This research aims to explore the discourse of orientalism in the news coverage of BTS published by the mainstream news media in the United States. This research is descriptive-qualitative that uses the news articles about BTS taken from the U.S. mainstream media (the New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and New York Post) as the sources of data. The data are in the forms of discourses (words, phrases, sentences, and/or expressions) and the photos from the news articles. Thematic content analysis is employed to analyze the data, and the finding is explained through the lens of orientalism theory by Edward Said. After conducting the research, it is found out that the news articles published by American mainstream media covering BTS contain the discourse of orientalism in the form of negative stereotypical words, degrading tone, and unrepresentative pictures. The history of when South Korea was under the assistance of the U.S. after the Korean War to survive is narrated to show the long-rooted history of scapegoating Asians in the United States, which contributes to the perpetuated American orientalist view of the East, especially in the case of BTS as a Korean boyband in the U.S. mainstream news media.
