Communication Science

In recent years entertainment/non-news programs have been dominating the Indonesian
television screen. Playing a significant role as part of cultural industry, television brings together in
its entertainment program: cultural production and reproduction in the form of symbols, goods, and
commodities. Throughout the production of TV entertainment program, this cultural engagement is
inevitable since the involvement of human entity ---in which culture is embedded--- accompanies the
overall process of the program making. Thus, the Indonesian television program contains the
Indonesian culture and traditions that show various kinds and forms of ethnicity, race, religion, class,
nation, and vicinity. Questions arise as of whether the cultural symbols appeared on the television
screen are merely representing the cultural identity (without any valence attached) or if they are
meant to drag the audience to a particular stereotyping.
Previous research reveals that in the non-factual programs on national private televisions in
Indonesia 24% of which shows cultural identity; meanwhile 7% of the programs shown contains
stereotyping element (UI Center of Communication Study, 2012). This research is meant to explore
more on this issue. It identifies the cultural signs appeared on one of the Indonesian television
entertainment programs which obtains the top rank in rating, acquiring prime show time on the
national TV slots. The program to be analyzed is ‘Untung Ada Sule’ (can be translated as ‘Luckily
There is Sule’), a comedian soap opera that is being aired every day in one private national TV
station in Indonesia. During the making of this research, UAS has been acquiring high rating and
share based on AGB Nielsen Media Research, putting the program at priority level for
advertisements. In every episode, ‘Untung Ada Sule’ (UAS) contains plentiful cultural signs ---
including clothing, food, dialect, decoration, handicrafts, ornaments, etc --- representing specific
ethnicity in Indonesia.
The objective of this research is to explore the meaning behind the use of symbols
representing cultural ethnicity as of whether the utilization of the symbols within the contextual
framework given on the entertainment TV scene would create a particular meaning that will bring
about ethnic prejudice. This study will in turn enrich the text analysis study on television non-factual
program. Moreover, the research result will provide a general picture about what is offered by the
Indonesian entertainment TV program with regards to cultural symbolic commodities. This can be
furthered up so as to provide a recommendation for the Indonesian broadcasting policy for better
and healthier television programs. In the end, the study may contribute to the quality enhancement
of TV entertainment program in a way that it promotes cultural understanding and prevents from
negative stereotyping towards particular ethnicity.
By means of text analysis concepts and theories, this research explores the meaning making
process towards ethnic prejudice symbols shown on one episode of UAS program. By implementing
text analysis within the contextual framework of every scene in the episode, the study is conducted.
Through the interpretive constructivism, analysis on each scene is made as to understand how the
production and reproduction of symbolic commodities utilized all the way through the scene and
setting of the episode may create particular meaning within its context. Cultural identities
represented by each and every symbol appeared on scene are scrutinized as whether or not to some
extent they lead to a particular stereotyping towards a particular ethnicity.
The research result indicates one of which is that UAS contains abundant cultural symbols
representing the conflicting ideas between what is commonly understood regarding a specific
ethnicity and the ‘newly created’ meaning different from that, which may lead to ethnic prejudice.

A tourism destination, especially in developing countries faced a challenge to create a specific positioning that is different from other destinations. A potential way to establish is by looking into item that really attached with the destination specifically on culture and local wisdom, one of them is iconic culinary as part of the destinations culture. The objective of this research is to observe an understanding on the reason of iconic culinary could be used as tourism destination’s icon and to analyze how it can take a part in destination branding process through qualitative methods. By investigating on symbolic and functional dimensions of iconic culinary and analyzing tourism destination branding process, this study found that iconic culinary has a tight association with destination. Moreover, it also performs as a primary role to represent tourism destination identity in destination branding. The purpose of this research is to observe an understanding on the reason of iconic culinary could be used as a tourism destination’s icon. This study describes a thoughtful analysis on symbolic and functional dimensions of iconic culinary. It is also to understand and analyze on how the iconic culinary as a destination’s icon takes part in tourism destination’s branding process.