THE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER DISCOURSE IN WOMEN'S NEWS ON TEMPO.CO: A FAIRCLOUGHIAN CDA APPROACH

Abstract

The construction of gender discourse in mass media coverage has the potential to reproduce stereotypes and power imbalances between men and women. In contrast to previous studies that dominated the discussion of alternative media from a women's perspective, this study examined Tempo.co mainstream media to uncover gender biases constructed in daily news. The novelty of this study lies in the empirical application of Fairclough's three-dimensional model to national mainstream digital media, as well as the finding that the same media can contain multiple representations (subordination and agency) in balanced proportions. This qualitative descriptive research aims to analyze the constru     ction of gender discourse in 16 women's news articles in Tempo.co with the span of 2024 to 2026 using Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis approach (textual, discourse practice, and social practice). The results of the study show two main forms of balanced women's construction, namely subordinative/passive as many as 8 data (50%) and agency/active as many as 8 data (50%). Subordinative construction dominates the issue of women as victims of violence, vulnerable groups of disasters, people with health/poverty problems, and victims of the actions of the authorities. On the other hand, the agency construction represents women as advocacy agents, cultural preservationists, economic/social drivers, and agents of environmental resistance. From the dimension of discourse practice, subordinate groups tend to be voiced by other parties, while agency groups are given space to express their opinions directly. This study concludes that Tempo.co does not present a single representation, but rather a dynamic construction between subordination and agency.