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International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7 (4.33) (2018) 241-244
International Journal of Engineering & Technology
Website: www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJET
Research paper
Semiotics at Discursive Texts and Images in Online News
Heri Heryono*, Helmy Faisal
Informatics Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty of Widyatama University Bandung
*Corresponding author E-mail: heri.heryono@widyatama.ac.id
Abstract
The paper established an inappropriate relationship of text and image that should interact in one whole package of online news. It applied
Semiotics analysis to go under the problems occurred. The analysis was developed to respond the question: why should be the text and
image in online news associated? Do they match? Developed in three levels of analysis processes-analysis of relevant engagement in text
and image; extended analysis of discursive relationship involved in news that turned to hoax; the intention of attaching the misplaced
image to the text. This paper used qualitative Semiotics analysis to illustrate malfunction of text and image in online news. It is wished to
be able to enhance the accuracy of a news.
Keywords: Semiotics; online news; discursive.
1. Introduction
Paperless based information has been integrated flourish since
internet covered information system. One of the most interjected
areas of this internet coverage is news. Online news is more popu-
lar than conventional newspaper. It has real time events, since the
timeline of the online news is very rapid and variably different
every second according to the real events. People will tremendous-
ly change their habit in getting information by this system, then
leave the conventional system. The problem appeared in this
online news is correlative contents, between the headline and arti-
cle with image. It should be suitable in purpose, but in some cases
in online news, it has apocryphal matters or in other words, it is a
hoax.
Semiotics appears to analyse this phenomenon of apocryphal mat-
ters between pictures (image) with news article or headline (text).
Saussure through Course in General Linguistics, first published in
1916, he postulated the existence of a common science of signs, or
Semiology, of which linguistics would form only one part. Semi-
ology aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their sub-
stances and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and
the complex associations of all these, which form the content of
ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not
languages, at least systems of signification [1].
By technology which has been going advance, especially to the
media of information, internet appeared and was introduced to
people became the most powerful matter and equipment in which
people might use for every aspect of people necessity related to
the information technology. It has converted publication of the
news from printed news (paper) to be online (paperless). This
platform development of media information gave a possibility the
time efficiency escalation through data withdrawing of recent or
real time events with the most identical timeline, from the begin-
ning of the occurrence until the end. The efficiency probability of
time has raised the requirement of obtaining news. It fastened the
acquisition of people necessity through areal time news.
It made additional features popped out and people demanded more
to their requirement, especially news. Nowadays, people live be-
tween reality and unreality of news package. The reality could be
obtained from the textual language put in the article and headline,
the unreality matter would be obtained from image or photo put in
the news as the comprehensive references supported the articles.
It is aimed to give empirical experience to the readers by inserting
image or picture that supports the article. But in fact, some news
has implicitly put the wrong pictures or images. It is also purposed
to make the readers believe of what they have read.
By this obligation of inputting image as the news providing sup-
plementary, it should be arranged by the formal and fix rules. The
procedure of inserting pictures or images in the news article, or as
the headline of the news, should be filtered by recent reliable au-
thority. This reduction of filtering by particular authority might
emerge a possibility of inaccuracy between the content of the
news with the image that is showed in it. It could be inferred that
the truth is only one-sided validity, and it is not factual. It would
make some possibilities of hoax-ness news appear.
2. Related Works
Text and image had been known as a primordial communication
tools used by human. Those non-verbal aspects of language had
their own interaction and binding energy to complete each other as
one package in giving information. Nowadays, newspaper repre-
sents those linguistics aspect contained text and image as the at-
tractive point to the readers.
Some media, especially readable media, offer some ownership to
reader as if they are involved in the situation and so the reader
nowadays become much judgmental toward news. They unfortu-
nately need no code-encryption of articles they have read, by cor-
relating image and text, they perceive an interconnection between
couple things inside. In addition, people involved in communica-
tion do not actually share common codes and positions in social
[8].
Different types of newspapers attract different kinds of audiences.
They are thus perceptibly different at the level of the signifier, i.e.
in how they are put together, in what kind of language they use (in
the headline style and in the actual writing of stories), and in how