The Images of Donald Trump

on Online News Media in Indonesia

Through Photojournalism:
Media Construction and Readers Perception

Presented in ICCoLLiC 2020

Muhammad Taufiq al Makmun,
Diah Kristina,
Karunia Purna Kusciati,
Fenty Kusumastuti
 Objective
Introduction
Literature Review
Methods
Finding and Discussion
Conclusion
It is a readers’ response
research aiming to view
(1) the media
construction &
(2) readers’ perception
by examining
photojournalism
represented in the
Indonesian online news
media
• Donald Trump is a very controversial
world political leader.
• His figure is easily found in many
mainstream media
• Millenium age has been marked by the
increasing use of new media.
• The big three online news media in
Indonesia based on Alexa rank are
okezone.com, tribunnews.com, and
detik.com.
 Literature Review
• Media exposure is very important for a political figure.
• Potter (2012, p154) underlines “that increased media
attention to political figures was correlated to higher levels
of public perception on the salience of issues.” Media are,
however, able to lessen their reputation or reduce public
supports when the negative sides are exposed.
• Media have a great role in creating an image of a political
figure, a media effect.
 Literature Review

• “photojournalism is a method of communication”

(Rothstein, 1974,p128).
• Hynes (2003,p200) emphasizes that “visual images made
the first powerful impact.”
• Huang points out that images appear on the media are a
result of digital-imaging manipulation. There are digital
alteration processes to edit photographs prior to its
appearance in newspapers, magazines, or online media.
 Literature Review

• “Media hold the power to manipulate the masses.

Different media groups serve the vested interest of a
certain “specialized class” of society by propagating
“false consciousness” among the viewers” (Hassan,
2018, p2).
• “Reading media imagery is an active process in which
context, social location, and prior experience can lead
to quite different decodings“ (Gamson, 1992, p375).
 Methodology
• a qualitative reader-response research.
• using 12 photojournalism taken from the three
media and three photojournalism taken from
White House official website; the three online
news media: detik.com, tribunnews.com, and
okezone.com during 2017-2020.
• online surveying the students of English
Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret,
Indonesia to get the readers’ perception.
• interpreting the readers’ perception toward
photojournalism of Trump
 Finding and Discussion
Trump’s Representation through Photo Journalism
• Two types of photo journalism : (1) Trump’s solely pose in an
official public speaking and (2) his interaction with other
figures.
• two types of medium shot (half body) and full body pictures
which enable readers to view his posture in addition to his
facial expression, gesture, and body language.
• The photo journalism used as the data represent activities
done by Trump and were taken from the three media which
are used to support the news reports. Three photos are
taken from the White House official website.
Readers’ Perception on Trump

Okezone.com Negative:
[11] Selfish, arrogant, superior
controlling others, dominating, insulting
Positive:
Confident, enthusiastic
Whitehouse.gov Negative:
[12] sly smile, half-hearted smile, fake smile
Positive:
Confident, elegant, formal, wise
friendly smile, having lots of experiences
Note: some respondents could identify that it is from
official presidential picture and argued that the smile,
neat hair, and elegant pose somehow were set in such a
way with certain angle in order to look good.
Detik.com Negative:
[13] Insulting, having hidden agenda,
planning something evil, being not
serious, unfriendly
Positive:
Serious to establish good relationship
between two countries, sincerity
Tribunnews. Negative:
com [21] Confused, passionate,
temperamental, angry, disappointed,
panicked, shocked, annoyed, funny
Positive:
Passionate, excited
 Conclusion
• The Indonesian online news media in this research tend to portray Trump
differently from those used by the White House official website in terms of
photojournalism whether it is for his personal activity such in public speaking and
his official presidential activities. The differences are found in terms of facial
expression, gesture, posture, and angle of the photojournalism used. This may
take media effect to the readers in terms of constructing readers’ perception to be
in line with the portrayal presented by the images of Trump used in supporting the
news.
• The reader-response survey shows that respondents have their early perception
about Trump as a familiar popular figure, mostly negative characteristics as a
leader. They access the online news through their social media accounts’
newsfeed and not directly following the media. Some of the photojournalism
taken from the Indonesian online media are recognized as popular pictures which
are viral as meme to ridicule the president’s controversy. The respondents are able
to recognize the official presidential photos among the photojournalism. Despite
their awareness of the photo selections by media, each photojournalism used in
the survey is perceived both negatively and positively.
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