Pekanbaru Mayoral Election 2024: Critical Discourse Analysis Review

This study was motivated by the widespread coverage of the nomination for mayor of Pekanbaru in 2024 by Riau's local media. This study's objective is to examine the alignments of GoRiau.com in shaping the reputation of political actors in the Pekanbaru mayoral election for the years 2024–2029. This study employs the Fairclough model's text analysis, discourse practice, and sociocultural practice


INTRODUCTION
A democracy is a nation that conducts periodic local and national elections (Solihah, 2018;Zuhro, 2019).The election process exemplifies democracy in a nation.Executive elections and legislative elections are constitutional indicators of the quality of democracy (Bachmid, 2020;Dedi, 2019).Local elections held directly are an ideal of reform (Anam, 2020;Suryana, 2020).As one of the political contestation arenas at the local level, direct local elections are supposed to be accessible, accountable, effective, efficient, and transparent to generate community-oriented leaders (M.Afandi & Afandi, 2018;S. A. Afandi, Afandi, & Erdayani, 2022).
Elections are always intertwined with the media.Freedom of the mass media is an essential component of democracy.Mass media are an instrument capable of transmitting information in such a way as to alter public opinion as a result of the information received (Habibie, 2018;Khatimah, 2018).Mass media can influence the electability of political candidates through the formation of frames (Khotimah, 2019;Prilani & Hutomo, 2020).
Mass media is one of society's primary references; therefore, building relations with mass media is one of the cornerstones of political success (Fermana, 2021;Gofur & Sunarso, 2020).The mass media assists political candidates in constructing a favorable image.Aside from transient political objectives or the necessity of running a business, the mass media has an ideology that is reflected in its reporting focus.This attribute indicates the intent and direction of developing a media outlet (Intyaswati, 2021;Wijayanti & Shalima, 2020).
The media is constantly attempting to pique the public's attention with the material provided (Manik & Suharno, 2019).Emotional, economic, and political interactions are fundamental to the dissemination of information by the mainstream media (Indrawan, Efriza, & Ilmar, 2020).GoRiau.com is one of Riau's digitally-based media outlets.Through digital mass media, it is simpler for individuals to acquire information.GoRiau.com is among the most-read local publications in Riau (Dyah Hapsari, Harahap, Bonde, & Cahya, 2021;Yundri, 2018).
As one of the largest mass media outlets in Riau, this media also appears to have begun reporting on the 2024 Pekanbaru mayoral election.Despite their self-proclaimed independence and objectivity, each media outlet disseminates different information about the same event.In light of this, the purpose of this study is to analyze the alignments of GoRiau.com in shaping the reputation of political actors in the 2024 Pekanbaru Mayoral election, utilizing Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis approach (Erdayani, 2019) specifically text analysis, discourse practice, and socio-cultural practice.

RESEARCH METHOD
This study use critical discourse analysis (Megawati, 2021;Silaswati, 2019) to provide an explanation of a text that typically has a particular goal.The focus of this investigation is news discourse.The data consists of Pekanbaru Mayor Election 2024-related news articles published on GoRiau.com between January 2021 and July 2022.This study used the tapping technique (Robin, Fendista, & Adiwinata, 2020) to collect data from mass media sources in the form of chosen news texts.In addition, the researcher listened to the news text's discourse without engaging in dialogue.The method of social change model analysis focuses on language (Yanti, Putrayasa, & Artika, 2019;Zainuddin, 2021).The use of language as a type of representation in perceiving reality means that language is observed in macro linguistics, which cannot be divorced from its context, emphasizing a reciprocal relationship between discourse and social structure.

Textual Analysis
The website GoRiau.compublished the following headline on January 12, 2021: "This is Robin P. Hutagalung's reaction when he was named a candidate for mayor of Pekanbaru;  who were also included in the news.Agung Nugroho also attracted unique attention based on the history of news coverage by the mainstream media.This is evident from the narrative constructed by the mainstream media, which has led to a favorable perception of Riau among its citizens.

Diagram 2. Focus on Issues
The media's coverage of Agung Nugroho from January 2021 to July 2022 can be categorized into three categories: political issues, performance issues, and general topics.
Political issues dominated the coverage of Agung Nugroho with 55% of the reports or 41 reports, followed by performance issues with 32% of the reports or 24 reports, and general issues with 13% of the reports or 10 reports.This media outlet published a total of 75 articles against Agung Nugroho.
the cadres yelled Freedom."This media features news surrounding the PDIP Party's preparation for the 2024 Pekanbaru mayoral election.According to the Chair of the Riau PDIP Party, this political party is preparing Robin P. Hutagalung, the Chair of the Pekanbaru PDIP of the Riau PKB Party did not deny Taufik Arrakhman and Catur Sugeng's candidacy in the 2024 regional election.The Pekanbaru PKB Party must have a sufficient number of seats in the Pekanbaru Legislative Election to nominate its cadres for the position of mayor.On April 28, 2021, one of the headlines on GoRiau.comreads, "PKS Declares Ayat Cahyadi, Hendry Munief, and Muhammad Ikhsan as Pekanbaru 2024 Candidates."This media provides evidence indicating that the PKS Party has begun preparations for the 2024 election, including the election of the Mayor of Pekanbaru.The Chair of the Pekanbaru PKS Party stated at the 2021-2022 Regional Work Meeting that the purpose of this activity was to create an annual work program and refer to the work program resulting from the National Work Meeting and Regional Work Meeting.This activity intends to assemble the PKS Party's work program for 2021-2022 to fulfill the primary objective, which is to acquire extra votes and PKS Party Legislative seats and to win the Pekanbaru Mayoral Election in 2024.However, the PKS Party has declared three candidates for the 2024 Pekanbaru mayoral election: Hendry Munief, Muhammad Ikhsan, and Ayat Cahyadi, Pekanbaru's deputy mayor for two years.The following news item relates to the PKS Party: "Three Names Are Declared Ready to Run in the Pekanbaru Election, PKS Riau Applauds."On April 30, 2021, one of the headlines on GoRiau.comremained focused on the internal dynamics of the PKS Party in executing the candidate for Mayor of Pekanbaru 2024.According to the Riau PKS Election Winner's Chairman, this party did not fulfill the desires of its cadres.The Pekanbaru PKS Party is responsible for recommending three candidates for the 2024 Pekanbaru mayoral election.PKS Riau should appreciate and consider this recommendation."The PDIP Marpoyan Damai Party is Prepared to Socialize Puan Maharani for the Presidential Election and Robin P. Hutagalung for the Pekanbaru Mayoral Election."This is one of the headlines on GoRiau.com on June 1, 2021.This publication reprints news regarding Robin P. Hutagalung.The Marpoyan Damai District PDIP Party Chairman endorses the recommendation of the Pekanbaru PDIP Party Branch Work Meeting.The administration of the PDIP Party in the Marpoyan Damai Sub-district urged the PDIP Party to propose the Chairman of the House of Representatives for president and Robin P. Hutagalung for mayor of Pekanbaru in 2024.On June 26, 2021, GoRiau.compublished the following regarding Agung Nugroho: "It was speculated that he was running for mayor with Ade Hartati, but now he is linked with Ginda Burnama."Several candidates are expected to run with Agung Nugroho in the Pekanbaru mayoral election of 2024.Agung Nugroho is rumored to be running with Ginda Burnama, the Deputy Chair of the Pekanbaru Legislative Assembly.Previously, Agung Nugroho was also supposed to be running with Ade Hartati, a legislator from Riau.Agung Nugroho, who is presently the Deputy Chair of the Riau Legislature, won the most votes in the 2019 Legislative Election in Pekanbaru City, hence his chances of being elected Mayor of Pekanbaru in 2024 are quite good.Headline On July 21, 2021, GoRiau.comreported, "The Pekanbaru PKB Party Is Prepared to Hold a Branch Conference, and All Sub-Branch Management Solidly Supports Taufik Arrakhman."Taufik Arrakhman is once again the subject of news on GoRiau.com.Taufik Arrakhman, the leader of the Pekanbaru PKB Party, received the backing of the PKB Party Sub-Branch Management in the election of the Chairman of the Syuro Council and Tanfidz Council.Taufik Arrakhman is said to be following the demands of the PKB Party, which witnessed a decline in the 2019 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.Taufik Arrakhman was also encouraged to run in the Pekanbaru Mayoral Election of 2024.GoRiau.com reported on the Gerindra Party under the heading "Pekanbaru Mayoral Candidate Exchange at Gerindra Internal, Hardianto Reveals Four Names, beginning with Rahul and Ending with Eddy Tanjung" on July 24, 2021.Muhammad Rahul was believed to be a candidate for Mayor of Pekanbaru on the Gerindra Party's ticket after being named Chair of the Pekanbaru Gerindra Party.According to the Secretary of the Gerindra Riau Party, this authority belongs to the Gerindra Central Party.In addition to Muhammad Rahul, notable members of the Gerindra Party include Ginda Burnama, the Deputy Chair of the Pekanbaru Legislature, Muhammad Aulia, a member of the Riau Legislature, and Eddy Tanjung, the Chairman of the Gerindra Riau Party and a two-term member of the People's Representative Council.On October 24, 2021, Irvan Herman was featured in the news section of GoRiau.com with the heading "Praise Irvan Herman, Syamsuar: Billboards Everywhere, These Are Signs."During the inauguration event for the Riau PAN Party management, the Governor of Riau complimented the Deputy Secretary General of the PAN Party.Irvan Herman is a successful young political and commercial figure in Riau.For these two terms, the son of the Mayor of Pekanbaru ran for Mayor of Pekanbaru in 2017 and Legislative member in 2019.Despite his The PDIP Party, of which Robin P. Hutagalung is a member, won six seats in the 2019 Pekanbaru Legislative Election, an increase from the five seats the party gained in the 2014 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.The following figure is Agung Nugroho, a Democratic Party cadre.Seven seats were gained by the party in the 2019 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.In comparison to the results of the 2014 Pekanbaru Legislative Election, this number has increased by six seats.Political parties with numerous seats in the 2019 Pekanbaru Legislative Election include the PKS Party, PDIP Party, and Democratic Party.These political parties also increased their seat gains in comparison to the 2014 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.Meanwhile, Taufik Arrakhman, a PKB party cadre, failed to secure a seat for his party in the 2019 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.This political party previously won four seats in the 2014 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.In the coverage provided by the media, Agung Nugroho is not only the leading category in terms of reporting frequency but also the subject of consistently positive narratives.Agung Nugroho's media coverage was affected by the Democratic Party-affiliated mayor of Pekanbaru during the 2012-2017 and 2017-2022 terms.The Democratic Party makes every effort to retain control of Pekanbaru City until the 2024 election.

Table 4 . Chairs of the Pekanbaru Legislative Council
Based on the results of the 2019 Legislative Elections, nine political parties contributed 45 members to the Pekanbaru Legislature for the period 2019-2024.The dominant news in this mass media was the nomination of the mayor of Pekanbaru 2024 to the cadres of political parties that won major seats in the 2019 Pekanbaru Legislative Election.Hendry Munief, Muhammad Ikhsan, and Ayat Cahyadi, whose names have recently been in the headlines, are PKS Party insiders.In the 2019 parliamentary elections in Pekanbaru, this party gained the most seats with eight.This number has drastically grown compared to the results of the Pekanbaru Legislative Election in 2014, which only yielded three seats.