Microscopic levels analysis of Australia-Indonesia Spying issue in BBC Online News

ABSTRACT

Microscopic levels is the degree of how discourse is built or created from text level to sentence-level to word-level, which frame the recipient’s interest, ideas, and believes (Huckin, 1998). Moreover, Analytic concept is the concepts that are most fruitful in allowing the analyst to pursue the stated aims and purposes of the analysis which applied in the different levels of granularity, ranging from single words to entire texts (Huckin, 2002).

By taking account Huckin’s Theory of Microscopic Levels Analysis, this research investigates the microscopic levels in the BBC online news articles. It is interesting to figure out the hidden interest in the written discourse constructed by BBC in reporting an issue to reach its private goals. Particularly, the issue is focused on the online news articles of Australia spied on Indonesia in 2013. According to Huckin (2002), the analytic concepts of CDA are divided into four levels. The researcher decides to use the analytic concept which only covers the microscopic levels: (1) text levels; (2) sentence or utterance levels; and (3) word or phrase levels.

Methodologically, the qualitative study is used as the research design. The data are collected by intentionally reading the whole full-body of each online news articles. Then, it is noted based on the elements of text levels, sentence-levels and word-levels.

The data analysis from two online news articles proves that news of BBC is written more for entertaining than informing the readers. British Broadcasting Corporation uses the specific genre, framing, visual aids, foregrounding, backgrounding and heteroglossia in shaping a whole text. Whereas, it is found that within the sentence or utterance levels, BBC applies the topicalization, transitivity, deletion, presupposition, and insinuation. The last, the present of classification, connotation, register, andmodality are found in word or phrase levels.

BBC generally uses the top down genre within the narrative construction. Besides, BBC implicitly assert about its neutral position, which does not take any sides among two alleys, neither support Australia nor Indonesia. It is recommended for the next researchers who are interested in the same field to conduct the investigation within the high levels (macroscopic levels) which covers the macro concepts of identifying the written discourse.