This study examines competing interpretations of the October 2025 controversy surrounding Trans7’s Xpose Uncensored through the coverage published by NU Online and Tempo.co. The program portrayed traditions at Pesantren Lirboyo, an Islamic boarding school in Kediri, Indonesia, in ways perceived by members of the pesantren community and institutional actors as denigrating the dignity of kiai (pesantren leaders) and santri (pesantren students). Employing a qualitative approach that combines Robert Entman’s framing analysis with a media fiqh framework, this study investigates how the two outlets constructed and evaluated the controversy. The findings reveal distinct interpretive orientations: NU Online framed the controversy primarily as an affront to the religious dignity of the pesantren community and emphasized restorative accountability, whereas Tempo.co focused on broadcasting accountability, regulatory compliance, and institutional governance. Although Tempo.co demonstrated comparatively broader institutional source representation, NU Online placed greater emphasis on protecting pesantren dignity and addressing the social dimensions of conflict resolution. Evaluated through media fiqh, these differences reveal that ethical assessments of media coverage extend beyond formal regulatory compliance to encompass the protection of religious dignity, responsible representation, and socially responsive conflict resolution. This study argues that media fiqh complements conventional framing analysis by providing a normative basis for evaluating the ethical adequacy of media representations of religious communities.