National and international online media framing of Prabowo-Gibran’s victory in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election: A corpus-assisted lexical analysis

This study aims to analyze the framing used by national and international media in reporting the victory of Prabowo–Gibran in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. The focus of this study is to examine how the media can influence public perceptions of political events. Different ways of reporting may shape how people interpret the results of an election. This study compares national and international media to identify similarities and differences in their coverage. There are two problems in this study: (1) What lexical words are used in national and international media coverage of Prabowo–Gibran’s victory in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election? and (2) How do these lexical words reflect the framing of their victory by national and international media?
This study uses a mixed-method approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative method is supported by corpus linguistics, while the qualitative method applies the framing theory proposed by Robert N. Entman (1993). The data were collected from online news articles published between February 14 and March 24, 2024. Corpus tools were used to identify frequent lexical words, while the researcher conducted qualitative analysis to interpret their meanings based on four framing elements: problem definition, causal attribution, moral evaluation, and treatment recommendation.
The results show that both national and international media use similar words to describe political actors and the election process. However, national media tend to use words that emphasize legitimacy and support, while international media use more critical language related to controversy and Prabowo’s past issues. Both types of media describe the victory as strong and decisive, but they explain its causes differently. National media focus on campaign strategies and social media influence, whereas international media highlight rebranding efforts and Prabowo’s past background. In evaluation, national media present the victory in a positive way, while international media present a more negative perspective. Overall, lexical choices play an important role in shaping how media frame political events, as different word choices can lead to different interpretations of the same event.