The Role of Language in a Journalistic Interpretive Community

Abstract

Drawing on anniversary-edition articles and interviews with journalists at Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s largest English-language news outlet, we argue that language of publication directly informs the narratives a journalistic interpretive community [Zelizer, Barbie. 1993. “Journalists as Interpretive Communities.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 10: 219–237] develops to position itself as a news authority. Analysis showed that associations with English as a foreign language in Indonesia influenced stories of the newspaper’s professional values and practice, and the ways it conceptualized readership. The study contributes to the growing body of literature that examines intersections of journalism and language—in this case, English as a language of publication in a global context.

KEYWORDS:

• English
• Indonesia
• interpretive community
• journalism
• language
• professional identity

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Stanley-UI Foundation Support Organization for helping to make this study possible. Thanks also to Dr. Nina Widyawati at the Indonesia Institute of Sciences and staff at the American Institute for Indonesian Studies for their help obtaining permission to conduct research in Indonesia. Thanks to the anonymous reviewers of this manuscript, and, finally, to the editors and reporters at Jakarta Post newspaper.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Consider the US-based New York Times’ digital offerings in Spanish and Chinese; South Korea-based Chosun Ilbo’s digital offerings in Japanese, Chinese, and English; news content offered in multiple languages by global broadcasters like BBC Worldwide, China Central Television, and Al Jazeera; and other from examples around the world.

2 Kompas is a leading Indonesian newspaper, and one of the four news organizations that founded the Jakarta Post along with Tempo magazine, Suara Karya, and Suara Pembarawan.

3 USA.

4 Such individuals—including diplomats, professors, and government ministers—contributed to discourses of the Post’s important role in Indonesian society through both their status and their textual contributions, reinforcing narrative lines produced by the journalists themselves.

5 Former editors at the Jakarta Post remain involved in the organization as advisors. For example, the Post’s first editor was still on staff in 2016 as an advisor. Similarly, the former copy desk chief remained on staff as an advisor who helped incoming reporters learn news writing and reporting. Such individuals contribute to the interpretive community at Jakarta Post.

6 Bahasa Indonesia is the national language.