ABSTRACT
The spread of the COVID-19 outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus across continents has also garnered Indonesian media attention from a variety of perspectives. As a national newspaper, KOMPAS has regularly reported on the coronavirus that has spread from Wuhan, China since January 2020. The aim of this paper is to investigate where the media places responsibility for COVID-19 in Indonesia. KOMPAS newspaper articles have been sampled from 12 January to 18 May 2020. Investigators collected 30 news samples between January and May of 2020. The news samples were then categorized into three big themes, namely (1) prevention strategies; (2) outbreak management; and (3) the communication strategy for further analysis using reality construction theory to determine how KOMPAS narrated the COVID-19 outbreak that happened in Indonesia. As preliminary findings, the role of the media is very crucial to oversee the government to make optimal efforts in the detection, monitoring and management of handling COVID-19. In addition, the media plays a major role in shaping public perceptions of the health risks of COVID-19. However, on the other hand, some people get fed up with news related COVID-19. This is because the viewpoint of writing presented in the media considered it haunting and put pressure on the public.
