Indonesia and Malaysia are neighbouring countries in the Southeast Asian region. The geographical position is the opposite of that in Southeast Asia. However, the number of similarities between the two countries does not necessarily make the relations between the two harmonious. After the 2000s, Indonesia-Malaysia relations often underwent ups and downs. The problem of territorial disputes, cultural claims, migrant workers, as well as the fog due to forest and land fires illustrates the ups and downs of the relations between them. The mass media that have often reported on Indonesia-Malaysia relations included institutions which influenced the perception of the society on Indonesia-Malaysia relations. How the society gives meaning to the relation between the two countries will depend on the integrity of the facts told by the media. This paper attempts to discuss how the media carry out the process of verifying facts in reporting the polemic of the Malaysian national anthem and the song Terang Boelan. This study employed a qualitative analysis using visual social semiotics. The findings of this research show that the Indonesian mass media, in this case, Metro TV and Kompas.Com, still have to put harder attempt to fully present what has happened regarding the polemic between the two songs.

Indonesia-Malaysia is two neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. The geographical proximity makes the two countries have a lot in common. However, this similarity does not guarantee that the two countries can coexist harmoniously. One of the problems in the relationship between the two countries is border-related issues, such as illegal fishing in the border area. This issue has been widely covered by the Indonesian mass media, including Metro TV and TVRI. This paper tries to see how Metro TV and TVRI reported the arrest of a Malaysian fishing boat near the border. This study uses a semiotic social visual analysis as a research method and the main theory of social reconstruction of reality. The research findings show Metro TV interprets this incident as illegal fishing and sovereignty violations. Meanwhile, TVRI interpreted this incident as illegal fishing and the achievements of the Indonesian marine police.

AbstrakTulisan ini berangkat dari penelitian mengenai bagaimana proses konstruksi bahasa siaran yang digunakan di industri radio siaran di Indonesia (khususnya di jaringan radio Prambors Rassisonia) tidak dapat dilepaskan dari logika kapitalisme. Penerapan kapitalisme di industri media biasanya melahirkan penyeragaman pada isi siaran, termasuk di dalamnya adalah bahasa dan cara bertutur. Namun dalam kasus jaringan radio Prambors yang beroperasi di daerah, seperti di Yogyakarta dan Solo, seringkali pengelola media harus melakukan kompromi untuk turut menyertakan bahasa-bahasa lokal (kosa kata dan dialek) digunakan dalam proses siaran. Akan tetapi diijinkannya penggunaan bahasa-bahasa lokal ini tetap dimaksudkan untuk mendekatkan diri dengan para pendengarnya yang tidak lain merupakan pasar dari radio Prambors Rassisonia.