Media Agenda and Public Agenda: A Study of Issues during the 13th General Election

Aini Maznina A. Manaf, Malia Taibi, Kamaruzzaman Abdul Manan

Abstract


Media might play an important role in public’s voting decision. Even so, it is unknown whether the media agenda counterpart public agenda with regard to the level of importance of the issues covered in the media. This study examined the issues of concern by the Malaysian mainstream newspapers, as well as the issues of concern by the public during the 13th General Election (GE 13). In particular, this study explored the relationship between media and public agenda; as well as the relationship between Malay language newspaper agenda and the Malay public agenda. Content analysis and survey were performed to fulfil these objectives. The findings showed that the media has different agenda from the public. In addition, the Malay newspaper and public of the same ethnic group do not share similar agenda of issues. On top of that, the findings showed the priority of issues perceived by media and public are different. While the public see national security as the most important issue of the country, media on the other hand, set religion and politics as the priority in their agenda.   


Full Text:

PDF

References


Aini Maznina, A.M. and Nerawi, S. 2015. Framing Islam-related issues during GE 13: An analysis of Malaysian mainstream newspapers. Intellectual Discourse 23(1): 29-52.

Ali, S., Normah, M., Mohd Azul, M.S., Mohd Nor Shahizan, A. 2016. Social media and Agenda Setting: Implications on political agenda. Malaysian Journal of Communication, 32(1): 607-623.

Audit Bureau of Circulation Malaysia. 2015. ABC Circulation Figures. http://abcm.org.my. Retrieved on: 10 November 2015.

Cohen, B. 1963. The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Freeland, A. 2012. An Overview of Agenda Setting Theory in Mass Communications. Denton, TX: University of North Texas.

Hamdan, A. 2013. Malaysia’s 13th General Election in Sabah: Winning outcome determine by local factors? In Media and the 13th General Election, edited by Amelia Abdul Aziz and Siti Zabedah Mohd Shariff. Kuala Lumpur: South-South Information Getaway (SSIG).

Hopmann, D.N., Bens V,.& Albaek, E. 2009. Effects of election news coverage: How visibility and tone influence party choice. Paper presented at Seminar on Voting Behaviour at the Centre for Voting and Parties, University of Copenhagen, 24­25 August, Copenhagen.

Hopmann, D.N., Vliegenthartb, R., Vreeseb, C.D., & Albæka, E. 2010. Effects of election news coverage: How visibility and tone influence party choice. Political Communication 27: 389–405.

Idid, S. A. 2011. Peranan Media Massa Dalam Pilihan Raya Umum. Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press.

Idid, S. A., & Chang, P.K. (2012). The media and public agenda among the Malay and Chinese communities during the 2008 Malaysian General Elections. Asian Social Science 8(5): 107-115.

Iyengar, S. & Kinder, D.R. 1987. News that Matters: Television and American Opinion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Jeniri, A. 2005. Agenda akhbar dan agenda politik MCA. Jurnal Pengajian Media 7(1): 101-110.

Lippmann, W. 1946. Public opinion: Transaction Publishers.

McCombs, M. 1976. Agenda-setting research: A bibliographic Essay. Political Communication Review 1: 1-7.

McCombs, M. 2002. The agenda-setting role of the mass media in the shaping of public opinion. In Mass Media Economics 2002 Conference, London School of Economics. Retrieved on March 25,2015 from http://sticerd. lse. ac. uk/dps/extra/McCombs.pdf.

McCombs, M. 2013. Setting the Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

McCombs, M., Llamas, J. P., Lopez-Escobar, E., & Rey, F. 1997. Candidate images in Spanish elections: Second-level agenda-setting effects. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 74(4): 703-717.

McCombs, M., Shaw, D., & Weaver, D.H. 2014. New directions in agenda-setting theory and research. Mass Communication and Society 17(6): 781-802.

Mohd Aizuddin Mohd Sani. 2014. The social media election in Malaysia: The 13th general election in 2013. Kajian Malaysia 32(2): 123–147.

Mohd Faizal Kasmani. 2016. Objective reporting or mouthpiece for the opposition groups?: A study of Malaysiakini coverage of the 2013 Malaysian General Election. Malaysian Journal of Communication 32(1)

Muhammad Hakimi Tew, A., Abdul Latiff, A., & Chang, P.K. 2016. The exposure of media frames among Malaysian bloggers pre and post 13th General Election, Malaysian Journal of Communication 32(2): 425-452

Mun, W. F., & Li, L. M. 2011. “Vote for me!”: A content analysis of news reports leading to the 12th general election. Political Communication 3(1): 31-47.

Netto, A. 2007. Malaysian Media, Giant, Grasps for Internet. Asia Times Online. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IK29Ae02.html. Retrieved on: 19 February 2015.

Oh Ei Sun. 2014. Malaysian Chinese in a transitioning Malaysia. In The 13th Malaysia Elections: Issues, Trends and Future Trajectories, edited by Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman. Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Siti Zabedah, M. S. 2013. 13th General election: Voting trend and the impact of social media. In Media and the 13th General Election, edited by Amelia Abdul Aziz and Siti Zabedah Mohd Shariff. Kuala Lumpur: South-South Information Getaway (SSIG).

Tan, S.B. 2006. The role of the mass media in a country. http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/bar_news/berita_badan_peguam/the_role_of_the _mass_media_in_a_country.html. Retrieved on: 10 April 2009.

Tham, J. S., & Hasmah, Z. 2014. Malaysia’s 13th general election: Political communication and public agenda in social media. Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research 1(2): 73-89.

Ying Jiang. 2014. ‘Reversed agenda-setting effects’ in China: Case studies of Weibo trending topics and the effects on state-owned media in China. Journal of International Communication 20(2): 168-183.

Wu, H. D., & Coleman, R. 2009. Advancing agenda-setting theory: The comparative strength and new contingent conditions of the two levels of agenda-setting effects. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly 86(4): 775-789.

Zahid Muhammad Bilal, Sarah, & Hassan Syed Ali. 2013. Effects of exposure to mainstream media in changing political behavior and party affiliation a case study of University of Gujrat, Pakistan. International Research Journal of Social Sciences 2(12): 29-34.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 2289-1528