Received: 15 February 2023
Reviewed: 28 February 2023
Accepted: 31 May 2023
Amanah Ayu As'sa'idah
Master’s Student and Researcher, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia
Abdul Basid
Lecturer and Head of department in Arabic language and Literature, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia
abdulbasid@bsa.uin-malang.ac.id
Abstract
This research utilizes the discourse analysis methodology developed by Fairclough and Leeuwen to scrutinize the portrayal of the Syrian economic crisis in Arabic news outlets such as Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah, Syria. The study seeks to understand the methods of excluding and incorporating the discourse about Syria's economic crisis in Arabic news and elucidate the various factors and their implications on Syria's economy and societal progress. The analysis is based on data collected from the aforementioned Arabic news outlets between 2021 and 2022. The research findings include instances of exclusionary discourse in reporting Syria's economic crisis, manifested through one instance of Passivation, one of Nominalization, and three cases of Subject Substitution. The study also identified the active discourse, evidenced by one instance of abstraction, one of identification, two of Association, and one of Individualization. The research demonstrated that various Arabic news outlets accurately depicted the discourse surrounding Syria's economic crisis and offered mutual clarification.
Nevertheless, the employed discourse strategies varied, resulting in differing viewpoints on the issue. A primary exacerbating factor identified was the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which transformed Syrian territory into a conduit for weaponry and food, thereby escalating the economic crisis in Syria. The fallout from this economic turmoil is expected to reverberate into neighboring nations such as Lebanon and Iran.
Keywords: Discourse actualization; Critical Discourse analysis; Economic downturn; Discourse exclusion; Arabic news
Cite this article as: As'sa'idah, A.A., & Abdul Basid. "Syrian Economic Crisis in Arabic News: A Critical Discourse Analysis," Ansaq, Vol. 7, Issue 2 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.29117/Ansaq.2023.0188
© 2023, As'sa'idah, & Abdul Basid, licensee QU Press. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial use of the material, appropriate credit, and indication dif changes in the material were made. You can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format as well as remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited.
تاريخ الإرسال: 15 فبراير 2023
تاريخ التحكيم: 28 فبراير 2023
تاريخ القبول:31 مايو 2023
أمانة أيو السعيدة
طالبة ماجستير وباحثة، جامعة مولانا مالك إبراهيم الإسلامية الحكومية، مالانج، إندونيسيا
عبد الباسط
محاضر ورئيس قسم اللغة العربية وآدابها، جامعة مولانا مالك إبراهيم الإسلامية الحكومية، مالانج، إندونيسيا
abdulbasid@bsa.uin-malang.ac.id
باستخدام طريقة فيركلو وليوين في تحليل الخطاب، يهدف هذا البحث إلى كشف صورة الأزمة الاقتصادية السورية؛ كما وردت في مصادر الأخبار العربية، مثل الجزيرة، والعربية، والإخبارية السورية. تهدف الدراسة إلى فك شفرة الطريقة التي تتعامل بها هذه المصادر مع الخطاب المتعلق بالأزمة الاقتصادية في سوريا دمجًا وإقصاءً، بالإضافة إلى الكشف عن العوامل والآثار المرتبطة باقتصاد البلاد، وبالتنمية الاجتماعية. جُمعت البيانات من قنوات الجزيرة والعربية والإخبارية السورية خلال الفترة 2021-2022. تشير نتائج البحث إلى حالات محددة من الخطاب الإقصائي في الإبلاغ عن الأزمة الاقتصادية في سوريا، التي تجلت من خلال حالة واحدة من التخميل، وواحدة من التسمية، وثلاث حالات من استبدال الموضوع. حددت الدراسة الخطاب النشط، كما يتضح من حالة واحدة من التجريد، وواحدة من تحديد الهوية، واثنتان من الارتباط، وواحدة من الفردية. وتؤكد الدراسة دقة إيصال الخطاب المتعلق بالأزمة الاقتصادية في سوريا من قبل هذه المنافذ الإخبارية العربية، على الرغم من اختلاف الاستراتيجيات المعتمدة للقيام بذلك؛ مما يؤدي إلى طيف من وجهات النظر المؤيدة والمعارضة للقضية. أحد العوامل الحاسمة في تصعيد المأزق الاقتصادي في سوريا هو الصراع بين روسيا وأوكرانيا، الذي حول الأراضي السورية إلى قناة للأسلحة والإمدادات الغذائية. ونتيجة لذلك، تفاقمت الأزمة الاقتصادية في سوريا، مع تداعيات بعيدة المدى من المرجح أن تؤثر على البلدان المجاورة، بما في ذلك لبنان وإيران وغيرها.
الكلمات المفتاحية: تفعيل الخطاب، تحليل الخطاب النقدي، الأزمة الاقتصادية، إقصاء الخطاب، الأخبار العربية
للاقتباس: السعيدة، أمانة أيو، وعبد الباسط. «الأزمة الاقتصادية السورية في الأخبار العربية: تحليل نقدي للخطاب»، مجلة أنساق، المجلد السابع، العدد 2 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.29117/Ansaq.2023.0188
© 2023، السعيدة وعبد الباسط، الجهة المرخص لها: دار نشر جامعة قطر. تم نشر هذه المقالة البحثية وفقًا لشروط Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). تسمح هذه الرخصة بالاستخدام غير التجاري، وينبغي نسبة العمل إلى صاحبه، مع بيان أي تعديلات عليه. كما تتيح حرية نسخ، وتوزيع، ونقل العمل بأي شكل من الأشكال، أو بأية وسيلة، ومزجه وتحويله والبناء عليه؛ طالما يُنسب العمل الأصلي إلى المؤلف.
The economic crisis is a severe problem that is often experienced by a country through a period (Burhanuddin & Abdi 1992). Even during rampant trade liberalization activities, which are a powerful way of tackling and keeping the world economy stable, the problem of the economic crisis is still difficult to overcome in several countries, such as Middle Eastern countries (Kasdi 380). This is because since the last decade after the Arab Spring occurred in Middle Eastern countries, they face political crises and conflicts that continue to emerge (Ridho et al. 115). Therefore, the issue of the economic crisis in several Arab countries has become a hot topic that is always discussed in several Arab news reports. The case of the economic crisis in Syria has become a discourse that is considered necessary in studying the current Middle East crisis, especially in Syria. The economic crisis in the Middle East region is one of the eternal discourses discussed since the incessant Arab Spring. Even the war between Russia and Ukraine significantly impacts the economy in Arab countries such as Egypt and Syria (Ash-Shawi 4). In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has not subsided and has caused the world economy to decline, especially in the Middle East. For these reasons, several news portals in Arab countries have raised and informed the masses about the issue of the current Arab economic crisis. Therefore, this study relies on several news portals, such as Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria, about the economic crisis in Syria as the object of this discourse analysis study (Ahmad & Shah 10).
Based on the context of critical discourse analysis studies, there are some previous studies discussed the issues of crime, mental illness and suicide, and criminality in several reports (Rosmita; Arsa & Syam; Hartanto et al., Irdiansyah), discourse strategies on political cases, government criticism, and mass communication demonstrations in news portals and campaign videos (Suryani et al.; Ghonim; Rahman et al.) and analysis to gender, namely feminism and masculinity (Ahmad & Shah; Heathy; Al-Falaq & Puspita; Hamid et al.). The similarity lies in the perspective of critical discourse analysis, which is based on the perspectives of Leeuwen (Rosmita; Suryani et al.; Ghonim) and Fairclough (Ahmad & Shah; Heathy; Al-Falaq & Puspita; Irdiansyah). At the same time, the difference is in terms of topics or formal objects used, namely discourse on criminal or social cases (Rosmita; Arsa & Syam; Hartanto et al.; Irdiansyah) and political and government discourse (Suryani et al.; Ghonim). The economic crisis, especially in Arab countries, has become a hot topic of conversation during this pandemic, so researchers are trying to continue the study of critical discourse analysis based on Leeuwen and Fairclough to find out actors and social discourse Strategies on the topic of economic crisis issues. Therefore, this study will examine the economic crisis in Syria on Arab news media such as Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria. This research improvises in its analysis of the world economic crisis discourse so that the Syrian economic crisis problem is solved based on the language application approach.
Leeuwen (1996) states that critical discourse analysis presents and describes how the parties and actors are presented in news texts in particular. So the concept of Leeuwen’s discourse analysis is also called the Social Actors Approach ((Meindrasari & Nurhayati 58). Van Leeuwen’s analysis generally shows how the parties and actors (a person or group) are presented in the news. Leeuwen formulates two ideas that reveal social actors in news texts: exclusion and inclusion. Exclusion is the process of expulsion in which an actor (party) is hidden or disguised in the news. While actualization is the process of inclusion in which a social actor (party or event) is shown or raised in the news (Fan 1041).
An economic crisis is a severe problem often experienced by a country (Ratih, et al. 40). Even today, when the trend of trade liberalization is rampant, which is a powerful way of tackling the world economic crisis, there are still economic problems that are difficult to solve, such as in Middle Eastern Arab countries (Kasdi 379). This is because in the last decade after the Arab Spring occurred in Middle Eastern countries, they faced political crises and conflicts that continue to emerge (Anwar et al. 35).
Meanwhile, mass media is a forum where the general public can find out outside information and information that was not previously known, exchange information intentionally, and share personal and public information for the general public to know. One medium helpful in finding information is the electronic newspaper. In this case, electronic newspapers can be used as a communication medium by showing the social actors of an event (Isnaini & Ismandianto 98).
One form of media is reporting in the mass media. Reporting is a discourse that provides symbols of information through the text of a written or delivered statement (Ridho et al. 114). With continuous news broadcasting, news media will indirectly generate understanding and awareness about something to readers and listeners (Ramadhan & Iskandar 105). In this era, the mass media, especially Arabic reporting, is a means to develop public discourse. However, labor groups, farmers, fishermen, illegal immigrants, and women lack strength and power. They are often depicted in the news discourse as uneducated, wild, disturbing the peace, conducting demonstrations, and often acting anarchically. Often this recessive and marginalized group is poorly portrayed in the media. In this case, for example, groups of workers who demonstrate to voice their opinions are often treated with violence after a discourse is formed that “demonstrations and strikes by workers cause a lot of trouble, traffic jams, and damage.” The bad portrayal in the media of this weaker recessive group often makes this group the ‘wrong’ or blamed group, and the owners of capital are seen as ‘losers’ (Fatimah et al. 503-504).
Critical discourse analysis is one of the applied linguistics or is commonly referred to as multidisciplinary linguistics. This discourse analysis examines language (linguistics) aspects by combining other disciplines (Ahmad & Shah 2-3). This critical applied linguistics will reveal the relation of language in the text, either in writing or orally (Ismiyati et al. 196). As explained, discourse analysis is not only studying linguistics but connecting it with the context of the text of the discourse (Heathy 48). It is concluded that critical discourse analysis is an analysis of text and context which is carried out simultaneously to reveal how discourse can be seen as something that has a purpose, such as debating, influencing, persuading, reacting, arguing, and so on (Ratih, Purnama & Sobari 37).
Concerning communication science, discourse analysis is an alternative to text analysis, namely quantitative content analysis, which is often used. In contrast to quantitative text analysis, which is more focused on “what,” discourse analysis is more concerned with “how” the message/text is communicated. Through discourse analysis, it can be seen how the news text’s content and the message are conveyed. Through the form of language in which a piece of news is reported. By looking at how the linguistic structure is built, discourse analysis can better see the hidden meaning of a text (Rahman et al. 95). Critical discourse analysis is a breakthrough in establishing the legitimacy of a strongly oriented and fundamentally oriented language discourse analysis in the form of social reality with profound attention to the actuality and conditions of social inequality (Syafruddin, Amir, & Aziz 36). The primary purpose of critical discourse analysis is to reveal the language used to show the injustice of power in society in specific social practice processes so that language activities in social contexts are not only a form of expression or reflection among linguistic discourse participants. In the discourse analysis model, several linguistic experts present their analysis of discourse.
Theo Van Leeuwen shows how the parties and actors (a person or group) are presented in the news (Sahputra 13). Leeuwen formulates two ideas that reveal social actors in news texts: exclusion and inclusion. One critical discourse analysis theory that views the text as a form of social practice is the analytical theory proposed by Theo Van Leeuwen. Leeuwen uses two main focuses in critically examining the position of actors in a discourse. The two main focuses play a role in analyzing how the actors in the discourse are presented and whether they are shown in their entirety, only partially, or even omitted (Schleicher & Schwartz 186).
Exclusion is the process in which an actor (party) is excluded from the news. Leeuwen stated that exclusion is the process by which and whether groups of actors in a news text are excluded from the news discourse. The purpose of releasing a person or actor in the news here is to eliminate or disguise the perpetrator/actor in the news so that in the news, it is the victim who gets the attention of the news. This process of spending can indirectly change the audience’s understanding of an issue and legitimize certain positions of understanding (Putriani, et al. 14). The second is inclusion. The opposite of the exclusion process, this process is related to how the groups of actors in an event are included or represented in a news story (Putriani, et al. 13). Fairclough’s view, the process of inclusion in a discourse is called the process of actualization. Therefore, the opinions of Leeuwen and Fairclough have similarities in analyzing a discourse. One is the process of inclusion or actualization (Habibah 244-245).
Data analysis based on critical discourse analysis was carried out through qualitative descriptive analysis using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, which views discourse as text, and Leeuwen, which considers social actors’ discourse as discourse text. This is because the news text reconstructs the news writer. Thus, the approach used is qualitative with the perspective of critical discourse analysis modeled by Norman Fairclough and Leeuwen. Researchers try to investigate and dissect further how Al Jazeera (Mustafa), Al Arabiya (Al Arabiya, “Tahdidatu ‘Askariyatin Wa Azimati Ghidha‘... Suriya Bi Qalbi Harbi ‘Ukraniya”) and (Al Arabiya, “37 Dularan Shahriyan...Nizaamu Suriya Yuqarriru Rabtu Al-Ratib Bi Mu’addali Al-Intaaj!”) and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria (Al-Ikhbariyah) presented the discourse of the economic crisis in Syria in the text.
Data was collected using reading and documentation techniques. Meanwhile, data analysis uses a critical discourse analysis approach from the perspective of Fairclough and Leeuwen. Fairclough (Grimaldi 4) has three stages of analysis: description, interpretation, and explanation. Meanwhile, data analysis based on Leeuwen used the exclusion strategy. The research results are described and explained based on the exclusion and actualization of the Syrian economic crisis discourse in the news coverage of Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria. The data is presented in the form of tables and descriptions. The study results were concluded based on a combination of critical discourse analysis by Theo Van Leeuwen and Norman Fairclough.
Researchers found several data findings, which were discourse strategies based on Theo Van Leeuwen’s analysis of the Arab country’s economic crisis taken from Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria news. With a critical discourse analysis approach based on Theo Van Leeuwen’s perspective, researchers found some data in the news that was included in the qualifications of the discourse strategy, namely exclusion and inclusion (actualization). The explanations are as follows:
Exclusion is a process that identifies parties (social actors) excluded from the discourse. As for exclusion, there are several strategies for how a party (a person or group) is excluded from the discussion (Suryani, et al. 1086). Some of the exclusion language strategies are shown in the following table. In this analysis, researchers present the findings based on the research objective, namely the exclusion strategy in Al Jazeera's reporting on the economic crisis in Arab countries. In reporting on the economic crisis in Arab countries, the strategy found three exclusion strategies with different scopes.
Table 1: Discourse on the exclusion of the issue of the Syrian economic crisis in Arabic news
|
Scope |
|
|
Exclusion |
Passivation |
|
Nominalization |
|
|
Substitution subject |
The three exclusion strategies found in Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria news about the economic crisis in Arab countries are a passivation exclusion strategy, a nominalization exclusion, and two substitution subjects. Some of the exclusion discourse strategies are as follows:
Passivation is how a group or actor is not involved in a conversation in the news with passive sentences. For example, passive sentences in Arabic grammar are shown by removing and eliminating the subject of the actor (fail) so that the actor is not known in a passive sentence (Bestari et al., 93). As for the text of the economic crisis reporting on the Al Jazeera portal; several sentences show Passivation.
أما في الأسواق، فتبين أن الأسعار الفعلية للمواد في محلات بيع المفرق (التجزئة) تفوق النشرة الحكومية، بنسبة ارتفاع من 5 إلى 25 %؛ في حين تختلف هذه الأسعار من منطقة إلى أخرى؛ بل من محل إلى آخر (Mustafa 4).
In the markets, it was found that the actual prices of the materials in the retail stores (retail) exceed the government bulletin. With an increase from 5 to 25%, these prices vary from one region to another and even from one store to another (Mustafa 4).
In the news, the Syrian economy has slumped since the text of this news was released. The quote above is one of the journalists’ expressions conveying their discourse on the economic crisis. This quote explains that many actual or genuine prices are found in the high market, so the impact on retail prices exceeds the bulletin policy issued by the Syrian government. The increase ranges from 5% to 25% of the original government price. Even this price increase is evenly distributed and differs from store to store.
In its analysis, this news sentence has an exclusion strategy, namely Passivation. The Passivation strategy above caused the market prices in Syria in 2021 as the actor became the favored party (shown) in its delivery of the news. Therefore, the reader will know that the market price is soaring.
The nominalization process changes a verb that means an action or activity into a noun that refers to an event (Anshori 1028). Arabic grammar is often referred to as Masdar conversion or Masdar mu’awwal. Nominalization has almost the same meaning as Passivation—the difference lies in the omission of words. Passivation, therefore is a change of the sentence into a passive sentence. Nominalization changes the verb into a noun (Evayani & Rido 44). Researchers found fragments of news that contained a nominalization strategy. The description is as follows.
أما عن سبب الانهيار الاقتصادي؛ فيكتفي محمود بالقول: "إن تعنت النظام سياسيًا، واتكاله المستمر على حلفائه المفلسين، وأحلامه الوردية حيال مسار التطبيع الذي بادرت إليه بعض الدول العربية هو سبب كل مآسي السوريين، وليس الانهيار الاقتصادي فحسب (Mustafa 5).
As for the cause of the economic collapse, Mahmoud says: If the regime continues to fight its bankrupt allies and realize its beautiful dream of a normalization path initiated by several countries, then the Arabs are the cause of all the tragedy that Syria is experiencing, not just the economic collapse. (Mustafa 5).
The economic downturn in Syria that Syrians have experienced up to the year this news was released has become complicated. The journalist, Mustafa said that the economist, Mahmoud Khoja, thought that the Syrian themselves caused the economic crisis. The regime’s political violence and continuous conflict exist in this country. The dream of normalization revolution initiated by some Arab countries is that we Syrians themselves.
The discourse analysis in this news quote includes the exclusion strategy with the scope of Nominalization. It said that the nominalization strategy caused by the word الانهيار الاقتصادي (the fall of the economy), was previously used as a nominalized verb sentence to hide social actors in the presentation of this news so that the reader will focus on the new actor/event.
Substitution subject replaces the subject with a clause to hide the actual actor in a discourse (Sari 88). The emergence of a clause is often found in Al Jazeera news. The following is an example of a news sentence about the Arab country’s economic crisis in the Al Jazeera portal.
أما محمود خوجة، وهو خبير اقتصادي من ريف حلب، فيشير إلى أن الارتفاع الذي شهدته الأسعار خلال الأسابيع القليلة الماضية لا يعدو كونه نتيجة طبيعية لسوء إدارة النظام؛ إذ أدخلت حكومة النظام ميزانيتها والمواطن (Mustafa 3).
Mahmoud Khoja, an economist from the countryside of Aleppo, points out that the rise in prices during the past few weeks is nothing more than a natural result of the regime’s mismanagement, as the regime’s government introduced its budget and the citizen (Mustafa).
In his report, Mahmoud, an economist in Syria, said that the price increase for several weeks at the time of the release of this news was nothing more than an absolute consequence of the deviation of the government regime. This is because the regime government puts its budget and citizens in an economic crisis or more or less equality where both parties to the conflict lose. So the Syrian regime urges the supreme government to maintain its support for most consumer goods, fuel oil and other foodstuffs. The salary of workers is also proposed to increase the nominal. From most of what has been conveyed, we can see that the replacement of the subject in the news discourse above turns to Mahmoud Khoja as a Syrian economist who is located as a subordinate clause. This has resulted in Mahmoud’s figure becoming a spotlight in addressing the economic crisis in Syria. The news from a neighboring country, namely Jordan, also describes the position of replacing the subject by the clause as follows.
In reporting on the economic crisis in Syria and Jordan, Al Jazeera news reporters often use an exclusion strategy, namely changing the subject in conveying their discourse. For example, the news quoted above shows that Al-Subaie, as a substitute for the issue, expressed his opinion about the fuel price, especially gas cylinders and kerosene, which are commonly used for heating, being very high. He added that the cost of living, such as rent, electricity and water bills, had also increased significantly. Al-Subeie’s opinion hides the original party (social actor) in this news, namely the complicated economic crisis in Syria.
The findings of this study state that the exclusion discourse strategy is Passivation, Nominalization, and Subject Change. The results of this study are in line with Theo Van Leeuwen’s critical discourse analysis theory, which has three scopes to reveal social actors who are hidden or disguised in discourse, especially in the news (Rosmita; Arsa & Syam; Hartanto et al.; Irdiansyah). Leeuwen’s analysis states an exclusion strategy to reveal how the author hides social actors or events in the news in the mass media. With this strategy, writers or journalists can immediately find the correct information without worrying about existing violations (Suryani et al.; Ghonim; Rahman et al.). However, if the exclusion strategy is used excessively and carelessly, neither the reader nor the listener can know the correct information.
The findings of this study state that the discourse exclusion strategies are Passivation, Nominalization, and Substitution Subject. The results of this study are similar to several previous studies, such as (Suryani et al.; Ghonim, Rahman et al.), which have several similarities in discourse analysis in a news report based on Theo Van Leeuwen. Likewise, the comparison with Sari’s research (Sari 88) analyzes Theo Van Leeuwen’s critical discourse. However, this study is different in terms of the theme it brings, namely Arabic news discourse about the issue of an Arab country’s economic crisis, which is currently a hot topic in the world, and the differences between Indonesian and Arabic. Compared to previous research, this presentation has similarities in the way and scope of its analysis of the media in the form of news or documentary films (Suryani et al.; Ghonim; Rahman et al.). The results of this study have proven that the exclusion in Al Jazeera reported usage is the same as previous research such as (Rilma, et al.; Rosmita). However, the results of this study have a novelty side from previous studies, which lies in how the discourse of the economic crisis in Arab countries is marginalized based on the exclusion strategy based on Theo Van Leeuwen in the controversial news portal about the news of the bombing of Osama bin Laden, namely the Al Jazeera news portal.
The findings of this study state that the discourse exclusion strategies are Passivation, Nominalization, and Substitution Subject. This study’s results are dominated by the subject replacement findings (subjects). From the three scopes of the exclusion strategy, it is evident that reporting on the Arab country’s economic crisis on the news portal Aljazeera.net uses a lot of exclusion strategies, especially subject replacement (subjects), in their news presentations. With this strategy, writers or journalists can immediately find the right information without worrying about violations. Exclusion strategies must be used wisely to clarify the discourse and not be ambiguous. If the exclusion strategy is used excessively and carelessly, neither the reader nor the listener can know the correct information.
Actualization is a process of producing actual things or things that happened (Harahap 202; Huda 173). Researchers found several discourses on the actualization of the economic crisis in Syria in Arabic news. From several news articles from Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria, the inclusion of discourse actualized the topic of the economic crisis in Syria. The findings and explanations are as follows:
Table 2: Discourse on the actualization of the issue of the Syrian economic crisis in Arabic news
|
Discourse |
Scope |
|
Actualization |
Abstraction |
|
Identification Association |
|
|
Individualization |
In this actualization discourse, researchers found four inclusions in the Arabic news about the issue of the economic crisis in Syria. The actualization discourses found included one Abstraction finding, one Identification finding, one Association finding, and one Individualization finding. The explanation is as follows:
Abstraction is the process of describing the subject or social actor in a discourse in an abstract way. The use of abstraction creates a sentence description that is not detailed. However, that is the purpose of abstraction, which makes the reader or listener remember the outline of a discourse (Sarasati 22). Researchers found data findings that show actualizations in Arabic news of the Syrian economic crisis. The presentation is as follows:
37 دولارًا شهريًا.. نظام سوريا يقرر ربط الراتب بمعدل الإنتاج! تعليقات غاضبة: أي خطة لزيادة الرواتب مهما بلغت نسبتها ليست حلًا (Al Arabiya 3).
37 dollars per month … The Syrian regime decides to link the salary to the production rate! Angry comments: Any plan to increase salaries, no matter how large, is not a solution.
The article's title, published by Al Arabiya News, abstractly explains that Syrian workers' 37 US dollar salaries increased according to the production level. The Syrian government aims to erode Syria’s economic slump by increasing workers’ wages. However, this created many scathing comments directed at the Syrian regime. A number of netizens say any plans that increase salaries provide absolutely no solution. That is because the prices of food, shelter, and others have soared, so the economic crisis in Syria will not be solved. Based on the findings above, this abstraction process allows us to understand what is in the news content so that readers and listeners can easily access essential topics of the economic crisis in Syria.
Identification is a process where the inclusion process is carried out by identifying in detail the social actor or topic discussed. This process makes understanding social actors or essential topics in a discourse clear (Choir 12). The findings and presentations are as follows:
يشار إلى أن الأزمات الاقتصادية قد تعالت كثيرًا في الآونة الأخيرة ضمن المناطق الخاضعة لسيطرة النظام، مما رفع حدّة الاستياء الشعبي والأصوات المطالبة بحلول جذرية لأزمات الخبز والوقود والماء والكهرباء والغذاء، فإلى جانب الأفران تشهد محطات الوقود ازدحامًا متواصلًا وطوابير طويلة للحصول على وقود للتدفئة أو للسيارات (Al Arabiya 5).
Notably, the economic crises have recently escalated in the areas under the regime's control, raising the intensity of popular discontent and calling for radical solutions to bread, fuel, water, electricity and food crises. In addition to bakeries, gas stations witness continuous crowding and long queues to obtain fuel for heating or cars.
Apart from heaters and others, gas stations witness constant overcrowding and long queues to get power for heaters or cars. This can be identified through the findings of the discourse economic crisis in Syria, which has existed since the Arab Spring until now, has occurred at a high rate, and had many impacts. One of them is the deep distrust and hatred felt by Syrians.
The Association is a strategy discourse that connects social actors to broader groups or events. The intended social group refers to where the actor belongs, but the question is whether or not it is explicitly stated in the text (Eryanto, Lesmana, & Wijayanti 5). Researchers have the following explanations:
تنذر العملية العسكرية الروسية في أوكرانيا التي تدخل يومها الخامس، بتداعيات سياسية واقتصادية وعسكرية محتملة على الأزمة السورية التي اندلعت في العام 2011 بعد احتجاجات شعبية شهدتها البلاد في منتصف مارس للمطالبة بإسقاط رئيس النظام بشار الأسد، فما علاقة سوريا بالنزاع المسلّح بين موسكو وكييف؟ وكيف سيؤثر ذلك عليها؟ ((Al Arabiya 6
The Russian military operation in Ukraine, which is entering its fifth day, portends possible political, economic and military repercussions for the Syrian crisis that erupted in 2011 after widespread protests took place in the country in mid-March calling for the overthrow of the regime's head, Bashar al-Assad. What is Syria's relationship to the armed conflict between Moscow and Kyiv? How will that affect her?
This data shows that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is one factor in the escalation of the economic crisis in Syria, which entered its fifth day on the day of this publication, signaling the possible political, economic and military impact on the Syrian crisis that erupted in 2011 after widespread protests in the country in mid-March demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. What does Syria have to do with the armed conflict between Moscow and Kyiv? How will that affect Al-Assad? Based on the findings above, the discourse inclusion process with this Association creates curiosity in the reader or listener to explore the existing truth further. By associating sentences with one another in the findings above, readers or listeners are introduced to and connected to the current news, namely the Russo-Ukrainian war.
قال المحلل السياسي السوري كمال الجفا لـ"العربية.نت": إن سوريا جزء أساسي من الحروب المتعددة والمتنقلة التي اجتاحت العالم مع بدء ما سمي بالربيع العربي؛ وصولًا إلى ما حدث مؤخرًا في كازاخستان وقبلها في أرمينيا، وبالتالي الصراعات الدولية في منطقتنا مرتبطة ببعضها إلى حدّ كبير، وإن اختلفت الأولويات والأهمية والأهداف البعيدة والقصيرة المدى. (Al Arabiya 7)
The following paragraph confirms this, namely the comments of the Syrian political analyst Kamal al-Jafa who told Al Arabiya that Syria is an essential part of the multiple and moving wars that swept the world with the start of the so-called Arab Spring until what happened recently in Kazakhstan and before that in Armenia, and thus the international conflicts in our region are related to each other to a large extent, even if priorities, interests, long-term and short-term goals differ.
Individualization is an inclusive process that separates important social actors or topics of one discourse from other issues. This Individualization can also refer to as character separation. This process aims to distinguish issues or social actors from other events so that social actors or topics are marginalized by how important the discourse is (Qader & Karem 267). The data findings are described as follows.
حومت أسعار النفط اليوم بالقرب من أعلى مستوًى لها خلال شهرين ليتجه خام برنت نحو تحقيق أكبر قفزة أسبوعية في شهر ونصف الشهر. وذكرت رويترز أن العقود الآجلة لخام برنت تراجعت فقط 9 سنتات إلى 117,31 دولارًا للبرميل بعد أن ارتفعت إلى 118,17 دولارًا في وقت سابق من الجلسة ولكن الخام القياسي يتجه نحو تحقيق مكاسب نحو 4 بالمائة هذا الأسبوع (Al-Ikhbariyah 1).
Today, oil prices hovered near their highest level in two months, with Brent crude heading towards its most significant weekly jump in a month and a half. Reuters reported that Brent crude futures fell only 9 cents to 117.31 dollars a barrel after rising to 118.17 dollars earlier in the session. Still, the benchmark is heading towards achieving gains of about 4 percent this week.
On the other hand, the news in Syria reports that oil prices are currently near their highest level in two months, with Brent crude heading for its most significant weekly jump in a month and a half. Reuters reported that Brent crude futures were down just 9 cents to $117.31 a barrel after rising to $118.17 earlier in the session, but the benchmark crude headed for a gain of about 4 percent this week. Based on Al-Ikhbariyah's findings, it is clear that there is a difference between Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya news coverage as foreign (outside) news and the Al-Ikhbariyah portal. Al-Ikhbariyah news portal individualizes in conveying the discourse on the economic crisis in Syria by emphasizing oil prices as a primary resource.
The findings of this study state that the discourse of actualization is an Abstraction, Identification, Association, and Individualization. This study’s findings align with Leeuwen and Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis theory, which has four strategies to reveal social actors that appear in discourse, especially in the news (Ahmad & Shah; Heathy; Al-Falaq & Puspita; Irdiansyah). Leeuwen’s analysis states an exclusion strategy to reveal how the author hides social actors or events often done in the news in the mass media (Abdulfattah 56). With this strategy, writers or journalists can immediately find the correct information without worrying about existing violations (Rilma, et al. 85-86).
The results of this study are similar to several studies, namely (Ahmad and Shah; Heathy; Al-Falaq and Puspita; Irdiansyah). However, this study is different in terms of the theme it brings, namely Arabic news discourse about the issue of the Arab country’s economic crisis, which is currently a hot topic in the world, and the differences between Indonesian and Arabic. Compared to (Rosmita; Arsa and Syam, Hartanto et al.; Irdiansyah), this study has data on strategy differences. This study did not find any nominations. Likewise, the results of this study have proven that inclusion strategies in Al Jazeera reporting used as well as previous studies such as (Rilma et al.; Rosmita; Anwar et al.).
The findings of this study state that the discourse of Actualization is an Abstraction, Identification, Association, and Individualization. Reporting on the Arab country’s economic crisis on the Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria news has been proven to use an equitable inclusion strategy in its news exposure. The Actualization based on Leeuwen and Fairclough’s four scopes analysis can attract readers or listeners by revealing social actors or events in a discourse. However, that makes discourse, especially news, difficult to understand or sometimes deceived into what happened due to the inclusion of social actors who are not the superior actors in that regard, so that others feel disadvantaged. With these two strategies, we can find out how the social actors are shown clearly without the need to be manipulated by the intentionally not actual news.
The results of this study are based on the research objectives consisting of two purposes in reporting Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria about the economic crisis in Syria. First, researchers found a discourse of exclusion in the reporting of Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al-Ikhbariyah Syria on the issue of the economic crisis in Syria. Three strategies were found: one finding of Passivation, one finding of Nominalization, and three findings of Subject Replacement. Second, researchers found data on the findings of the actualization discourse strategy in reporting on the economic crisis in Syria and an inclusion strategy, namely one Abstraction finding, one Identification finding, two Association findings, and one Individualization finding.
The discourse of exclusion in any news or discourse can give rise to thoughts on how writers hide or reveal social actors or events. We can also apply this in writing journals and in conveying a discourse. With this exclusion and inclusion strategy, readers or listeners can be selective about how this news is delivered and also how such actual and accurate information can be found.
The authors dedicate the article to the Forum of Young Researchers, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia.
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