Aku lately memang busy gila dengan kolej untuk semester yang pendek ni. Yelah, bayangkan sem biasa 14 weeks, ni 7 weeks saja. So memang pack tak hengat. Almost every week ada assignment nak kena submit, presentation dan kuiz. Hoh. Tapi walaupun sangat sibuk, rasa happy yang amat.
Jadi sebab terlalu sibuk sampai tak sempat nak update blog pong kan, apa kata aku update dengan berkongsi salah satu assignment. Yang ni tuk subjek Mass Media & Society. Sebenarnya lecturer bagi 2 topic, lagi satu dia suruh ambik dua program tv, dan ceritakan the 'content & morale value', tapi sebab aku ni ada minat jugaklah bab-bab politik ni, so rasa teruja nak tulis pasal ni. Huhu, kalau rajin, selamat membaca! Maaf lah ye, entri ni bukan ringan-ringan. Sedikit hardcore dari biasa :P
{ANNA}
THE MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN MALAYSIA
Since 1957, Malaysia has been practicing a democratic principle of government where general elections have been held every four or five years to elect the members of the parliament. This democratic system allows its citizen to choose the political party to form the ruling government. But what makes the citizen decide which party they want to vote? Where can one get information on the goals and missions of a certain party or of a particular leader? How does a political party secure two-thirds majority? This is where the media comes in and plays its role.
So what is media? There are various types of media which are printed media that includes magazine and newspapers, electronic media which would be the television and radio, and the new age media which is the internet. Media is basically a platform where people can access various types of information. The media can also be a source of entertainment. It all depends on the individuals need. However, let us just focus the media as a source of information. To be more specific, we narrow this down to information regarding politics.
Politics are essential to keep the country running. This is why political issues are always covered by the media as it is an effective platform to convey messages to the public. In fact, political parties utilize the media to highlight their ideologies and political campaigns, especially with regards to how they plan to use their power to administer the country and what they can provide to the citizens. By announcing their sentiments to the public, in return they would intend to win the hearts and minds of the citizens hoping that they would support their ideology and their political party.
In Malaysia it is widely believed that the mainstream media is controlled by certain gatekeepers. Meaning that whatever information that is published would have been somewhat filtered so that it would portray positive image of the government and the ruling party. Who are these gatekeepers? They would most likely be those involved in the government or directly have vested interest to be protected. Thus very naturally, they would want to protect themselves. Any attempts that would harm their reputation would be blocked out even if the information is true.
In Malaysia, The Printing Press and Publication Act 1984 (PPPA) is a tool for the Malaysian government to control the media specifically any printed media such as books, newspapers and magazines. This Act requires one to own a license that grants them the right to publish. This license is approved by the Home Minister as it is stated in Section 3 (3) of the Act:
Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has come up with its own news publication known as Harakah. The DAP publishes the Rocket and while the PKR produces the Keadilan. However, their circulations are not as widespread as the mainstream media. It is mainly circulated among their members. But still, this is an opportunity for the respective opposition parties to have a say and provide information and even defend themselves when the mainstream media publishes negative news about them.
Besides the newspapers, television stations which are under the direct control of government are TV1, TV2 and TV3. The contents of programmes produced by these stations are directly influenced by the policies of the government. It is normal for these stations to filter and censor those that could give negative views on the government. Their motive is very clear, that is to make the viewers favour the ruling party.
With this biasness in the mainstream media, particularly the printed media, a new era of media has emerged. This alternative media has been giving out information that has been suppressed from the public eye. Political interest groups have dabbled with the new media technology, namely the internet. The internet, reaches a wider range of audience and without any prior restriction or filtering. It is an immediate source to spread information as well as receiving information. More than half of Malaysia’s household have internet access. Any information is only a click away. So it’s not surprising that politicians are now communicating with the people through the internet.
My husband once told me during the wave of Reformation in 1998, internet had played a very important role in providing the latest information on the current political situation to the people in his hometown in Perlis. Every night his father’s colleagues would come flocking to his house because most of them did not have an internet connection in their own homes. They will gather in front of the computer and browse the internet looking for current news and reports at that time.
Since then, realizing the power of the internet, political parties be it pro-government or from the opposing parties use the internet as another way to gain supporters. On the other hand, the supporters too now have the power to spread information about their favoured party. Some even create smear campaigns, focusing on the negative side of the parties they do not support especially against the pro-government party. This is due to the fact that it is not possible for them to do so through the mainstream media. As mentioned earlier, the prime objective of the mainstream media is to protect the good image of the ruling party and at the same time to hide any negative information about them.
Blogging is favourably used among political activist and supporters to voice out their dissatisfaction against the government’s ruling coalition. Some would be considered radical and extreme to the point that these bloggers are caught as their ideologies might cause instability within the country. This has happened to a well-known political blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) who started the Malaysia Today website which openly discusses the political developments in Malaysia. He was detained twice under the Internal Security Act (ISA), once for his commentary regarding Altantuya’s death which he linked to the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, who was at that time the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib.
One of the popular radical political blogs is Tukar Tiub that writes satirical commentary about Malaysia’s political situation. It is created by Hishamuddin Rais who was a student activist during his younger days in the 70’s, filmmaker, ex-ISA detainee and an independent journalist. Another well-known political blogger is Dato’ Ahirudin Attan a former journalist and editor for New Straits Time Press known for his blog, Rocky’s Bru. Penarik Beca, The Unspinners, Cursing Malay, Screenshot by Jeff Ooi, and Kickdefella are among the blogs that are politically driven. These blogs are read by thousands of people every day. Seeing this popular feedback, politicians also come up with their own blogs such as our former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir who writes at chedet.co.cc, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim at anwaribrahimblog.com and Lim Kit Siang at blog.limkitsiang.com.
Other than blogs, social networking sites such as Facebook has become another tool in the political scene in Malaysia. Users create fan pages or groups either with or against a certain political figure or a situation which they feel strongly about. For example, when the government announced the 1Malaysia e-mail project, several groups and pages were created on Facebook that protested against this project, while there were others who created their own groups in show of support.
Another instance, if one were to browse Facebook with the keywords ‘Anwar Ibrahim’ under the group or pages category, the results would be very contradictory. One would find the ‘Anti Anwar Ibrahim Club’ and on the other hand the ‘Anwar Ibrahim Fan Club’. Both which have a large amount of followers. Members of these particular groups are able to openly share their opinions about the issues raised. However some of these opinions can be quite emotional and harsh using vulgar language. There is no immediate censorship unless reported or filtered by the administrator of the site.
Twitter is a newer technology that has become increasingly popular in the last two years. Users are able to inform their followers of their latest updates in an instant. They are also able to interact directly with one another. This comes in very handy for politicians to be in touch with their supporters by providing the latest news on their political activities. Malaysian citizens also have the chance to communicate directly with their leaders without having to go through certain protocols. It all can be done from the comfort of their own room.
Having this instant two way communication, Twitter allows politicians or political groups plan their meetings or announce their events and get immediate feedback in case any change is required. Of course this also can be done through email, or Facebook as well, but Twitter is simpler and immediate.
Another alternative media that people tune into these days is YouTube to watch videos related to the political scene in Malaysia that is unavailable on national television due to censorship. Malaysiakini has a dedicated channel on YouTube that cover important issues in Malaysia without any favouritism. Having that said, there are also some users who have YouTube accounts to share videos that are meant to bring down certain political figures.
The media plays an important role especially in this age of advance digital technology of the Internet. A significant event that happened recently was when the citizen of Egypt managed to force their President Hosni Mubarak to step down from his post. On 28 January 2010, the Egyptian government shut down the internet access after several facebook groups were created and messages on Twitter were spread to participate in a mass demonstration.
The current government of Malaysia under the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is hoping that whatever uprisings that has happened in Egypt as well as in its neighbouring countries will not influence the people of this country.
In conclusion, it has been proven that the media does indeed play a crucial role on the political process in Malaysia especially in this modern age. It provides information that has the power to influence ones view on how they perceive the political situation in the country. This could possibly affect the choice of the citizens in deciding their leaders.
REFERENCES
2011 Egyptian Revolution. (7 May 2011). Retrieved 5 May 2011, from
http:/em.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_Revolution from Wikipedia database.
Ahirudin Attan. (5 February 2011). Retrieved 5 May 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahirudin_Attan from Wikipedia database.
Hishamuddin Rais. (3 November 2010). Retrieved 5 May 2011, from
http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hishamuddin_Rais from Wikipedia database.
Mustafa K. Anuar. (2004). Politics and the Media in Malaysia. Kasarinlan: Philippine
Journal of Third World Studies 2005 20 (1): 25-4.
Printing Presses And Publications Act 1984, Section 3.
Jadi sebab terlalu sibuk sampai tak sempat nak update blog pong kan, apa kata aku update dengan berkongsi salah satu assignment. Yang ni tuk subjek Mass Media & Society. Sebenarnya lecturer bagi 2 topic, lagi satu dia suruh ambik dua program tv, dan ceritakan the 'content & morale value', tapi sebab aku ni ada minat jugaklah bab-bab politik ni, so rasa teruja nak tulis pasal ni. Huhu, kalau rajin, selamat membaca! Maaf lah ye, entri ni bukan ringan-ringan. Sedikit hardcore dari biasa :P
{ANNA}
THE MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN MALAYSIA
Since 1957, Malaysia has been practicing a democratic principle of government where general elections have been held every four or five years to elect the members of the parliament. This democratic system allows its citizen to choose the political party to form the ruling government. But what makes the citizen decide which party they want to vote? Where can one get information on the goals and missions of a certain party or of a particular leader? How does a political party secure two-thirds majority? This is where the media comes in and plays its role.
So what is media? There are various types of media which are printed media that includes magazine and newspapers, electronic media which would be the television and radio, and the new age media which is the internet. Media is basically a platform where people can access various types of information. The media can also be a source of entertainment. It all depends on the individuals need. However, let us just focus the media as a source of information. To be more specific, we narrow this down to information regarding politics.
Politics are essential to keep the country running. This is why political issues are always covered by the media as it is an effective platform to convey messages to the public. In fact, political parties utilize the media to highlight their ideologies and political campaigns, especially with regards to how they plan to use their power to administer the country and what they can provide to the citizens. By announcing their sentiments to the public, in return they would intend to win the hearts and minds of the citizens hoping that they would support their ideology and their political party.
In Malaysia it is widely believed that the mainstream media is controlled by certain gatekeepers. Meaning that whatever information that is published would have been somewhat filtered so that it would portray positive image of the government and the ruling party. Who are these gatekeepers? They would most likely be those involved in the government or directly have vested interest to be protected. Thus very naturally, they would want to protect themselves. Any attempts that would harm their reputation would be blocked out even if the information is true.
In Malaysia, The Printing Press and Publication Act 1984 (PPPA) is a tool for the Malaysian government to control the media specifically any printed media such as books, newspapers and magazines. This Act requires one to own a license that grants them the right to publish. This license is approved by the Home Minister as it is stated in Section 3 (3) of the Act:
(3) The Minister may in his absolute discretion grant to any person a licence to keep for use or use a printing press for such period as may be specified in the licence and he may in his absolute discretion refuse any application for such licence or may at any time revoke or suspend such licence for any period he considers desirable.Hence, granted this power, the government would surely make use of this Act to ensure that whatever is published for the public in printed form does not go against or deviate from the government’s agenda or policy.
Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has come up with its own news publication known as Harakah. The DAP publishes the Rocket and while the PKR produces the Keadilan. However, their circulations are not as widespread as the mainstream media. It is mainly circulated among their members. But still, this is an opportunity for the respective opposition parties to have a say and provide information and even defend themselves when the mainstream media publishes negative news about them.
Besides the newspapers, television stations which are under the direct control of government are TV1, TV2 and TV3. The contents of programmes produced by these stations are directly influenced by the policies of the government. It is normal for these stations to filter and censor those that could give negative views on the government. Their motive is very clear, that is to make the viewers favour the ruling party.
With this biasness in the mainstream media, particularly the printed media, a new era of media has emerged. This alternative media has been giving out information that has been suppressed from the public eye. Political interest groups have dabbled with the new media technology, namely the internet. The internet, reaches a wider range of audience and without any prior restriction or filtering. It is an immediate source to spread information as well as receiving information. More than half of Malaysia’s household have internet access. Any information is only a click away. So it’s not surprising that politicians are now communicating with the people through the internet.
My husband once told me during the wave of Reformation in 1998, internet had played a very important role in providing the latest information on the current political situation to the people in his hometown in Perlis. Every night his father’s colleagues would come flocking to his house because most of them did not have an internet connection in their own homes. They will gather in front of the computer and browse the internet looking for current news and reports at that time.
Since then, realizing the power of the internet, political parties be it pro-government or from the opposing parties use the internet as another way to gain supporters. On the other hand, the supporters too now have the power to spread information about their favoured party. Some even create smear campaigns, focusing on the negative side of the parties they do not support especially against the pro-government party. This is due to the fact that it is not possible for them to do so through the mainstream media. As mentioned earlier, the prime objective of the mainstream media is to protect the good image of the ruling party and at the same time to hide any negative information about them.
Blogging is favourably used among political activist and supporters to voice out their dissatisfaction against the government’s ruling coalition. Some would be considered radical and extreme to the point that these bloggers are caught as their ideologies might cause instability within the country. This has happened to a well-known political blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) who started the Malaysia Today website which openly discusses the political developments in Malaysia. He was detained twice under the Internal Security Act (ISA), once for his commentary regarding Altantuya’s death which he linked to the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, who was at that time the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib.
One of the popular radical political blogs is Tukar Tiub that writes satirical commentary about Malaysia’s political situation. It is created by Hishamuddin Rais who was a student activist during his younger days in the 70’s, filmmaker, ex-ISA detainee and an independent journalist. Another well-known political blogger is Dato’ Ahirudin Attan a former journalist and editor for New Straits Time Press known for his blog, Rocky’s Bru. Penarik Beca, The Unspinners, Cursing Malay, Screenshot by Jeff Ooi, and Kickdefella are among the blogs that are politically driven. These blogs are read by thousands of people every day. Seeing this popular feedback, politicians also come up with their own blogs such as our former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir who writes at chedet.co.cc, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim at anwaribrahimblog.com and Lim Kit Siang at blog.limkitsiang.com.
Other than blogs, social networking sites such as Facebook has become another tool in the political scene in Malaysia. Users create fan pages or groups either with or against a certain political figure or a situation which they feel strongly about. For example, when the government announced the 1Malaysia e-mail project, several groups and pages were created on Facebook that protested against this project, while there were others who created their own groups in show of support.
Another instance, if one were to browse Facebook with the keywords ‘Anwar Ibrahim’ under the group or pages category, the results would be very contradictory. One would find the ‘Anti Anwar Ibrahim Club’ and on the other hand the ‘Anwar Ibrahim Fan Club’. Both which have a large amount of followers. Members of these particular groups are able to openly share their opinions about the issues raised. However some of these opinions can be quite emotional and harsh using vulgar language. There is no immediate censorship unless reported or filtered by the administrator of the site.
Twitter is a newer technology that has become increasingly popular in the last two years. Users are able to inform their followers of their latest updates in an instant. They are also able to interact directly with one another. This comes in very handy for politicians to be in touch with their supporters by providing the latest news on their political activities. Malaysian citizens also have the chance to communicate directly with their leaders without having to go through certain protocols. It all can be done from the comfort of their own room.
Having this instant two way communication, Twitter allows politicians or political groups plan their meetings or announce their events and get immediate feedback in case any change is required. Of course this also can be done through email, or Facebook as well, but Twitter is simpler and immediate.
Another alternative media that people tune into these days is YouTube to watch videos related to the political scene in Malaysia that is unavailable on national television due to censorship. Malaysiakini has a dedicated channel on YouTube that cover important issues in Malaysia without any favouritism. Having that said, there are also some users who have YouTube accounts to share videos that are meant to bring down certain political figures.
The media plays an important role especially in this age of advance digital technology of the Internet. A significant event that happened recently was when the citizen of Egypt managed to force their President Hosni Mubarak to step down from his post. On 28 January 2010, the Egyptian government shut down the internet access after several facebook groups were created and messages on Twitter were spread to participate in a mass demonstration.
The current government of Malaysia under the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is hoping that whatever uprisings that has happened in Egypt as well as in its neighbouring countries will not influence the people of this country.
In conclusion, it has been proven that the media does indeed play a crucial role on the political process in Malaysia especially in this modern age. It provides information that has the power to influence ones view on how they perceive the political situation in the country. This could possibly affect the choice of the citizens in deciding their leaders.
REFERENCES
2011 Egyptian Revolution. (7 May 2011). Retrieved 5 May 2011, from
http:/em.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_Revolution from Wikipedia database.
Ahirudin Attan. (5 February 2011). Retrieved 5 May 2011, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahirudin_Attan from Wikipedia database.
Hishamuddin Rais. (3 November 2010). Retrieved 5 May 2011, from
http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hishamuddin_Rais from Wikipedia database.
Mustafa K. Anuar. (2004). Politics and the Media in Malaysia. Kasarinlan: Philippine
Journal of Third World Studies 2005 20 (1): 25-4.
Printing Presses And Publications Act 1984, Section 3.
