The Profanation of Religious Symbols on Television: A Case Study of Public Reactions to Trans7's Broadcasts about Kiai and Pesantren

Abstract

The development of the media industry has led to a shift in values when sacred cultural symbols are represented in the context of entertainment oriented towards commodification. This study aims to analyze how the media profanes sacred cultural symbols, how the public responds, and how the power relations between the media and the community shape the process of producing and negotiating meaning. The research uses a Critical Discourse Analysis approach with Fairclough's three-dimensional framework, which includes text analysis, discursive practices, and social practices, and is enriched by Stuart Hall's theory of representation, Stig Hjarvard's theory of medialization, and Émile Durkheim's concept of profanation. Data was obtained through documentation of television broadcasts, online news reports, and public conversations on digital platforms, then analyzed through thematic coding, discourse mapping, and triangulation to ensure data credibility. Findings show that the media produces profanity through commodification, which shifts the function of symbols from markers of cultural value to elements of entertainment that support ratings. Visual and narrative packaging positions symbols as dramatic objects that are modified according to entertainment aesthetics without considering their inherent sacred dimensions. Public responses show polarization between groups that consider such representations to be demeaning to sacred symbols and groups that accept the transformation of symbols as part of media creativity. This polarization confirms that profanity is not only related to religious issues, but is a cultural conflict that arises from the meeting between the logic of the media industry and the sensitivities of the community. Efforts to strengthen media literacy are important to help the public understand representation practices critically, accompanied by the need for dialogue between the media and cultural communities so that the meaning of symbols is not diluted in the digital communication space.