iii Maranatha Christian University
ABSTRACT
Pemilihan umum merupakan agenda besar bangsa Indonesia yang tak
luput dari pemberitaan media massa. Majalah Tempo merupakan salah satu media
massa yang memberitakan tentang pemilihan umum 2009. Sampul depan dari
edisi khusus ini mengadopsi konsep acara TV “Indonesian Idol”.
Tugas akhir ini menganalisis tentang elemen semiotika yang terdapat pada
sampul depan majalah Tempo “Edisi Khusus Pemilihan Presiden 2009”. Penulis
memilih sampul ini sebagai sumber pembahasan karena tertarik dengan fakta
bahwa pada saat itu pemilihan umum ini merupakan pemilihan presiden secara
langsung oleh rakyat yang pertama kali.
Dalam menganalisis sampul ini, penulis menggunakan teori semiotika dari
Ferdinand de Saussure dan Roland Barthes tentang signifier dan signified. Sebagai
pendukung, penulis menggunakan teori dari Gunther Kress dan Theo van
Leeuwen untuk menganalisis elemen semiotika pada denotative meaning. Untuk
mendapatkan connotative meaning, penulis menghubungkannya dengan sejarah
dan budaya demokrasi di Indonesia.
Pada akhirnya, penulis mengambil kesimpulan bahwa dengan menggunakan
pendekatan dengan acara spektakuler “Indonesian Idol”, sampul depan majalah
iv Maranatha Christian University pemilhan umum kepada masyarakat sehingga pesan implisit dari Tempo dapat
tersampaikan, yaitu bahwa rakyat bebas memilih Presiden dan Wakil Presiden
tanpa ada paksaan dari pihak mana pun, serta rakyatlah yang memegang
kedaulatan penuh dalam arti bahwa Presiden dan Wakil Presiden yang terpilih
ii Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE: SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF TEMPO COVER 2009 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION EDITION . . . . 14
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION . . . 27
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . 31
33
1 Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Communication is a necessity of all people to connect with each other.
Communication can take place either in the form of verbal or non-verbal
language. The verbal communication appears in spoken conversations and written
text, while the non-verbal communication appears in images, eye contacts,
gestures, facial expressions, clothes, etc. There are some forms of media of
communication, one of which is a magazine cover. On the cover of a magazine,
the communication that is usually used is both verbal and non-verbal language.
The front cover of a magazine is the first page which means the outer part
of a magazine. Usually the cover of a magazine is made to give information about
the content of a magazine. Moreover, the cover of a magazine is made to get the
attention from the readers through its colors, text, and interesting pictures, so that
people will have the desire to buy the magazine.
Tempo magazine is a weekly news magazine covering Indonesia’s general
2 Maranatha Christian University first magazine that has no relation with the government. Tempo was banned by
the government in 1982 and in June, 21st 1994 and then re-circulated on October 6th, 1998. In 1994, Tempo, together with Detik tabloid and Editor Tabloid, were banned. The factor why it was banned is never clear. Many people believed that
the Information Minister at that time, Harmoko, revoked the SIUPP (Surat Ijin
Usaha Penerbitan Pers) of Tempo because this magazine reported the imports of a
German warship. This report was considered endangering Indonesia’s national
stability. The main report discussed the military objection to the imports by the
Research and Technology Minister at that time, B. J. Habibie. (Widyastuti)
In my thesis, I take the data source from the cover of Tempo magazine, the
special edition of the 2009 presidential election. The reason why I take the data
from the cover of Tempo “EDISI KHUSUS PEMILIHAN PRESIDEN 2009” is
the fact that throughout the history of Indonesia, elections have been held ten
times to choose the members of DPR, DPD, and DPRD. The last Presidential
Election is the most interesting one, because the people of Indonesia did the
Presidential Election as an embodiment of political democracy which has become
a routine five-year agenda in Indonesia. The election this time was very different
from the others that had happened before, in the sense that this time was the
moment for laying the better foundation of democracy. In the 2009 election, the
people of Indonesia also voted for the President and Vice President.
In my thesis, I will discuss the Semiotic elements in the cover of Tempo
2009 presidential election edition based on Roland Barthes’ theory. Through a
number of his works, he not only continues Ferdinand de Saussure’s thinking
3 Maranatha Christian University ideological meaning of the language that he calls a myth. However, because of the
limitation of the thesis length, I would only like to analyze the denotative and
On the cover of Tempo magazine 2009 presidential election edition, there
are many hidden meanings that can be analyzed using a Barthesian semiotic
theory. My discussion will cover the first order and second order of semiotic
analysis. To analyze the elements of visual designs, I use Gunter Kress and Theo
van Leuween’s theory. Moreover, to analyze the second order, I use the
characteristic of democracy which I get from the Internet.
This analysis is significant as after reading this thesis, the reader will have
a better understanding about the denotative and connotative meanings that exist in
all elements contained on a magazine cover, such as images, colors, text, etc.
Besides, the reader will have a better understanding that the theory of semiotics
cannot be separated from other studies. It is always associated with other
disciplines such as visual designs, psychology, politics, etc.
4 Maranatha Christian University 1.2 Statement of the Problem
In this thesis I would like to analyze:
1. What are the signifiers and signifieds occurring in the Tempo cover 2009
Presidential Election edition?
The first step is I chose the cover of Tempo magazine to analyze; using the
theory of Semiotics. The second step is I made an analysis of it, connecting it with
5 Maranatha Christian University 1.5 Organization of thesis
This thesis has four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the
Study, Method of Research, and Organization of Thesis. Chapter Two is the
Theoretical Framework. Chapter Three is the analysis of the data. Finally, Chapter
27 Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
In this chapter I would like to state a conclusion based on the findings in
Chapter Three concerning the Semiotic elements found in the Tempo cover “Edisi
Khusus Pemilihan Presiden 2009”.
Generally speaking, the Semiotic elements in the Tempo cover can be
divided into two parts; they are image and text. I can say that Tempo is clever at
making the idea of “Indonesian Idol” stand out in this cover as this show is very
popular at that time so that the readers can easily recognize this. I can see the blue
dotted pattern as the background of the stage which is very similar to the TV show
“Indonesian Idol”. Besides, the imitation of “Indonesian Idol” can easily be
recognized because of the use of the phrase “INDONESIA MEMILIH”, which is
the exact tagline which is always used at the end of the show to determine the
winner.
Furthermore, I think the use of the phrase “EDISI
KHUSUS PEMILIHAN PRESIDEN 2009” and “TEMPO” is also important to
28 Maranatha Christian University special edition about presidential election which is published by the mass media
named Tempo.
In my opinion, the cover maker imitates the “Indonesian Idol” setting here
to show to the readers that there is a kind of competition in the general election
just like the competition in the spectacular TV show “Indonesian Idol” which
determines the winner based on the highest number of votes.
In revealing the denotative meaning, the role of the colours in my analysis
leads to something quite significant. I can say that Tempo chooses these colours
after considering the fact that these are the colours of the logo backgrounds of the
parties the candidates come from. I believe that the interpretation of colours is
culture-based. The interpretation of colours in my analysis is based on the
condition occurring in Indonesia which is related to the context at that time, which
is the general election. GOLKAR is identical to the yellow colour, PDIP to the red
colour, DEMOKRAT to the blue colour, GERINDRA and HANURA to the
white colour.
In my opinion, in the first order, the image of the six people is the most
dominant element in drawing the denotative meaning. It is understood that in the
2009 General Election in Indonesia people could directly choose candidates to be
the next President and Vice President for the first time. Tempo magazine as a
mass media wants to participate in publishing the six candidates to be chosen for
the general election, so that people of Indonesia became more familiar with them,
considering that the magazine was published ten days before the election.
The next concluding point concerns with the second order of the semiotic
29 Maranatha Christian University equality among citizens, supremacy of law, acknowledgement of the freedom of
all its citizens, and the periodic general election. In my opinion, the most obvious
characteristic seen in the cover is the equality among citizens. It can be seen in
five different things: the figures are standing in one line, the angle is put in the
same eye level with the viewers, people of any gender and any background are
given the same right or opportunity to be candidates, and all Indonesian adults
without any limitation to particular groups can be the voters in this Presidential
Election. I think these five characteristics can mutually support the interpretation
of one of the democracy characteristics, namely equality among citizens. All of
the citizens are equal, either to participate as the candidates or as the voters.
On the other hand, the democracy characteristic which is the most subtly
seen in Tempo cover is the supremacy of law. Readers without good background
knowledge both about the TV show “Indonesian Idol” and the Indonesian General
Election will find it hard to find this element in the cover. To be the contestants or
the candidates, there are some requirements that must be fulfilled. This is to
emphasize the concept of democracy, in which there is no arbitrariness. Therefore,
to grab this element the readers must have good background knowledge about the
two events.
In addition, I can further say that the essence of the connotative meaning
in my analysis is the fact that people hold the sovereignty. It is an implicit one in
the cover but actually this can be easily grabbed. It can be clearly seen from the
phrase “INDONESIA MEMILIH”. The people of Indonesia are the most
important element to participate in the General Election because people can
30 Maranatha Christian University very influential in determining who will be the next President and Vice President
to lead Indonesia.
As a whole, I think the idea of representing the six figures here in the
“Indonesian Idol” setting is brilliant. “Indonesian Idol” is a spectacular TV show
which can attract millions of viewers. By using this approach, Tempo magazine
wants to make the public familiar that this is the first time that the people of
Indonesia can directly choose the next President and Vice President, more or less
just the same as when the viewers vote for their idol in the TV show “Indonesian Idol”.
In the end, I conclude that the cover of Tempo magazine “Edisi khusus
Pemilihan Presiden 2009” is really well-designed as a good communication media
to emphasize the democracy concept in the Indonesian General Election. The
cover is very communicative in making the Indonesian citizens aware that they
have an equal right and important position to vote for their President and Vice
President for the next period. When this message is successfully conveyed, the
people of Indonesia will appreciate the democracy process ongoing at that time.
This is very important so that the country will have a better government and
democracy system.
31 Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
References:
Barthes, Roland, translated by Annette Lavers. Mythologies London, Paladin,
1972.
Corbett, John. An Intercultural Approaches to English Language teaching. United
Kingdom: Multilingual Matters, 2003.
Electronic Publications:
A Brief Introduction to Saussure and Semiotics. teachnologist, 1992. Web. 15
March 2011.
Elvani, Malkian. “Demokrasi”. Menurut Terminologi (2007): n. pag. Web. 22
August 2011.
Indonesian Idol Kembali Wujudkan Mimpimu Jadi Superstar. Indonesian Idol,
2011. Web. 1 March 2011.
Koleksi logo-logo partai politik di Indonesia peserta PEMILU 2009. Hibridaprint,
2011. Web. 24 November 2011.
Lanin, Ivan. “Rangkuman tata bahasa Indonesia”. Frasa (2010): 17-18. Web. 22
April 2011.
McNeil, Tony. “Concept and Text”. Mythologies (1996): n. pag. Web. 04
32 Maranatha Christian University
Profil Capres – Cawapres 2009. The Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia,
2009. Web. 22 November 2011.
Quigley, Timothy. “Structuralism and Poststructuralism”. Course in General
Linguistics (2009): n. pag. Web. 15 March 2011.
Sejarah dan Prinsip Demokrasi. Defriahmadchaniago, 2009. Web. 22 August
2011.
Setiadi, Wicipto. “HTN dan PUU”. Peran Partai Politik Dalam Penyelenggaraan
Pemilu yang Aspiratif dan Demokratis (2010): n. pag. Web. 11 September
2011.
Widyastuti, Nur Heni. Konstruksi Media Terhadap Karakteristik Kepemimpinan
Calon Presiden dan Calon Wakil Presiden Peserta Pemilu Presiden 2009.
Surakarta: Jawa Tengah, 2009. Web. 23 August 2011.
Wijarnako, Lizard. “Semiotika Dalam Desain Komunikasi Visual”. Teori Desain
(2010): n.pag. Web. 04 September 2010.
What does a Long Shot in photography mean?. InnovateUs, 2006. Web. 22
