BETWEEN POWER AND LANGUAGE: A DISCOURSE INQUIRY INTO HOW HEADLINES REPRESENT PURBAYA’S STATEMENTS

Abstract

This study explores how linguistic structures in news headlines construct and circulate meanings
about authority through the representation of statements made by Indonesia’s Minister of Finance,
Purbaya. Anchored in the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, the research examines the
interplay between language and power in shaping public understanding of economic discourse. A
corpus of selected headlines from major national media outlets was analyzed using Fairclough’s
three-dimensional model, focusing on lexical selection, modality, and intertextual references. The
findings reveal that economic authority is not simply reported but strategically framed through
evaluative terms and discursive positioning that reinforce institutional legitimacy. Certain lexical
patterns were used to soften or intensify Purbaya’s financial stance, reflecting the ideological
alignment of media ownership and editorial preference. Beyond linguistic form, the study uncovers
how headlines operate as micro-discourses that both reflect and reproduce broader power relations
within the national economic narrative. These insights highlight the critical role of media discourse
in mediating policy communication and suggest the need for heightened media literacy to recognize
the subtle ways language constructs authority in public spaces.