosystem, the tropical forest
9. Population The most populous Muslim nation
10. Poor infrastructure the threadbare public transport system, the decrepit prison system, dilapidated public transport system, ageing infrastructure, Asia's worst aviation safety records
11. Social movement Muslim radical protest, separatist, terror
12. Democracy Asia's largest democracy, robust democracy
Democracy Economic Inferiority Poor infrastructure country product Social movement Natural resources Host of international event Government misconduct Population Natural Disaster Environmental Problem Economic Rise
18 20 J 22 22 22
32 34
I
58
72
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
6
8
0
Fig. 12. Representation of associating terms addressing Indonesia in international news
Looking specifically into each country in Table 11, the most addressed associating terms in the United States and Qatar media is within the environmental problem. Indonesia's environmental problems especially deforestation, habitat loss, and forest fire become major attention in the United States and Qatar. Meanwhile, the most associated term used in Singapore to address Indonesia is in the economic rise category. Singapore media often address Indonesia with the term praising its economic condition, such as "Southeast Asia's top economy", "emerging economy", "biggest economy in Southeast Asia", etc. On the contrary, associating the term in the democracy category is consistently the least addressed to Indonesia in the international news.
Table 11. Ranking of associating terms in each country
United States Qatar Singapore
Environmental Problem (38) Environmental Problem (22) Economic Rise (108)
Natural Disaster (26) Government misconduct (14) Natural Disaster (30)
Economic Rise (4) Population (8) Population (22)
Natural resources (4) Economic Rise (4) Social movement (20)
Population (4) Natural Disaster (2) Host international events (18)
Host of the international event (2) Host of an international event (2) Government misconduct (18)
Country product (2) Economic Inferiority (0) Country product (18)
Poor infrastructure (2) Country product (0) Natural resources (18)
Social movement (2) Natural resources (0) Poor infrastructure (16)
Economic Inferiority (0) Poor infrastructure (0) Environmental Problem (12)
Government misconduct (0) Social movement (0) Economic Inferiority (8)
Democracy (0) Democracy (0) Democracy (6)
However, it is interesting to note that international media portrayal of Indonesia is different in each country. To analyze how international television websites have portrayed Indonesia in the news; five main concepts are evaluated in the research as mentioned in Table 12.
First, this study has analyzed a variety of news values that are followed by mainstream media in the US, Qatar, and Singapore in selecting issues or events in Indonesia. The United States and Qatar have presented negativity related to Indonesia meanwhile, location reporting is the most recurring news value found in Singapore media.
In the Second concept, the researcher has analyzed the dimensions of the country's image presented in the news. News in the United States has mostly presented the physical dimension of Indonesia. The physical dimension includes its infrastructure, products, natural resources, etc. On the contrary, the media in Qatar and Singapore have mostly covered the political dimension of Indonesia. In this dimension, they have covered political status, Indonesia's relationships with other countries, and the strength of political environments.
However, the Third category analyzes the quoted actors in the relevant news sample and for this purpose, the dimension of nation image has been used. Indonesian state actors are mostly quoted as a source of information in news media of Singapore and the United. While the Qatar media portrays the non-state actors of Indonesia as the source of information. Thus, quote valence varies between countries; the US has mostly quoted Indonesian state actors in natural valence. On the other side, in Qatar media, Indonesian non-state actors are mostly quoted negatively, and Indonesian state actors are quoted positively in Singapore media. Therefore, US media has mostly portrayed physical dimensions of quotes, and quotes mentioned in Qatar and Singapore media are mostly addressing the leadership dimension.
The second last and Fourth concept analyzes pictorial representation in news among different countries. The United States and Qatar media have mostly used negative tones in visual representation. Contrary to this, Singapore media has used a neutral tone in its pictorial representation of Indonesia. Remarkably, these different valences of pictorial representation are indicating the physical dimension of Indonesia.
In the last and Fifth concepts, this dissertation found the associating terms with Indonesia that international media has used in news. In the United States and Qatar, the most used terminology to address Indonesia is "environmental problem", which includes illegal logging and deforestation, illegal land clearing, etc. In contrast, Singapore media has mostly used the "economic rise" phrase for reference to Indonesia in the news.
Table 12. Construction of Indonesian image by international news media
No Research Question United States Qatar Singapore
1a News values Negativity Negativity Location reporting
1b Topic Physical dimension Political dimension Political dimension
News valence Negative Negative Neutral
1c Most quoted actor Indonesian state actor Indonesian non-state actor Indonesian state actor
Quote valence Neutral Negative Positive
Quote topic Physical dimension Leadership dimension Leadership dimension
1d Associating term Environmental problem Environmental problem Economic rise
A specific pattern of framing has been identified from the analysis of research findings. The media of the US and Qatar shows a similar pattern of Indonesia's portrayal. The factor of negative valence is commonly observed in the media of these countries, such as negative news values, negative overall news valence, negative pictorial representation, and negative associating terms. On the contrary, the news media of Singapore shows the neutral and positive valence of Indonesia.
The neutral portrayal is observed from a great number of location reporting and its news values, neutral overall news valence, and neutral valence of visual illustrations. Furthermore, Singapore media has used the most positive associating terms about Indonesia that shows the
positive coverage of Indonesia in Singapore. CNA has usually praised the economic condition of Indonesia. Qatar and Singapore share a similar pattern of topic interpretation. They usually consider the political and leadership dimension of Indonesia as important for news coverage. However, the media of the US is more interested in covering the physical dimension of Indonesia, as the finding shows that it is the most repeated and reported news topic with quotations and visual illustrations.
5. Conclusion
Overall, news about Indonesia in all media was mostly composed of the news value of 'location reporting'. However, the most covered topics in the media are found related to politics, these are presented with neutral valence. Subsequently, physical and social dimensions are mostly portrayed in negative valence, financial and leadership dimensions have a positive depiction, and the cultural dimension was mostly described in neutral valence. The finding of theme-quoted actors in news shows that the foreign media consider the Indonesian state actors as the most reliable source of information. It concludes that quotes of concerned leadership dimension are mostly portrayed with positive valence. Therefore, most news outlets have portrayed the physical dimension of pictorial representation in a neutral way. To finalize conclusion, this research concludes with the fact that the news media has labelled Indonesia with terms related to 'economic rise'. Some of these terms are Southeast Asia's biggest economy, emerging market, large and resilient economy, etc.
However, according to the second question similarities and differences among news coverage of selected countries were identified. These results show that the United States and Qatar portray the Indonesian image in a similar pattern as most of the news portrayal of Indonesia in these two media groups is of negative valence. On the other hand, the Indonesian image is reported more positively and neutrally by Singapore media. However, this pattern of Indonesian portrayal leads to numerous explanations. The first point could be that regardless of shifting patterns of communication technology; economics, politics, geographical closeness, and cultural similarity is still the most relevant factor in the flow of international news. Secondly, the national media system also contributes to a depiction of Indonesia in international news media.
Therefore, two recommendations are suggested based on the findings of this research for Nation Branding practices in Indonesia. First, the research findings show that political, physical, and leadership dimensions are dominating the creation of Indonesia's national image in foreign news media. In the meantime, social, cultural, and financial dimensions are relatively less reported in selected countries. The physical and social dimensions were mostly depicted in negative valence, financial and leadership dimensions have positive reporting, whereas the cultural and political dimensions are mostly portrayed in neutral valence. However, because of this conclusion, it is suggested to Nation Branding practitioners of Indonesia pay attention to these dimensions while structuring branding strategies. This can be achieved by sustaining the current state of the economy and leadership dimension, and by enhancing the political and cultural dimension for positive depiction, and there is also a need to improve Indonesia's physical and social dimensions for at least neutral or positive coverage.
For the Second suggestion, the finding of the current study shows that the Indonesian state actors are the most quoted as a source of information. Their media talk contributes to building the Indonesian image in foreign media. For this purpose, the state actors should have a basic knowledge of national branding. It will make them able to give accurate and thorough statements to the media while responding to actual issues. To achieve this objective, the head of state, cabinet ministers, and other state actors should be given proper training related to the principles of competitive identity. It is also recommended to coach them in the process of plan/strategy development and execution.
However, this research holds numerous limitations due to fewer resources and time restraints. The research sample is based on only three countries. That doesn't make it a representative sample of overall news media and thus the results cannot be generalized. This study has only analyzed the news coverage within a year or less. The analysis based on larger data could have given more insightful results. The present research is only focused on one specific media type, these are news websites or TV channels. This does not include the analysis of the news on-aired on the television itself. Thus, the findings are only concerning website context, which means that the researcher has not observed the comparison between TV and website news.
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