SIKAP POLITIK PERS TERHADAP PEMERINTAHAN KOALISI Analisis Isi Pemberitaan Pers Nasional atas Pemerintahan Koalisi Pascapemilihan Umum 2009 pada Harian Kompas, Media Indonesia, dan Republika Periode 1 November 2009�30 April 2010

Abstract

There are many research projects which have been conducted under the topic of media and politics, yet very little is concerned with the oppositional coverage of the media over the government. The main focus in the relation is to weight the embodiment of press� democractic function with its watchdog role. This issue becomes more compelling to study due to the fact that the low political opposition in the parliament, severe public trust over the ruling elites, and the rampant corruption among government officials in this country. Therefore, it is highly needed to analyze how critical are the press towards the government amids those political ills. This research analyzes how oppositional are the national press towards the coalition government established after the 2009 election. The results of content analysis of 610 editorials and headline news from Media Indonesia, Republika, and Kompas show that the three national leading newspapers are quite oppositional towards the coalition government. Editorials proved to be more oppositioal than headline news. Furthermore, media autonomy in expressing their political opinion is high in editorial, but low in headline news. The most opposed political actor is the president, and the most opposed political institution is the government itself. The concept of oppositional coverage needs to be developed into an extensive research, either on time and the scope of the media under investigation