Framing Analysis of the Free Nutritious Meal Program Poisoning Cases in Sukabumi: A Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki Model Approach to Radar Sukabumi's News Coverage

Abstract

Public concern over the implementation of Indonesia's Free Nutritious Meal Program (Program Makan Bergizi Gratis / MBG) intensified following a series of food safety incidents in Sukabumi, including a mass food poisoning case and the discovery of a lizard carcass in a meal package. As media coverage plays a crucial role in shaping public understanding of policy crises, this research aims to analyze how Radar Sukabumi constructed the reality of these incidents through news reporting. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach within a constructivist paradigm, the study applies Pan and Kosicki’s framing analysis model to examine two news articles related to the MBG crisis. Data were collected through document analysis and strengthened through source triangulation with Fawzy Ahmad, Managing Editor of Radar Sukabumi. The findings reveal that Radar Sukabumi framed the incidents primarily as failures in operational implementation and food supervision rather than as failures of the MBG policy itself. Through syntactic, script, thematic, and rhetorical structures, the news emphasized the causes of the incidents, their impacts on beneficiaries, and the accountability of technical implementers. The study concludes that the media constructed the MBG crisis as a local implementation problem while maintaining the legitimacy of the program's broader policy objectives.