The Representation of LGBT in Indonesia’s International Mass
Media
A Case of the Jakarta Post
Wawan Gunawan and Meina Astria Utami
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideology, LGBT, Representation.
Abstract: The recent free press commitment of media and nation brings impacts on the way in which media select and
present a sensitive report such as on LGBT. This study is aimed at investigating the representation of LGBT
in Indonesia’s international mass media. The Jakarta Post as the most popular Indonesia’s international news
reports is the data source from which this study more specifically focuses on identifying how the news report
deploys language choices in reporting LGBT and how the choices give impacts on the meaning potentials.
This study employs a qualitative data collection and analysis design following the framework of Fairclough’s
three-dimensional approach to analysing texts. The analysis reveals that the Jakarta Post represents LGBT as
a more passive social group being discriminated and intimidated by several religious groups, society and
government officials; therefore, this position has gained supports from Human Rights activists. The Jakarta
Post also portrays LGBT as an acceptable identity and acknowledged phenomenon in Indonesia. The findings
suggest that the Jakarta Post promotes democratic values in which there is no exception for any social groups
including LGBT to be accepted as part of the Indonesian community by critiquing that the discrimination
serves as a means of intimidation.
1 INTRODUCTION
LGBT, according to American Psychological
Association (2015) is an acronym used to refer to
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. LGBT has
been widely accepted as a sexual and gender
orientation-based minority (Subhrajit, 2014; Pew
Research Center, 2013). As a minority group, the
presence of LGBT has raised many pros and cons
around the world. Especially in a country where
religion is put as a central, such as Indonesia, LGBT
is illegalized as none of the religious groups accept it
(Pursika, 2009). The rejection is always voiced by
national figures and religious communities (Human
Rights Watch, 2016). Despite the rejection, LGBT
shows its presence through LGBT activities such as
LGBT’s rally to gain equal rights in Yogyakarta on
February 23, 2016 (Jakarta Globe, 2016). This study
attempts to investigate the role of news reports in
taking up the issue of LGBT by analysing reports on
LGBT in The Jakarta Post, an Indonesia’s
international newspaper which has the potentials to
address and to be read by wider audience. This study
uses Fairclough’s three-dimensional concept in
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to allow an in-
depth analysis of formal properties of texts and
connects it to a broader social context that will unveil
representation, power, and ideologies.
1.1 Fairclough’s Three Dimensional
Concept
The three dimensional concept refers to Critical
Discourse Analysis in the perspective of Fairclough
(1995) which deals with the investigation of relation
between two assumptions regarding language use:
that language use is both socially shaping and shaped.
The process in which language is being socially
shaped is a very complex one, and Fairclough
proposes the term ‘mediation’ to describe the indirect
relationship between language use and society. In this
regard, he believes that language is a medium to draw
out beliefs, values, conventions and norms of society.
In the analysis of discourse, Fairclough (1995)
proposes three components to study a discourse:
description, interpretation and explanation. The
670
Gunawan, W. and Utami, M.
The Representation of LGBT in Indonesia’s International Mass Media - A Case of the Jakarta Post.
DOI: 10.5220/0007173006700675
In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference
on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 670-675
ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

three-dimensional model proposed by Fairclough
(1989) aims to help linguists conduct discourse
analysis critically. This model of Fairclough’s three-
dimensional concept can be seen in figure 1.
Figure 1: Three-Dimensional Concept in CDA.
As shown figure 1, description becomes one of the
three crucial components of Critical Discourse
Analysis. Fairclough (1995) argues that content of a
discourse cannot be analyzed properly without
analyzing the form, since what distinguishes one
content of discourse to another is the form. Analyzing
the forms allows the analysis of the relationship
between text and its processes of production in three
stages.
The next stage is interpretation stage, the
relationship between text and processes of production
and interpretation of a discursive practice is
interpreted (Fairclough, 1989). This aims to
investigate the connection “between text and
interaction by considering a text as the product of a
process of production, and as resource in the process
of interpretation (Fairclough, 1989).
Fairclough (1989) recommends six major
domains of interpretation levels. The first two levels
of domains refer to the situational context and
intertextual context. Meanwhile the four of them
relate to four levels of text interpretation, namely
surface of utterance, meaning of utterance, local
coherence and text structure and point (Fairclough
1995). For the connection between intertextual
context and situational context and textual
interpretation, Fairclough (1989) assumes that
interpretation is the combination of both levels.
The final stage of Fairclough’s three-dimensional
concept is explanation. This stage has two dimensions
that depend on whether the emphasis is upon
processes of struggle or upon relations of power
(Fairclough, 1989). He further explains that the
emphasis of process of struggle is contextualized in
terms of non-discoursal struggles and the effects on
structures. Meanwhile, there is an argument in the
emphasis of power relations that discourse is
determined by power relations. Fairclough (2012)
sees this explanatory part as a critique that seeks
causal factors (language is socially shaped and
shaping) of the emergence of a discourse that is
concerned with ideologies, beliefs and concern
manifested in the discourse that contribute to the
establishment, sustaining, and reproduction of social
orders and power relations. He further adds that “the
nature of such relations can vary between institutions
and organizations and in different places, and can
change over time; it needs to be established through
analysis” (Fairclough, 2012).
1.2 Transitivity
Transitivity is defined as a grammatical system in
which clauses are described as representations
(Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004). Halliday and
Matthiessen (2004) also claim that clause is the
central processing unit in lexico-grammar, in which
different kinds of meanings are mapped into an
integrated grammatical structure within it. They also
mention that the system of transitivity construes the
world of experiences into a manageable set of process
types, in which every type of process provides its own
model to construe a particular domain of experience.
This means that clause represents meaning or
experience. Fairclough (1995) views transitivity or
ideational function of language as a significant part
that constitutes systems of knowledge since
representation corresponds to ideational function.
In transitivity, there are three semantic categories
namely processes, participants and circumstances,
that are used to explain the representation of
phenomena in real world through linguistic
structures. Processes in transitivity, which are
realized by verbs, are considered central to the
analysis of transitivity. Halliday and Matthiessen
(2004) argue that clauses providing different types of
process, contribute distinctively to construal of
experiences in text. Thus, different process types
contained in text may produce reality or experiences
differently. In addition, Halliday and Martin (1996, p.
31) believe that process types build a world of action
where physical and biological entities act by
themselves, or on other things, and construe “a world
of semiotic activities in which typically conscious
entities negotiate meaning; as well as construe a
world of relationships among entities or “a world in
which things can be without doing”. These varying
construes of reality, according to Halliday and Martin
(1996), are represented through different types of
processes. As mentioned by Halliday and Matthiessen
(2004), there are seven types of processes, namely
material, behavioural, mental, verbal, relational,
existential, and meteorological.
The Representation of LGBT in Indonesia’s International Mass Media - A Case of the Jakarta Post
671

1.3 Media
Media play a significant role in society. According to
Philo and Happer (2013), the main role of media is to
inform the public about what happens in particular
areas in which audiences do not have direct
experience or knowledge. Another significant role of
the media is “to reinforce dominant social values and
norms that legitimize social system” (Gurevitch, et.
al., 2005). Corresponding to the role of media as a
means of the reinforcement of dominance in society,
Fairclough (1992) introduces the term ‘hegemony’ as
power of domination across economic, political,
cultural and ideological domains of a society.
Hegemony is power. According to Fairclough (1992),
hegemony is about constructing alliances, and
integrating rather than simply dominating
subordinate classes to win their consents. In addition
Fairclough (1999) comments on hegemony as
follows:
Relations of domination based upon consent
rather than coercion, involving the naturalization
of practices and their social relations as well as
relations between practices, as matters of
common sense; hence the concept of hegemony
emphasizes the importance of ideology in
achieving and maintaining relations of
domination. (p. 24)
Thus, hegemonies are produced, reproduced,
contested and transformed in discourse as well as
naturalized to be widely accepted (Fairclough, 1999).
In addition to the role of media as a medium for the
reinforcement of dominant social value and
legitimization of social systems, there is a tendency
that media are political. Hadeshian (2006) argues that
media is a political power and tool, occupied in a way
by the big powers, international corporations, big
agencies using for their political and economic
objectives that control and can pay. By considering
the presence of power and political bias existed in
media, it indicates that media are not neutral.
2 METHODOLOGY
The data of this study comprise four controversial
news reports with distinctive titles on LGBT issues of
nine-year time span (2008-2016), published by the
Jakarta Post. The selected news reports are published
in 2008 (the first published articles) and between
2015-2016 when the issue of LGBT was heated as
illustrated in figure 2.
Figure 2: The line chart of the 9-year time span (2008-2017)
of the published articles on LGBT in the Jakarta Post.
This study employs qualitative descriptive
research method involving three stages of analysis,
namely description, interpretation and explanation.
The first stage, description, explores the linguistic
features of the data that rely on Halliday’s transitivity
analysis. In interpretation stage, the description of
data is interpreted in terms of the meanings of process
types in which the quantity of process types serves as
the basis for the interpretation. In the third stage,
explanation, the interpretation of the data is
connected to a broader context of society in
Indonesia, including ideologies and power relations
embedded in the media.
3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 The Representations of LGBT
The Jakarta post tends to represent LGBT as a more
passive participant (e.g. as a goal, carrier, and
phenomenon) that is evident in the dominant
processes. Through the frequent appearance of
material processes (32%) LGBT is represented in a
way that LGBT is positioned as the target (LGBT as
a goal (23%) of intimidation and discrimination by
several religious groups, society and government
officials; therefore, this position has caused Human
Rights activists and several government officials to
defend them. From the choices of relational
processes, it can be seen that the Jakarta Post reports
LGBT as an acceptable identity in which LGBT is
defined by a carrier (18%) to attribute to it positively.
Meanwhile, the presence of negatives attributes given
to LGBT as stated by the media is to pint out the cause
of homosexual condemnation. The positive attributes
to LGBT is as seen on Table 1.
Table 1: Positive Attributes to LGBT
Carrie
r
Attributes
Homosexuality/
Homosexuals
natural, permissible within
Islam, no reasons to reject
homosexuals under Islam, not
enemy, no difference between
lesbians and non-lesbians, was
from God, equal
CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology
Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education
672

Another finding also suggests that the use of
mental processes for LGBT is mostly represented as
a phenomenon (26%), indicating that the presence of
LGBT is acknowledged in Indonesia that they should
be recognized, encouraged, protected, or accepted by
Indonesian society that includes TV programs, MUI,
as well as government (see Table 2).
Table 2: LGBT as Phenomena
Sensers Mental Processes Phenomena
A 2014 UN
Development
Program
repor
t
(called on
government) to
officially recognized
The existence of
LGBT people
KPAI Acknowledged The rights of the
members of LGBT
community
Was concerned with The increasing
numbers of LGBT
starring programs
So people Realize (LGBT must
b
e protected)
(Most of the
discussion regarding
LGBT community in
local media) is
focused on
encouraging
Hatred and
intolerance against
members of LGBT
community
Is respected Homosexual
groups in Bugis
Makasar tradition
called Bissu
KPAI Should instead
encourage
LGBT programs
Programs Could shed lights on LGBT
community
MUI Should embrace People for their
difference
Should get The fact that
LGBT exists in
Indonesia
3.2 The Hidden Ideology
Based on the choice of transitivity, the Jakarta Post
shows an attempt to democratize the readers in
responding to the issue of LGBT in Indonesia. This
claim is in accordance with Fairclough’s (2003)
explanation that ideologies are “representations of
aspects of the world which can be shown to contribute
to establishing, maintaining and changing social
relations of power, domination and exploitation”. The
claim relates to the way in which the Jakarta Post
shows its struggle for supporting the acceptance of
LGBT group as part of Indonesian community and
critiquing the intimidation towards LGBT.
Democratization or the act of democratizing is
defined as a way to mediate various social interests in
a particular community and to solve conflicts by
dialogues rather than by force of arms that focuses on
a wide range of human concerns and the protection of
human rights (Boutrous, 1996). This claim is
supported by the findings showing that the media
attempt to convince their readers to consider the
presence of LGBT as a marginalized group in
Indonesia.
Based on the transitivity analysis, the tendency of
the Jakarta Post in representing ideological agenda
can be illustrated in figure 3.
Figure 3: Practical Reasoning of the Jakarta Post.
The Jakarta Post claims that LGBT should be
accepted and protected in Indonesia. There are
several attempts made by the media in order to make
their claim acceptable and persuasive, i.e. through
The Representation of LGBT in Indonesia’s International Mass Media - A Case of the Jakarta Post
673

circumstances and goals. There are two goals
embedded in the news reports published by the
Jakarta Post. The representation of LGBT as a victim
that is defended by Human Rights activists and
several public officials as one of the circumstances
that lead to one of the goals, suggests that the media
tend to build up a judgment among their readers that
LGBT as a minority is vulnerable and discriminated
thus they should be defended. The overall goals
generally support the claim proposed by the media
that LGBT should be accepted and protected in the
country. Different from other findings (such as
Badgett et al., 2017), The findings of this study
indicate that the Jakarta Post represents LGBT in a
more positive way and position it as “victims”
discriminated by the public, religious groups, police
officers as well as government officials. The Jakarta
Post aims to present to its readers the representations
of LGBT only in the way it feels fit ideologically with
its orientations, agenda and ideologies. The
ideological stance of the media reflects Boutrous’
(1996) argument about democratic media as a free
press and a vehicle to promote open society in which
it can flourish, mediate and enable people to discuss,
debate, and express positions regarding particular
issues.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study unfold some interpretations
related to the representation of LGBT in the Jakarta
Post. The findings suggest that the Jakarta Post
attempts to represent LGBT as a passive participant
in a way that the media depict them as an acceptable
identity, acknowledged a phenomenon whose
existence should be considered a defended party by
Human Rights activists due to the presence of
intimidation and discrimination against it. The
ideology embedded in the representations of LGBT in
such media as drawn from the explanation stage
suggests that the Jakarta Post shows its struggles in
persuading people to accept LGBT as inclusively part
of Indonesian community. The explanation stage also
reveals how the Jakarta Post critiques that the
intimidation rejoiced in Indonesian communities
could serve as a means of discrimination against
LGBT; therefore, the Jakarta Post recommends it
should be ended. By drawing a line intertextually with
other parties commonly voicing this issue, this study
relates this issue with Human Rights’ perspective.
Intertextually, the ideology embedded in the Jakarta
Post is the one celebrated among Human Rights’
activities. The Jakarta Post voices strongly that
LGBT is a minority group in Indonesia that should be
treated equally.
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