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ABSTRACT
Media memegang peran penting dalam membangun persepsi masyarakat terhadap berita yang tengah diinformasikan. Sejauh ini, peristiwa menarik yang diberitakan oleh media adalah peristiwa-peristiwa kontroversial menyangkut institusi-institusi pemerintahan seperti intitusi Kepolisian Republik Indonesia (POLRI). Seringkali POLRI disudutkan lewat pemberitaan yang diinformasikan oleh media baik cetak maupun elektronik.
Saya menggunakan dua sampul majalah media berita Tempo edisi bahasa Inggris sebagai bahan analisis saya, yang mengangkat topik mengenai POLRI. Kedua sampul majalah tersebut diambil dari edisi 21-27 Juli 2010 dan 13-19 Oktober 2010. Untuk menganalisis elemen-elemen visual dan kedua sampul tersebut, saya menggunakan pendekatan semiotika.
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APPENDIX
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
The media tends to create a sensation in society, for the media is one of the mass communication tools that are used to express opinions or criticism, or even change one’s point of view on a current issue. However, mass media has to have the main functions such as entertaining, persuading, solidifying, changing, activating, ethicizing, and informing in order to keep their popularity and influence (DeVito 515).
Through the media, people can get any information which cannot be provided by the government for society, because the government commonly only informs society of their positive achievements. However, the government cannot control independent media. Therefore, it is possible that such media tends to give relevant or irrelevant information to people without being censored by the government.
2 Maranatha Christian University responsible for the visualization and the context of the information for its truth. In addition, the media itself is regulated by the journalistic ethics in giving the information to society.
The topic of my study is the irony in the police force of the Republic of Indonesia revealed in Tempo magazine covers. Irony is “an event or a result that
is the opposite of what might be expected”(“Irony,” def 2). The reason I chose to
analyze the irony in the police force is because currently the force which is supposed to obey the law and order in Indonesia as well as be a role model for the Indonesian people, has some of its officers involved in cases like corruption or bribery. Moreover, the law in Indonesia is getting weaker, so that people cannot rely on the police force. Accordingly, people become more skeptical about its personnel and start to lose their belief in its protection.
In order to do my analysis, I chose Tempo to be the source of my data, namely, the editions of July 21-27 and of October 13-19, 2010, because Tempo always creates a different cover compared to other magazines. What makes it different is Tempo rarely uses photos for the cover but they create an illustration which is more like a drawing. Consequently, the illustrator has to draw a picture in detail so that it can give the exact information of an issue brought up by Tempo. Moreover, the picture has to be attractive so that people are interested to get the magazine. The choice of using the English edition is because I study English linguistics; thus, it helps me to analyze the data.
3 Maranatha Christian University not be seen as a plain cover made just to amuse or to attract people but made to inform of something so important that people need to know about it.
In order to understand the signs, semiotics is the most suitable theory. This is because Semiotics is a study of signs or a study that is concerned with
“everything that can be taken as a sign” (qtd. in Chandler 2). From semiotics it is
learnt that “we live in a world of signs and we have no way of understanding
anything except through signs and the codes into which they are organized” (14).
The difference between signs and codes can be seen from the following example: The sign “OPEN” on a shop’s window is a sign and when the sign “OPEN” is visible on the door, it becomes a code for people so they can enter the shop.
Since Ferdinand de Saussure formed a theory of Semiotics, there have been many theories of semiotics. One of them is Roland Barthes’ theory. Barthes
states that “myths were the dominant ideologies of time” (144).
There are three levels of Barthes’ signification system: the first order (denotative sign), the second order (connotative sign), each of which has its own signifier and signified (Cobley and Janz 51), and the third order (myth). Barthes explains that signifiant (the signifier) and signifie (the signified) form a sign which has a connotation used to explain cultural aspects. Then the connotation that has controlled the society turns into a myth, and this myth will turn into an ideology (Hoed vi). Ideology here means an idea, teaching or belief that people
have (“ideology”, def. 1). Moreover, Barthes’ theory is used to analyze the
4 Maranatha Christian University Considering that people’s interpretations about something can be different; through this study, I hope people can gain more information from the magazine cover design just like what the media expects. Thus, they will be more critical in getting information from the signs given by the media and they will not just take an interpretation for granted.
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1.2. Statement of the Problem
The problems to be solved in this study are stated in the following questions: 1. What are the denotative meanings of the signs found in the two covers of
Tempo.
2. What are the connotative meanings of the signs?
1.3. Purpose of the Study
Based on the statements of the problem, the purposes of this study are formulated as follows:
1. to show the denotative meanings of the signs found in the two covers of Tempo.
5 Maranatha Christian University 1.4. Method of Research
After learning the theories related to semiotics, I collected some data. I gathered the data from the July 21-27 and October 13-19 editions in 2010 of Tempo, a weekly news magazine. Afterwards, I used the semiotic theory to analyze the data. I defined the denotative signification and then explained the connotative signification. After that, I found a concept of irony through the connotative signification. Finally, I wrote my research reports in the thesis.
1.5. Organization of the Thesis
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
Having analyzed two Tempo covers from July 21-27, 2010 edition and October 13-19, 2010 edition, I come to the conclusion that Tempo tends to bring up an issue through not only its news but also its cover. This can be seen that Tempo tends to make drawings, more like cartoons, as the illustration of the current issue on its cover. Comparing a drawing illustration and a photograph for a cover, I find that a drawing illustration is more eye-catching than a photograph. Moreover, the use of drawing illustration gives the illustrator freer ways to inform of current affairs through the cover. For example, the illustrator can make the facial expression of a person on the cover according to any emotions the illustrator wants to show in relation to the issues.
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corruption among the police officers. Thus, the people have become cynical to anything concerning the force.
In addition, in this analysis, I focus on the police force issues in 2010 when there was a replacement process of the Indonesian police chief. There is one concept found in two data. It is the irony in the Indonesian police force. Hence, there is an irony found in each of the two data. The irony in the first cover is that the Indonesian police chief is not the controller of the force; there is someone else who controls the force through the chief. The irony in the second cover is that two candidates for the new Indonesian police chief, General Soekarna and Commissioner-General Sudjarwo, have failed to be the chief because the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, suddenly has appointed General Timur Pradopo as his sole candidate for the next chief and it only takes one day to process the assignment.
The concept is not only shown through the nonverbal signifiers but also through the text signifiers. The signifiers in data one are the headlines “CHANGING OF THE GUARD”, the sub-headlines “The search for a new Police Chief is
underway”, the date “July 21-27, 2010”, and the name of the magazine, “Tempo”.
In data two, the signifiers are the headline “EASTERN „PROMISE‟”, the sub-headline “Who is the shock Police Chief candidate and what is behind his
nomination?”, the date “October 13-19, 2010”, and also the name of the magazine,
“Tempo”. Moreover, in my analysis, the dates play a significant role to show the
historical background behind it.
Firstly, in data one, I discuss a search for the new police chief. Through the
date “July 21-27, 2010”, the headline “Changing of the Guard”, and the sub-headline
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the main issue brought up by Tempo of that edition because there is a background event and a fact based on the date. The date is there to remind the viewers of the condition in the police force in that particular period of time. The police force was going through the chief replacement process, which unfortunately involved a corruption case involving some of the force‟s senior officers. Although the headline is
quite confusing for the viewers to comprehend, the sub-headline helps them to understand who the person in the main focus is. As a result, it also helps the viewers to understand that the person named as the guard in the headline is the police chief.
On its cover, Tempo illustrates a black-faced man in a military uniform standing in a jeep and holding a smiling pink mask; while beside him, there is a person holding the steering wheel of the jeep. From my analysis, it can be concluded that the standing man is the current police chief, General Bambang Hendarso Danuri, for he was going through his replacement process. Besides, Tempo points it out through the text signifiers. Tempo illustrates the police chief as a person who is not proud anymore of himself because his position is being replaced. In addition, I believe he feels insecure with his position although he is at the top position in the force. The
chief‟s insecurity is shown by his holding onto the windshield top frame of the jeep
and the person sitting next to him. The viewers cannot identify the person next to him because Tempo only illustrates the person‟s hands holding the steering wheel as he is driving the jeep. This builds an interpretation that although the chief has the command over the force, actually it is not he who controls the police force, but someone else does. Therefore, the chief absolutely feels insecure as the driver can cause him to
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The second data is about the result of the replacement process itself. The similarity it bears with the first data is that the viewers may know the history behind the issue through the cover date. In data two, during the period of time, the President of the Republic of Indonesia had finally decided to appoint General Timur Pradopo as the new Police chief. Nevertheless, the promotion and installation of General Pradopo which only happened within one day, had caused speculations among the Indonesian people that General Pradopo was chosen because he was close to the President‟s family and had once worked together. The decision was considered wrong because General Pradopo did not have in the right rank.
In order to be a general, someone has to be a commissioner general. On the contrary, Pradopo was merely an inspector general, which is below the commissioner general in rank. Furthermore, his assignments, when he was the chief of west Jakarta district police department, did not go well because of the 1998 tragedy. His installation is even questionable as reflected in the sub-headline “Who is the shock
Police Chief candidate and what is behind his nomination?”. It suggests that there
seemed to be something wrong with the installation itself.
Furthermore, the final result is also illustrated in the cover. General Pradopo is illustrated as a happy man leaning out of the closed stage curtains while showing half of his body. There are also two other senior officers found in the cover, they are Commissioner-General Nanan Soekarna and Commissioner-General Imam Sudjarwo. They are illustrated as unhappy men standing in the front of the curtain on the stage.
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illustration shows that their position on the stage is not as important as General Pradopo. Based on the fact and the analysis I have made, the irony found in the second data is that the two commissioner generals are actually strong candidates for the new police chief; however, neither of them turns out to be the new police chief. The one who becomes the new police chief is an unexpected senior officer, General Pradopo, who is not even one of the candidates. That is why Tempo points out to General Pradopo as the main issue rather than Commissioner-General Soekarna and Commissioner-General Sudjarwo.
In my opinion, the irony in the Indonesian police force concept is not only created by the historical and cultural background itself, but also by the media. It is because the media has a role to inform people of current affairs. In my analysis, Tempo has an important portion since it is very critical in giving information. From the two data, I can see that Tempo is also very cynical and critical that it also always illustrates the affairs through its covers. Tempo points out the weaknesses of the people, person, or institution in the issue be it through its cynical illustration or its attracting headlines and sub-headlines. Moreover, Tempo has the motto “be the first,
but first get the truth”, and this is exactly what the media has shown through its
covers.
In my opinion, the cases involving police officers exposed by the media also make people cynical towards the police force. People tend not to believe everything instantly, but they tend to analyze everything with the help of the media even though not all people are able to look beyond the news.
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analyzing two Tempo covers and the historical background behind them, I find my belief in the concept growing stronger and I have become more cynical. I finally realize how strong the effect of a media is on people‟s opinion for I experience it as well. In fact, even though the police force has done great jobs, some flawed cases always wipe away the achievements immediately; as a result, people forget about the achievement and keep on hating the police force.
After all, semiotics is indeed helpful to make people view anything in a critical and detailed way. Moreover, Barthes‟ theory helps people not only to judge a magazine cover based on its looks but to see its historical and cultural background. Therefore, I suggest that future researchers do semiotic research using Barthes‟ theory since it will help you to do a deeper and more detailed analysis. As for the data, Tempo is one of the many rich sources which provide us with many elements to analyze, since concept is most significant to find if we use Barthes‟ theory. In order to find the concept, future researchers also have to be careful in defining the supporting parts of the data because not all the parts support the concept and researchers may need more proofs both historical and cultural to support the concept and the myth of the data.
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