<![CDATA[The Free Nutritional Meal Program (MBG) is a strategic government instrument in efforts to reduce stunting. However, mass poisoning incidents during its implementation raise food safety issues and have the potential to affect the legitimacy of public policy. This study aims to analyze the discourse construction regarding the MBG Program poisoning incident in West Java Province in national media coverage, particularly regarding the representation of food safety and state power relations. This study uses Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (AWK) through three analytical dimensions: text, discourse practice, and social practice, with the research object being the news coverage of LKBN Antara and Tempo. The results show that Antara tends to represent the incident as a technical problem still under the control of the state through the use of mitigating diction and the dominance of government officials' narratives. In contrast, Tempo constructs the incident as a systemic governance issue by presenting expert and civil society perspectives as alternative discourses to the official government narrative. These differences in construction indicate a contestation of discourse regarding state responsibility and the position of society in public policy. This research is expected to provide material for reflection in understanding the practice of public policy communication and the management of government legitimacy through the media.]]>
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