BETWEEN FARMERS' VOICES AND THE GOVERNMENT'S IMAGE:FOOD SECURITY NARRATIVES IN LAMPUNG'S LOCAL MEDIA (2021–2025)

This study analyzes the response of local media in Lampung Province to the issue of food security through news. Using thematic analysis, this study examines news from seven local media—TVRI Lampung, Lampung Post, RMOL Lampung, Antara, Tribunlampung, Radar Lampung, and Konsentris—in the 2021–2025 period. The findings show a diverse framing pattern. Government media (TVRI Lampung and Antara) consistently frame food security as an issue that has been successfully addressed through government programs, emphasizing production and modernization, and limiting critical voices. Independent media (Lampung Post, Tribunlampung, RMOL Lampung, Radar Lampung, and Konsentris) present a more diverse frame, highlighting policy failures, farmers' difficulties, environmental crises, and structural poverty. This creates a fragmented public discourse, where audiences accessing different media have different understandings of the reality of food security. The media serves as information providers, policy watchdogs, community empowerment, government narrative balancers, and agents of social change. However, news is still descriptive, reactive, and event-focused, lacking in digging into the root causes of problems and long-term solutions. This study recommends increasing the depth and sustainability of news, diversifying sources, strengthening media independence, and cross-sector collaboration. Comparisons with global experiences in Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Algeria offer valuable lessons for strengthening the role of local media in food security communication.