Framing the 2014 Indonesian Presidential Candidates in Newspapers and on Twitter

Abstract

The 2014 Indonesian presidential election was the first election in the world's largest Muslim democracy where social media played an important role. Social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter, became a public forum where Indonesians debated about and framed the presidential candidates - Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo - in what was said to be the closest and most polarizing election in the nation's history. A content analysis of two partisan newspapers, two independent newspapers, and tweets showed that both legacy media and social media focused on the personality frame when describing the candidates. In legacy media the second most prevalent frame was experience, while on Twitter it was integrity. Religion remained an important factor in the election, as reflected in both media platforms, while ethnicity was considered less important. Social media became an integral part of Indonesia's nascent democracy, with the public examining the candidates' leadership qualities and integrity on Twitter. The independent newspapers were not neutral in covering the candidates, thus making social media even more relevant as a relatively free and impartial marketplace of ideas during the election. This study discusses how legacy media - both partisan and independent - and social media portrayed the candidates, where and why these platforms differed, and what it means for the future of journalism in Indonesia.