Media Monitoring: Negative Sentiment Dominates Coverage of June Student Protests

Media monitoring and analysis firm Binokular Media Monitoring has released research on the discourse and distribution of public arguments surrounding student and civil society demonstrations throughout 11-23 June. Binokular News Analytics Manager Nicko Mardiansyah stated that monitoring recorded 16,428 articles published by mass media on the demonstrations during the period. “Of that total, coverage with negative sentiment reached 9,064 articles, or 55 percent,” Nicko said in a written statement on Thursday, 25 June 2026. The research also recorded 6,719 articles with positive sentiment, or 41 percent, accompanied by neutral coverage at 645 articles, or about 4 percent of the total. According to him, the dominance of negative sentiment indicates that mass media provided more space for aspects of criticism, controversy, policy responses, and pressure on the government and state institutions. However, the significant portion of positive sentiment also shows that coverage positioned the demonstrations as part of conveying public aspirations and democratic dynamics. Nicko stressed that the dominance of negative sentiment in the media context cannot be prematurely read as rejection of the student demonstrations. “The negative sentiment emerged because the coverage contained criticism, concerns, policy polemics, or notes on institutional responses,” he said. Referring to Binokular’s findings, the peak of negative sentiment coverage occurred on 12 June 2026, when the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board and its allies held a demonstration in the Bundaran Hotel Indonesia area. On that day, Binokular recorded 3,330 articles before the figures entered a fluctuating phase. On 15 June 2026, coverage increased again with 2,761 articles published by mass media. “Mass media coverage shows that student demonstrations do not stand as a single agenda. This issue is connected to government responses, official statements, demands, and the way the apparatus and public institutions respond to aspirations,” he said. The interwoven nature of the student demonstrations can also be seen in social media conversation monitoring. Binokular recorded that demonstrations by BEM UI, Trisakti, Esa Unggul, and various other student elements became the top issue with 14,035 conversations. The next issue that garnered high attention was the statement by Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar regarding the hope that demonstrations would be conducted politely, recording 7,232 conversations. “The statement by Cabinet Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Indra Wijaya regarding the price of Pertamax in Indonesia being cheaper than in other countries ranked fifth with 5,149 conversations,” Nicko said. According to him, the series of issues that became the main discourse on social media shows that student demonstrations developed into layered conversations. The data shows the public is not only talking about those demonstrating, but conversations also moved towards how state officials respond, the attitude of security forces in securing the events, and how student demands are linked to economic issues and government policy. “This interweaving shows that the issue of demonstrations is not only positioned as a field event, but also as a space for narrative battles between student aspirations, state responses and attitudes, and public attention,” he said.