Discourse Analysis Political News in News Paper

The aim of this study is to describe the macrostructure, superstructure, and microstructure of political news discourse in one of the province in Indonesia (Harian Rakyat Bengkulu in short RB) newspaper. This research employs a descriptive qualitative design, with data sources derived from the RB daily newspaper (editions from November 2023 to February 2024), focusing on the phenomenon of the 2024 presidential election. The research data consist of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Data were collected using documentation techniques. The data analysis protocol includes (1) observation, (2) note-taking, (3) classification, (4) tabulation, (5) analysis, (6) interpretation, and (7) conclusion.The results indicate the following tendencies: (1) Thematic aspects, encompassing topic and subtopic elements, are evident in the macrostructure. The topic is presented inductively in the news lead and supported by subtopics that elaborate on the main information. (2) In terms of superstructure, the schematic structure is fixed and systematic, consisting of a summary (including headline and lead) and the story (comprising situation and commentary from sources or editorial voice). (3) At the microstructure level, the semantic aspect conveys the meaning of political news through elements such as background, detail, intention, presupposition, and nominalization. The syntactic aspect includes sentence structure, coherence, and the use of pronouns. The stylistic aspect reveals that RB employs refined, polite, and universally acceptable word choices. The rhetorical aspect includes the use of visual elements and metaphors to make political news more engaging for readers. Recommendations: (1) Prospective news writers are encouraged to enhance their understanding of news discourse structures to improve their writing practices. This research may also serve as a learning resource for writing and analyzing newspaper discourse. (2) Mass media institutions are urged to reflect critically in order to improve the quality of news discourse production; and (3) future researchers are encouraged to compare regional newspapers with national ones to expand the scope of the study.