DEFORESTATION AND PALM OIL EXPANSION IN INDONESIAN ONLINE NEWS MEDIA: AN ECOLINGUISTICS STUDY

Abstrak

This study aims to analyze the ecological framing of deforestation and oil palm land expansion in Indonesian online media from an ecolinguistic perspective. The research data consist of seven news articles from CNN Indonesia, Kompas, Detik, Tempo, Liputan6, TribunNews, and BBC Indonesia. The study employs a qualitative descriptive method, using Stibbe’s Stories We Live By framework as the analytical foundation. The analysis focuses on ideology, framing, evaluation, identity, conviction, erasure, and salience as elements that shape environmental representations in media texts. The findings show that each media outlet constructs a different framing of the issue of deforestation. CNN Indonesia primarily frames deforestation as the loss of wildlife habitat, emphasizing forests as living spaces for non-human beings, while Kompas presents forest degradation as a systemic problem related to watershed management, spatial planning, and broader development activities. Detik constructs a more explicit cause-and-effect narrative by positioning oil palm plantations as a major cause of deforestation, whereas Tempo frames environmental degradation as a consequence of an extractive economic system that exceeds ecological limits. In contrast, Liputan6 places greater emphasis on administrative, legal, and spatial-planning aspects, making ecological damage and biodiversity less salient. TribunNews directly associates deforestation with flash floods and forest governance, while BBC Indonesia emphasizes the interdependence between environmental degradation, affected communities, and ecological justice. In addition, the study recommends the development of alternative narratives that position forests as shared spaces of life and promote development that takes ecological limits into consideration. This study contributes to ecolinguistics by demonstrating how comparative media framing can reveal competing ecological ideologies within environmental discourse in Indonesia.