Media Construction of Parental Authority and Teenage Autonomy: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Nikita Mirzani’s Forced Pickup Controversy

Abstract

This study applies Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine how parental authority and adolescent autonomy are represented in media coverage of Nikita Mirzani's forced pickup of her daughter Lolly. A single Batamnewsasia article was selected for its in-depth portrayal of the conflict between parental control, teenage independence, and public scrutiny of family disputes. The analysis employs both Fairclough's four-step CDA framework — identifying the social wrong, its obstacles, the sustaining social order, and possible resolutions — and his three-dimensional framework encompassing textual analysis, discursive practices, and socio-cultural practices. This approach reveals how language implicitly constructs power relations and ideologies, and how media discourse shapes public perception of the parties involved. Findings indicate that Nikita Mirzani is framed as a protective, loving parent, while Lolly is portrayed as emotionally vulnerable and lacking the capacity for independence. The incident, which became the subject of court proceedings, generated divided public reactions that reflect broader societal tensions around family authority, child protection, and adolescent rights. The media's selective reporting and framing actively shaped these reactions rather than merely reporting them. This study concludes that media discourse does not neutrally reflect social reality but actively constructs it by reinforcing particular ideological positions. The contrasting portrayals of mother and daughter illustrate how news texts navigate and reproduce contested values surrounding parental power and teenage autonomy, ultimately influencing how the public interprets family conflict within the Indonesian media landscape.