The Depiction of Environmental Preservation by Indonesian Media: Study of Euphemism and Dysphemism

Abstract

This study focuses on euphemism and dysphemism in news texts on environmental discourse in Indonesia. Three Indonesia mainstream medias which are CNN, Detikcom, and Kompas are chosen as the data. Using descriptive qualitative we discover that the use of euphemisms and dysphemism in a linguistic perspective is not only limited to softening and degrading meaning but also to manipulating audiences. For example, the use of euphemisms to describe the impact of environmental damage will soften the impact, "menghilangkan bentang alam" is used to describe a destroyed area due to the project, and "lahan yang terdampak" means the area areas that are potentially damaged by the project. Meanwhile, the use of dysphemism will add a bad impression to residents who try to protect their environment, such as "Penolakan Pembangunan" that seems disapproving of Indonesia's progress and "aksi unjuk rasa" carried out for natural exploitation projects development. In conclusion, most of the use of euphemisms and dysphemism by the media does not support environmental conservation because words that should have been clarified in their meaning to give awareness to the environment crisis are instead being softened, on the contrary, people's actions for the environment are described as bad behaviour.