Excluding the margins: Indonesian media’s framing of women and people with disability in the COVID-19 pandemic reporting

Abstract

There are only a few pieces of research that show how online news covers the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on different sections of society, including marginalized groups such as women and people with disabilities (PwD). During the COVID-19 pandemic, when marginalized people struggle for their livelihoods, inclusive journalism plays an important role. This research investigates the practice of inclusive journalism through the framing of women and PwD in some Indonesian online news media from March to June 2020. This research employed the content analysis method to analyse and study several news portals covering COVID-19 issues in local Yogyakarta and the national context. Framing data of the two marginalized groups showed the Indonesian news portals have portrayed women and PwD during the early phase of the pandemic. The dominant frames applied include government policies and solidarity for both women and PwD in national news, and solidarity and resilience for women and PwD in local news. It was found that all of the news on marginalized groups had a positive tone. However, because of limited access to marginalized groups and their supporters, government sources became dominant actors in determining news frames. Therefore, inclusive journalism has not been fully achieved.