Framing the Medan City Flood Disaster in Digital Media: A Comparative Analysis of SUMUTPOS.CO and Waspada.co.id
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63199/progresif.v3i2.98Keywords:
Media Framing, Medan Flood, Digital MediaAbstract
This study examines how local digital media construct the reality of the Medan City flood disaster and how such constructions differ across media outlets. Although disaster framing has been widely studied, comparative research on local digital media covering the same urban disaster remains limited in the Indonesian context. This study comparatively analyzes how Waspada.co.id and SUMUTPOS.CO construct the problems, causes, responsible actors, and responses to the Medan City flood disaster. A qualitative approach was employed using Robert N. Entman’s framing model, which consists of four dimensions: define problems, diagnose causes, make moral judgment, and treatment recommendation. The dataset comprised 21 news articles published during November–December 2025, including 10 articles from Waspada.co.id and 11 from SUMUTPOS.CO. Data were collected through documentation and analyzed using systematic coding, interpretation, and comparative analysis. The findings indicate that both media constructed flooding as a serious social problem affecting community life but developed different dominant frames. Waspada.co.id predominantly employed a Human Interest Frame by emphasizing victims’ experiences, social impacts, and community conditions, positioning affected communities as the central actors in its news narratives. Meanwhile, SUMUTPOS.CO predominantly employed a Responsibility Frame by emphasizing government policies, institutional responses, disaster mitigation, and post-disaster recovery, positioning government institutions as the primary actors responsible for addressing the disaster. These differences demonstrate that the same disaster can be constructed through distinct interpretive orientations: a victim-centered humanitarian orientation and an institution-centered responsibility orientation. The study contributes to disaster communication research by showing how actor prominence and problem attribution shape different constructions of the same urban disaster. Practically, the findings emphasize the importance of balanced disaster reporting that addresses immediate impacts alongside structural causes, institutional responsibility, and long-term mitigation.
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