Framing the ‘Nguli’ Tradition in Islamic Boarding Schools and Al-Amanah Alumni Reception of Tempo.co Coverage

Abstract

Abstract Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis bagaimana Tempo.co membingkai tradisi ‘nguli’ serta bagaimana alumni Pesantren Modern Al-Amanah di Kota Baubau memaknai bingkai tersebut. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif interpretatif dengan dua sumber data utama: satu artikel Tempo.co edisi 8 Oktober 2025 dan wawancara mendalam terhadap enam alumni yang pernah terlibat dalam kegiatan pembangunan pesantren. Teks berita dianalisis menggunakan empat fungsi framing Robert M. Entman, sedangkan data wawancara dianalisis melalui model encoding-decoding Stuart Hall dan tahapan analisis data Miles, Huberman, dan Saldaña. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Tempo.co mendefinisikan tradisi ‘nguli’ sebagai kontroversi perlindungan anak, mengaitkan sumber persoalan dengan pelibatan santri dalam pekerjaan konstruksi, menghadirkan dilema moral antara tradisi kepesantrenan dan hak anak, serta menonjolkan pembatasan pekerjaan berisiko sebagai rekomendasi. Pada sisi resepsi, lima dari enam informan berada pada posisi oppositional reading terhadap penggunaan istilah ‘nguli’ dan framing eksploitasi anak, sedangkan satu informan berada pada posisi dominant-hegemonic. Tidak ditemukan posisi negotiated dalam kategorisasi akhir. Mayoritas alumni membangun pemaknaan alternatif berbasis pengalaman langsung, gotong royong, pengabdian, amal jariyah, dan pembagian kerja sesuai kemampuan. Temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa kedekatan pengalaman dengan realitas yang diberitakan berfungsi sebagai sumber interpretatif yang penting dalam proses decoding khalayak.   This study aims to analyse how Tempo.co frames the ‘nguli’ tradition and how alumni of the Al-Amanah Modern Islamic Boarding School in Baubau interpret this framing. The study uses an interpretative qualitative approach and two main data sources: a Tempo.co article dated 8 October 2025 and in-depth interviews with six alumni who were previously involved in constructing the boarding school. The news text was analysed using Robert M. Entman’s four functions of framing, whilst the interview data was analysed using Stuart Hall’s encoding-decoding model and the data analysis stages outlined by Miles, Huberman and Saldaña. The research findings indicate that Tempo.co defined the ‘nguli’ tradition as a child protection controversy, linked the root of the problem to the involvement of boarding school pupils in construction work, presented a moral dilemma between boarding school traditions and children’s rights, and highlighted restrictions on hazardous work as a recommendation. In terms of reception, five out of six informants adopted an ‘oppositional reading’ stance towards the use of the term ‘nguli’ and the framing of child exploitation, whilst one informant adopted a ‘dominant-hegemonic’ stance. The final categorisation identified no ‘negotiated’ stance. Most alums constructed alternative interpretations based on direct experience, cooperation, service, charitable deeds, and the division of labour according to ability. These findings indicate that the closeness of their experience to the reported reality serves as an important interpretative source in the decoding process.