Appraisal: Framing on Covid-19 Pandemic Handling News in Indonesia

Appraisal research in political discourse has frequently been investigated to examine media stance and ideology towards pros-cons issue. This condition implicates a gap in the form of the realization and implication of the evaluation language in forming not only the issue reported, but also the framing of certain political figures. Media reports in Indonesia on post-pandemic peak handling stimulate public discussion about 2024 general election. Accordingly, this study examines framing building in COVID-19 news text to understand the use of evaluation language in constructing the images of Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo as presidential candidates for 2024. Descriptive-qualitative research on kompas.com is carried out through content analysis using the SFL approach and appraisal theory. Total sampling is used in collecting the data from 6 prominent news texts about pandemic handling. Every aspect of attitude is utilized to build positive impression in the news texts. Graduation and engagement analysis show the imbalance of kompas.com journalists in emphasizing content narratives and news point of view. Framing analysis reveals that Anies is described as an ambitious figure framed through the +valuation, +impact, -propriety features, while Ganjar is portrayed as an indomitable and sincere figure using the +tenacity, +inclination, and +security features. Pandemic handling news on kompas.com contain bias which is detrimental to Anies but beneficial to Ganjar. The neutrality bias of kompas.com journalists in this context has the potential to build new social values which may affect the political situation in 2024