Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta

An unforeseen repercussion of the COVID-19 pandemic was a substantial disruption of international economic activity. Similarly affected was the Special Region of Yogyakarta, one of the most visited tourist havens in Indonesia. Initial policies implemented in the midst of the pandemic were pivotal in assessing the government's readiness to address unanticipated circumstances. In addition to disseminating a wide range of information and ideas, mass media functions as a vital social institution by monitoring the political climate and the effectiveness of the government. By employing Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, it is possible to ascertain the relation between public policy and mass media. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine how the news media, particularly Tribun Jogja, communicated the tourism policies of the Special Region of Yogyakarta concurrently with the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (January-June 2020). During the whole of the investigation, it was critical to partition the data into distinct time intervals in order to draw verdicts. As a result of the prevailing circumstances, Tribun Jogja was convened to deliberate on the tourism policies enacted by the administration of the Yogyakarta Special Region. Furthermore, it was disclosed that the previously mentioned organisations were participating in collaborative initiatives.


Introduction
COVID-19, or corona virus, is an infectious and detrimental condition that affects the respiratory system.In December 2019, the first confirmed case was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.Despite the fact that close contact is the only mode of transmission, as of April 22, 2020, the virus had infected 2,471,136 individuals in the countries that reported the incident.Moreover, as of April 2024, this disease has been responsible for 7,040,264 fatalities across the globe (World Health Organisation, 2024).
Despite the fact that the majority of the victims are elders, this disease rapidly transmitted, having reached 179 countries and 33 territories by April 11, 2020.On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially designated a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) due to this rationale.The World Health Organisation subsequently designated the Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (Ghebreyesus, 2020).Indonesia was not exempt from the repercussions of this pandemic, as the initial case was documented on March 2nd, 2020.Following this, the Indonesian government issued a decree on April 13, 2020, designating COVID-19 as a national disaster and establishing the Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling (Presidential Decree No.12 of 2020).
Public policy formulation can be prompted, among other things, by disasters.A disaster, according to Faulkner (quoted in Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015: 4), is a circumstance that instigates substantial and unforeseen transformations that are beyond the control of the affected actors or groups of affiliated institutions.Typically, external and unforeseeable factors precipitate disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.When evaluated through the lens of emergency planning, disaster recovery necessitates a substantial investment of time.Restoring the preexisting conditions (status quo ante) may be unattainable in this particular context (Hills cited in Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015: 4).
Hooper (quoted in Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015: 3) concludes that significant disruptions to tourist travel can be caused by natural disasters.As a reaction, the government endeavours to formulate tourism policies that address this disturbance.Within the realm of tourism, policy can be understood as an amalgamation of directives, strategies, regulations, rules, and guidelines that establish a structure where decisions made collectively or individually have an immediate impact on both the long-term progress of tourism and the day-to-day operations of visitors to a particular location (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2009: 414).Public policy is thus also utilised to address tourismrelated societal issues precipitated by disasters or exigent circumstances, as in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Responding to the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian government made regional restrictions to prevent the transmission of the virus.Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic affected all social classes and various sectors in Indonesia, including the tourism sector.As a result, the tourism industry in Indonesia experienced huge losses, as the number of foreign tourists in the country in 2020 represented only 25% of the amount of 2019 (Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, 2021).

Hapsari, Riris Rinonce
As a consequence, the tourism industry in the Yogyakarta Special Region was significantly impacted by the pandemic.
The decline in tourist visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic implementation of physical distancing policies forced many tourism industries to close temporarily.In fact, the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government was trying to increase the foreign tourist arrival number by moving commercial flights to the bigger Yogyakarta International Airport to accommodate more international flights (Darmawan, 2020), starting on 29 th March 2020.However, it was recorded that only 1,848,548 tourists arrived in the Special Region of Yogyakarta in 2020, which means the number of visits that year was reduced in 71.78% when compared to the arrival of 6,549,381 tourists in 2019 (Tourism Statistics 2020: 7).The government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta must implement policies to minimize the detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local tourism sector.Therefore, it is imperative to thoroughly research the provincial government's policy towards the tourism sector during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Special Region of Yogyakarta.
The research focused on the period from January to June 2020, during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was a critical juncture for the tourism industry in the Special Region of Yogyakarta in its efforts to respond to the crisis.In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Special Region of Yogyakarta is striving to increase the visibility of its regional tourism policy, particularly prior to the implementation of new national-level regulations in July 2020.Hence, through an examination of this pivotal era, it becomes possible to discern which interests the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government prioritised when formulating its policies.
All types of media can be used to influence the political activity of the government.Information can be conveyed with widespread user coverage reaching all social levels.This includes the politics of the government.In presenting government policies, the media acts as the transmitter of various external messages related to the government policies that will be created and implemented.Additionally, the media also acts as the sender of messages or information about the government made by journalists from the aforementioned media to the public.
Tribun Jogja has established itself as a prominent mass media organisation in the Special Region of Yogyakarta.In February 2012, one year after the initial printed edition was published on April 11th, 2011, the publication received the Indonesia Print Media Awards (IPMA) and Indonesia Inhouse Magazine awards (Anggraini, 2018: 40).This publication is a subsidiary of the national private media conglomerate Kompas Gramedia.As of November 1, 2010, Tribun Jogja also oversees the jogja.tribunnews.comportal, a digital news source in addition to its printed newspapers.Tribun Jogja additionally oversees various digital assets in an effort to broaden their market presence.These assets comprise Tribun Jogja Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the official YouTube channel (Tribun Jogja, 2022).In light of this, Tribun Jogja is suitable for the objectives of this study as it serves as the primary news source regarding the tourism policies Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta implemented by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Theoretical Framework
A policy is a decision-making process that has a substantial impact on a considerable number of individuals (MacRae and Wilde, 1979: 2).Anderson (2003: 2) provides the definition of policy as a purpose-driven action that is executed by an individual or collective of individuals in order to address concerns or challenges.Concurrently, policy is defined in this study as a course of action chosen to address matters or concerns that are significant and have a substantial impact on a large number of individuals.Moreover, as defined by Mustopadidjaja (2002), public policy is a determination that seeks to address challenges in specific operations conducted by governmental entities within the framework of government administration.
The study of public policy encompasses a vast array of disciplines, such as social, cultural, economic, legal, and political studies, among others.Public policy exists at different tiers: national, regional, and local.These distinctions are contingent upon the scope and level of urgency associated with each policy under development.Nevertheless, it is crucial to emphasize that the formation of public policy can also be influenced by actors and factors beyond the purview of the government, such as media, group representative, and even private citizen (Anderson, 2003: 3;Koerner et al., 2023).
Public policy formulation can be prompted, among other things, by disasters.A disaster is an event that causes significant and unanticipated changes that are out of the affected actors' or affiliated institutions' control (Faulkner cited in Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015: 4).When evaluated through the lens of emergency planning, disaster recovery necessitates a substantial investment of time.According to Hills (quoted in Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015: 4), victims might even be incapable of regaining their initial state.As exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters are frequently precipitated by external and unforeseeable elements.The COVID-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge as it combines a biological threat with various vulnerabilities, including the response capacity of health systems and overcrowding, which caused unparalleled impacts (ECLAC-UNDRR, 2021).
Additionally, disasters serve to underscore the intricate interplay between natural environments and human systems.Ritchie and Campiranon (2015: 4) posit that the potential for minor disasters to escalate into major calamities derives from the intricate nature of relationships that generate chain reactions in open systems via water ripple effects and situation escalation.Furthermore, policy decisions regarding the management of disasters must be implemented expeditiously due to their unpredictability.Thus, COVID-19 pandemic which arises from vulnerability and hazard as well as occurs at multilevels simultaneously can be considered as a disaster.
Hapsari, Riris Rinonce According to Hooper (cited in Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015: 3), major disruptions to tourist flows can be caused by disasters.In an effort to address this, the government subsequently institutes a tourism policy.The term tourism policy, as stated by Velasco (2016), is a set of discourses, decisions, and practices driven by governments, sometime in collaboration with private or social actors, with the intention to achieve diverse objectives related to tourism.According to Velasco (2016), public decision makers can use five public policy instruments for tourism policies, which are organizational, regulatory, incentive and promotion, improving knowledge, and communication.
When considering tourism, the term "policy" can be defined as an assemblage of directives, regulations, standards, guidelines, and strategies for development and promotion that establish a structure wherein decisions made collectively and individually have an immediate impact on the destination's day-to-day operations and the destination's long-term progress (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2009: 414).Hence, it can be deduced that public policy is employed to address societal challenges associated with tourism that emerge as a result of critical circumstances or disasters, like as the COVID-19 pandemic in this particular instance.
The policies that have been developed by the government need channels for dissemination to the public.One such channel is the mass media.The media exerts a substantial influence on the political landscape of a nation.In addition to serving as a conduit for information and entertainment, the media also operates as an oversight body.Four primary functions of mass communication performed by the media are identified by Laswell (quoted in Wiryanto, 2000: 10) as surveillance, correlation, transmission of social heritage, and entertainment.Indonesia, being a democratic nation, regards its press or media as the country's fourth pillar, which provides support to the executive, legislative, and judicial pillars of government.In accordance with the nation's fourth pillar of responsibility, the media is tasked with monitoring the performance of the government.The aforementioned function serves as the foundational tenet of the media resurgence in Indonesia.Consequently, it is the responsibility of the media to monitor the performance of the government by reporting events objectively and without favoritism toward any particular interest.
The media also serves as a social institution that disseminates diverse concepts and information that are vital to society at large, including political, economic, and social data.By virtue of performing political duties, the media can also affect the political image of the government.
McQuail (2000: 4) asserts that the influence of mass media in the political sphere is substantial.Any form of media has the potential to exert influence over the political affairs of the government.The pervasive reach of user coverage across all strata of society enables the dissemination of any and all information, including that pertaining to the political affairs of the government.With regard to the discourse surrounding the presentation of government policies, the media functions as a conduit for transmitting diverse external messages that influence the desired government policies, as well as disseminating internal messages about the government authored by media journalists for the general public (McQuail, 2000).
Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta A research approach that can be employed to ascertain the correlation between public policy and mass media is critical discourse analysis (CDA).In his book Language and Power (1989), Fairclough introduced significant concepts including discourse, power, ideology, social practice, and common sense, in addition to CDA.Language must be examined as a social practice via the lens of spoken and written discourse, he emphasizes.Fairclough (quoted in Lewis-Beck et al., 2004: 216) states that CDA can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, beginning with Halliday's application of linguistics to analyse texts from the standpoint of ideology and power, which is critical linguistics.Presently, CDA is more interdisciplinary, incorporating social research and theory in particular.

Methods
The research conducted throughout this paper focuses on analysing the governmental policy towards tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic.Therefore, qualitative research using discourse analysis, literature study and interviews were employed.The results of the research are an analysis of the research object used, namely news regarding the Government's tourism policies of the Special Region of Yogyakarta from the Tribun Jogja media.Apart from that, this research was carried out using an inductive mindset strategy because the research process begins with a description, in this case the one created by the media, which will become an explanation after analysis (Veal, 2006: 35).Furthermore, this research attempts to describe a phenomenon related to space, time and the process of occurrence, so it should be called research that uses a descriptive approach (Veal, 2006: 3-4).
The primary data source used in this research ware tourism news in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, which were published on the Tribun Jogja media page, namely https://jogja.tribunnews.com/,from January to June 2020 which is divided into three periods (Table 1).The first period was the period when COVID-19 began to emerge in China and spread to other countries, but no cases had been found in Indonesia.Therefore, this period starts in January and ends in February 2020.In this period there are five news articles.Then, the second period began when the official announcement of positive cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia appeared for the first time, namely on 2 nd March 2020.
Furthermore, the third period began when positive cases in Indonesia reached 10,000 people, namely on May 1 2020 (World Health Organization, 2020).The pandemic conditions in the Special Region of Yogyakarta alone reached more than 100 positive cases on May 1 2020, so it is hoped that researchers can reveal the tourism policy of the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government to respond to the pandemic outbreak (DIY Regional Government Public Relations, 2020).The end of June was taken as the research deadline because, at the beginning of July, the Indonesian government carried out an evaluation of the impact of the pandemic and began implementing regulations for adapting to new habits nationally (Wicaksono, 2020).
Wait-and-Follow: Apart from primary data, this research also uses secondary data, namely data obtained by researchers from various other existing sources (Veal, 2006: 39).In this regard, secondary data related to this research was obtained from literature studies and interviews.The sources for this literature study came from books, reports, journals, documents, and other sources regarding the tourism policy of the Special Region of Yogyakarta provincial government in order to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Furthermore, secondary data interviews were conducted with three staff members of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Tourism Office, namely, AK, the Tourism Industry Development and Supervision Section; NS, Object Management Section and Tourist Attractions; and DC, Tourism Promotion Section.We also interviewed Tribun Jogja staff, S.W., as the Coverage Manager of the news media.Interview is used as one of the data collection methods, albeit secondary, to get more actual insights regarding the policy and news production process and the relationship between the two institutions as well as crosschecking the research findings.
The primary data of this research comes in the format of texts.They are extracted form a series of content analysis.Content analysis is a research method used to determine the presence of certain words, themes or concepts in some given qualitative data, for example a discourse (Berelson, 1952: 55).Research using content analysis can make inferences about the message in the reading, the author, the audience, and even the culture and time surrounding the text.Content analysis-based research on tourism is still rare.Even so, Rodrigues, et al. (2017) have conducted research on critical content analysis of medical tourism.In addition, Haiyan, Jingyan, and Genzhi (2013) conducted content analysis research related to tourism and policy by reviewing and researching the prospects of tourism value chain governance through literature sources.However, content analysis is different from research that uses critical discourse analysis (CDA).
According to Jorgensen and Phillips (2002: 144), CDA is a method of empirical study of the relationship between discourse and social and cultural developments in different social domains.
CDA is based on the assumption that linguistic elements of social phenomena can change other social elements.In short, discourse is socially constructive.Although the relationship between linguistic and social elements can be traced back to the time of Aristotle (4 th century BC), the term critical discourse analysis only came into use in 1985.CDA has developed a relatively systematic theory and regarding linguistic elements and social elements for the first time.
CDA is used as the data analysis method in this research, which combines the tradition of textual analysis with the broader context of society.Fairclough (2013: 98;also, in Badara, 2014: 66) divides discourse into three dimensions.The first is the discourse dimension, which refers to speech, writing, graphics and their combinations which are included in textual linguistics.Second, discourse practice, which has undergone interpretation and text production processes.This dimension refers to the way the writer creates discourse and the type of discourse (genre) by paying attention to power relations.Lastly is the dimension of socio-cultural practices which shows that texts can be influenced as well as influence socio-cultural practices (Fairclough cited in Haryatmoko, 2019: 23).
The data analysis process through the critical discourse method is divided into three dimensions, namely description, interpretation and explanation (Chart 1) (Fairclough cited in Badara, 2014: 72).First, the researchers describe the discourse descriptively regarding the tourism policy of the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government.This analysis is micro in nature because it is carried out textually without connecting it with other aspects.Second, the researchers interpret the results of data analysis in the first stage and relate them to the text production process through the actors involved and the process of searching for discourse production.This analysis is meso-level or medium in nature.Third, the researchers seek an explanation of the results of the first and second stages to reveal the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic conditions of the community, and the political conditions or positioning of the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government at the time the discourse was created.
Chart 1.The Three-Dimensional Model of Critical Discourse Analysis by Fairclough (Fairclough, 2013: 98) Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta

Results
Based on the presentation of research data, the tourism policy issued by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government follows the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.Therefore, the way Tribun Jogja presents these policies through the news is also closely related to the periodisation of the research.Furthermore, the results of micro-dimensional analysis or text analysis show that there was less news in Period I compared to other periods.This is related to the fact that there were no COVID-19 cases in Indonesia in the period (January and February 2020).Therefore, apart from increasing vigilance and establishing a command post at Adisutjipto Airport, the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government had not implemented a special tourism policy.
Period II had more news than the previous period considering that the first COVID-19 case had emerged in Indonesia.Apart from that, the number of cases continued to increase rapidly so that the government had stopped tourism activities.Furthermore, many workers in the tourism sector had lost their livelihoods.Therefore, the government finally provided economic assistance for the community, especially for those working in the tourism sector.
Tribun Jogja produced the most news during Period III.Even though the number of cases nationally and regionally in the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province continued to increase, society had entered a stage of boredom and anxiety due to increasingly worsening economic conditions.Therefore, the government responded by creating SOPs as preparation for the tourism sector to enter a period of adaptation to new habits (new normal).The process of making and testing the SOP became news material that was widely featured in Tribun Jogja.
Based on the results of meso-dimensional analysis or production analysis, it is known that the most important figure in the Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta tourism policy discourse was the Head of the DIY Tourism Service.Apart from that, the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government, as the competent authority to formulate provincial regional tourism policies, had a cooperative relationship with Tribun Jogja.This was acknowledged by all of the research informants (AK, DC, NS, and SW, personal communication, 2022).However, this collaboration was limited to helping publicize certain events.Both sources from Tribun Jogja and the Special Region of Yogyakarta Tourism Office acknowledged that news contents are the reporters' autonomous right, in other words, the government does not interfere with the information reported.This is in accordance with the function of the media as a social institution that has the ability to monitor political conditions (Laswell cited in Wiryanto, 2000).
The researchers speculate that there may be bias in the news articles being studied.This is due to the research object discourse consistently portraying the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government as an institution with strong performance.Most of the report was based on interviews with only one source, specifically the Chair of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Tourism Office.These sources are frequently mentioned in discussions on research subjects.Based on secondary interview data discussing collaboration between Tribun Jogja and the Special Region Hapsari, Riris Rinonce of Yogyakarta Tourism Office (AK, DC, NS, and SW, personal communication, 2022), it is possible that the journalist's reporting may have been influenced by his employment agreement, even when covering topics outside the contract's scope.Political and economic forces can also impact the media in this situation.The Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government, as an authoritative entity, holds power that allows it to affect the process of producing discourse.However, both parties denied having any influence on the rhetoric mentioned in the research.
On the other hand, sources from the Special Region of Yogyakarta Tourism Office (AK, DC, and NS, personal communication, 2022) admitted that the news conveyed by the media, in this case is Tribun Jogja, has quite a significant influence because it can lead public opinion.For this dialogue with the mass media is often carried out to discuss the policies that the government will take as the embodiment of pentahelix governance.Moreover, the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic had greatly limited the government's direct interaction with the public so that the mass media, especially Tribun Jogja, had become an important communication bridge.
Based on macro dimension analysis or social analysis, it is known that the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government always followed the latest developments in the COVID-19 pandemic, economy and politics in making tourism policies.This can be observed in Period I, when there had been no positive cases in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the local government continued to carry out tourism activities as usual, but accompanied by vigilance displayed through the creation of health posts at the airport (News #2).During this period, policies at the international level had created travel guidelines and prevention against COVID-19 infection, while national policies still revolved around repatriating Indonesian citizens from countries with a high number of cases.This "denial" policy was intended to suppress public concerns due to news of COVID-19 cases in other countries.
Entering Period II, international policy was presented by creating guidelines for handling four scenarios for the spread of COVID-19.At the time, positive cases had emerged in Indonesia and the Special Region of Yogyakarta.For this reason, the central government had made policies regarding the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 and Large-Scale Social Restrictions.The regional policy implemented by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government regarding this condition was the temporary closure of tourist attractions.This policy shows the government's assertiveness in dealing with the pandemic.Even so, positive cases continued to increase and, less than one month later, the number of cases worldwide had increased tenfold.For this reason, all tourist destinations, whether regional, national, or international, were temporarily closed and travel restrictions were enforced.As a result, world economic conditions had significantly deteriorated.
The central government had also made a policy to prohibit homecoming tradition during religious holidays (mudik).The Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government had also declared a pandemic disaster emergency response status and regulated the government officials work system to avoid Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta the spread of COVID-19.The national economic situation had deteriorated.In face of this, the Indonesian government created a financial policy focused on handling the COVID-19 pandemic.Apart from that, the government also created a social emergency program to help the community.Furthermore, this program took place alongside the policy of providing aid to tourism workers carried out by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government.The news show-cashing the empathy of the government through this policy.
Global COVID-19 cases had reached more than 3 million at the start of Period III.For this reason, WHO held a virtual World Health Assembly to discuss efforts to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, national cases in that period had reached more than 10,000.For this reason, the Indonesian government cancelled the departure of prospective pilgrims for the 2020 Hajj.However, several tourist destinations had relaxed travel restrictions, especially in Europe, making it a turning point for tourism.
Policies in Indonesia were also influenced by this trend.The central government created a travel licensing policy and a scheme for reopening the economic sector.Apart from that, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy formulated a new normal adaptation initiative through the CHS (Cleanliness, Health and Safety) program.This was also performed by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government, which prepared a COVID-19 Resilient Guidebook and a tourism SOP called Pranatan Anyar Plesiran Jogja, towards the new normal.This way the government displayed positive approach towards the situation.Even so, the continuous rise in positive cases, which had reached 313, made the DIY Governor decide to extend the emergency response period for the COVID-19 disaster.This policy certainly meant that the community's economy would never recover.Facing this, the Global Gotong Royong Tetrapreneur (G2RT) movement emerged in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, offering assistance in supplying food and drink raw materials for residents.This highlighted even more government's empathy from the way the news was written.
Based on the explanation above, it appears that tourism policy in the Special Region of Yogyakarta was synergistic and in line with national and international policies.DIY's authority to issue its own policies remains based on regulations that have a higher position (from the central government).However, the authority resulting from decentralization is used by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government to adapt policies to real conditions in its region.This can be seen from the decision to extend the emergency response period even though Pranatan Anyar Plesiran Jogja and the COVID-19 Resilient Guide had been prepared.Based on these actions, it can be seen that policy makers during the COVID-19 pandemic were faster and more dynamic than under normal conditions.Therefore, the tourism policies of the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government from January to June 2020 were continuous and in accordance with the plights at that time (Table 3).
Wait-and-Follow: Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special Region of Yogyakarta decided to establish Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and conduct trials in response to the ongoing progression of the pandemic during Period III.
Based on the meso-level production analysis, this study demonstrates that Tribun Jogja and the Special Region of the Yogyakarta's Government maintained a cooperative relationship.Tribun Jogja was authorised to publish news articles concerning the policies implemented by the Yogyakarta Special Region Tourism Office.This exercised the media's responsibility as a social institution charged with overseeing the government in accordance with Laswell's Mass Media Function in Society (quoted in Wiryanto, 2000).Moreover, the government regarded Tribun Jogja as an indispensable instrument for disseminating information to the general populace.Nevertheless, there are indications that the discourses examined in this research exhibit a tendency towards bias rather than neutrality, as they consistently highlight the favourable aspects of the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government.
The policies implemented by the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government appeared to be in accordance with and complementarily worked with policies at the national and international levels, when viewed through a macro perspective or social analysis.This demonstrates that the formulation of policies during a disaster is considerably more dynamic and expeditious than it is under typical conditions (Ritchie and Campiranon, 2015).This is due to the execution of policies pertaining to disasters must exhibit adaptability in response to highly dynamic circumstances.Nevertheless, regional policies were formulated in response to the particular circumstances of the Yogyakarta Special Region; monitoring when there was no local case, locking down when cases emerged, preparing SOP for touristic destinations during new normal period, and even delaying of the operationalization due to the cases growth.This is in accordance with the extent and urgency of the policies that were developed.
The present study, which employs critical discourse analysis to examine the tourism policies of the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government in Tribun Jogja.Using CDA to dissect policy in the news media has never been done before.This research concentrates on news items that surfaced in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (January-June 2020).Nevertheless, the pandemic persisted beyond this time frame.Thus, the Special Region of Yogyakarta's Government continues to formulate additional policies in response to the tourism industry's state of affairs.Other than that, provincial policy in the Yogyakarta Special Region constitutes the primary focus of this study.Consequently, additional research may focus on alternative periods of the COVID-19 pandemic or policies implemented at different levels of governance, including those at the national level.
Tourism Policies Amid The Early Widespread of Covid-19 within The Special