Street Demonstration and Media Representation: A Study on 1998 Malaysia Reform Movement Demonstration News Coverage Ng Miew Luan KDU College Penang, Malaysia 1.0 Introduction The people of the nation was shocked with the television news announcement on September 2 nd, 1998 at 8.00pm that was released by the Prime Minister Department of Malaysia who announced that Anwar Ibrahim 1 was sacked from the posts of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister as well as the Deputy President position of the United Malays National Organization 2 (UMNO). The former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who was a close ally of the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad 3 described Mahathir s action as a high-level conspiracy to topple him down (Sin Chew Jit Poh, 4 Sept, 1998). According to Anwar, the affidavit filed by the Attorney General of Malaysia and police in Kuala Lumpur High Court was not true. However on September 29 th, 1998, Anwar was charged in the Kuala Lumpur session court on 4 charges of sodomy and 5 counts of corrupt practice. Anwar and his supporters then lead a series of street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur against Mahathir s government. The slogan of Reformasi (Reform) was popular among the people of Malaysia at that time, especially during the street demonstration. The Reform Movement that was seen as Anwar s political reform program officially started with the launching of the Permatang Pauh Declaration on September 12 th, 1998 by Anwar Ibrahim 4. The political crisis, namely the Reform Movement and the series of street demonstrations gained high coverage by both local and international media. Two of the local newspapers that represented the largest Malay language newspaper (Utusan Malaysia) and Chinese language newspaper (Sin Chew Jit Poh) in 1
terms of circulation and readership have been selected as the research samples to provide an overview of how the mainstream newspapers in Malaysia represented a crisis or political conflict, especially street demonstrations during the Reform Movement period. The critical paradigm in communication studies argues that the media are highly influenced by the state and market power. Based on this framework, the research is an attempt to adopt two related approaches of media and language studies to analyze how different language newspapers in Malaysia have covered the hegemonic crisis that happened at the end of 1998. It attempts to answer the key question whether the Chinese Sin Chew Jit Poh and the Bahasa Malaysia Utusan Malaysia have objectively reported the political event and if not, why they have slated and distorted it. 2.0 Malaysia Reform Movement in 1998 The economic crisis in 1997 brought about a tremendous change to the political climate in the Asian region. The world witnessed the stepping down of a few leaders in this region including the Thai Prime Minister Banhan Slipa-archa and Chaovalit in 1997, South Korea President Kim Yong San who lost in the presidential election in December 1997, as well as Indonesia President Suharto who was defeated in May 1998 (Biro Analisa Politik, Strategic Info Research Development 1999, p.39). The economic crisis brought a severe impact to Malaysian political climate as well. The Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had conflicting views on ways to overcome the economic crisis. Anwar who was also the Finance Minister at that time supported the International Monetary Fund s (IMF) plan for recovery. He proposed to cut government expenditure, ministerial salaries and differed major projects. However, Mahathir 2
decided to increase government expenditure and fixed the Ringgit to the US dollar. The differences in governance caused a deterioration in their relationship. Anwar s frontal attack against what he described as the widespread culture of nepotism and cronyism within UMNO (and the ruling coalition as a whole) angered Mahathir. Anwar s associate Ahmad Zahidi Hamid who headed the Youth wing of UMNO at that time gave notice to initiate a debate on "cronyism and nepotism" during the UMNO General Assembly. However, Mahathir denied the practice of cronyism and nepotism in the Malaysian government (Utusan Malaysia, 22 Nov, 1998). Subsequently, two of the Chief Editors from the Malay language newspapers and one of the high post officers in the Central Bank of Malaysia associated with Anwar Ibrahim was sacked by Mahathir (Biro Analisa Politik, Strategic Info Research Development 1999, p.39). Following this, Anwar Ibrahim was sacked by Mahathir on September 2, 1998. The reason given was that Anwar was suspected to be involved in a sex scandal as well as misconduct in carrying out his duty 5. The sacking of Anwar Ibrahim created a mass demonstration on the Kuala Lumpur streets by his supporters who accepted well his political reform agenda as stated in his Permatang Pauh Declaration. Anwar s supporters occupied the Kuala Lumpur city almost every Saturday. They gathered around the SOGO shopping Complex with posters, shouting the Reformasi slogan. Towards the end of September 1998, there were five (5) street demonstrations that took place in Kuala Lumpur city as reported by the local media. The dates were September 20 th, September 21 st, September 25 th, September 26 th and September 28 th, 1998. On September 20 th, 1998 during a press conference in his house at night, Anwar Ibrahim was detained under the Internal Security Act 1960 after a mass demonstration with his supporters 3
at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur during the day. This is one of the largest street demonstrations in the history of the Malaysian Reform Movement where the clash between the people and the authority, i.e police and Federal Reserve Unit took place. Tear gas and water cannons were used to disperse the demonstrators and the public. Anwar s supporters were dispersed by the police using tear gas and water cannons on September 21 st while waiting outside the Magistrates' Court and Sessions Court at Jalan Raja (Utusan Malaysia, 22 Sept, 1998). The street demonstration on September 25 th, 1998 witnessed thousands of Anwar s supporters at the National Mosque. Once again, the public was dispersed by police and FRU. A similar scene took place at the Dataran Merdeka on September 28 th, where police used canes to disperse the demonstrators and public (Utusan Malaysia, 29 Sept, 1998). On October 4 th, 1998, a group of children and women were reported gathering along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utusan Malaysia, 5 Oct, 1998). On October 5 th, 1998, a group of women were reported gathering peacefully in front of the National Palace (Utusan Malaysia, 6 Oct, 1998). On October 10 th, 1998, women and children were reported to have been used to stop the police and FRU from taking preventive actions towards the demonstrators. The street demonstration on October 17 th, 1998 took place at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Raja Laut. On October 24 th at the street demonstration at Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru, two policemen were reported to be severely injured. In the APEC 98 Mega Tour gathering on November 15 th, 1998, two traffic police bikes were reported to have been burned by the demonstrators; the police photographer was hit and a few reporters as well as photographers from the mainstream media were victims of the demonstrators. Sin Chew Jit Poh (SCJP) reported that on November 28 th, 1998, Anwar Ibrahim s 4
supporters have shifted to a new destination for street demonstration. This newspaper reported that on January 31 st, 1999, the street demonstration took place again after a silent period. When Anwar Ibrahim was on trial from November 2 nd, 1998 to April 14 th, 1999, the news of street demonstration that occupied both Utusan Malaysia and Sin Chew Jit Poh were less. The former deputy Prime Minister s wife, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has initiated a political party, namely the People s Justice Party during this period of time. In short, the mass demonstrations that occupied Kuala Lumpur streets in the peak of the Reform Movement from September to December 1998 involved a clash between the people and the authority that used canes, water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and public. 2.0 Theoretical Perspectives The moment Anwar Ibrahim s supporters and the general Malaysian Public questioned Dr. Mahathir for sacking Anwar from his position as the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, thus leading to a series of street demonstrations to protest the said sacking; a crisis of hegemony, as according to Antonio Gramsci. The crisis challenged the status quo of the Malaysian government. Thus, it is interesting to study how the Malaysian mainstream media represented the street demonstrations during the Reform Movement. It is also crucial to study the role of the media during the crisis by adopting liberal-pluralist and Marxist views of the media. Antonio Gramsci s hegemony theory helps in explaining how domination is achieved through politics and ideology. Last but not least, media representation further explains how language can be used in the news to form ideas and beliefs. 5
2.1 Media and Society The role of media in a society has been an important discussion for media scholars ever since the existence of media research started from World War I. There are two different perspectives in defining the role of media in a society. According to the Liberal-pluralist schools of thought, the media functions as the fourth state that plays an important part in a democratic process in constituting a source of information that is independent of the government (Tony Bennett 1982, p. 31). The functional approach sees media as part of the social institution that helps in the modernization process of a nation (Made-Michael Habte 1994, p.140). Most of the underdeveloped countries in this world view the media as an important apparatus of modernization. The general belief is that media can help in development and could be used by the government to channel their development messages to the people for the benefit of the people. The other perspective sees the role of the media more critically within a Marxist framework. The Marxist view argues that the media were powerful ideological agencies that played a central role in maintaining class domination. Marxism also argued that the mass media played a strategic role in reinforcing dominant social norms and values that legitimized the social system (James Curran et.al. 1982, pp. 13-14). The critical theorists disagreed that the media are free from the control of those in power, they see the media as a set of institutions closely linked to the dominant power structure through ownership, legal regulation, the values implicit in the professional ideologies in the media, and the structures and ideological consequences of prevailing modes of newsgathering (James Curran et.al. 1982, p.16). The role of the mass media in politics and the relationship between media institutions and the political institutions of society are one of the main attentions of the Critical scholars. 6
2.2 Hegemony and Society As per our previous discussion, the Marxist view argues that the media is not free from the control of the state power, thus media is the apparatus to promote and maintain the ideology of the state and strengthen the hegemony of those in power. In most of the political crisis, the state will usually use the media to maintain the status quo and to counter the criticism in the name of national interest or national security. The concept of hegemony first appeared in the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci s work in 1926 Notes on the Southern Question (Chantal Mouffe 1981, p.220). However, the Gramscian concept of hegemony is further discussed in his Prison Notebooks 6. Gramsci argued that hegemony explains how domination is achieved through politics and ideology. According to Chantal Mouffe (1981, p.224), hegemony is defined as the ability of one class to articulate the interest of other social groups to its own, and this can be done in two different ways: the interest of these groups can either be articulated so as to neutralize them and hence to prevent the development of their own specific demands, or else they can be articulated in such a way as to promote their full development leading to the final resolution of the contradictions which they express. In short, the ruling class maintains their dominance by securing the spontaneous consent of subordinate groups, including the working class, through the negotiated construction of a political and ideological consensus which incorporates both dominant and dominated groups. Two important concepts in Gramsci s hegemony are consensus and coercion. Consensus control arises when individuals willingly or voluntarily assimilate the world-view or hegemony of the dominant group while the coercive control is manifested through direct force or the threat of force (D.Strinati 1995, pp.165-166). 7
Hegemony is never stable. When those who are ruled start to question the leadership of those who rule, the crisis of hegemony occurs. During a crisis of hegemony, both coercive power and consensus power may be used by those in power to overcome the crisis. 2.3 Media Representation While most of us are aware and agree that the media influences how we perceive the world, Roger Fowler (1991) sees that language is not neutral, but a highly constructive mediator to form ideas and beliefs. In his book Language In The News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press (1991, pp.1-3), Roger Fowler noted that news is socially constructed and language has a cognitive role: it provides an organized mental representation for our experience. To Fowler, news is a representation of the world in language, because language is a semiotic code, it imposes a structure of values, social and economic in origin, on whatever is represented; and news, like every discourse, constructively patterns that of which it speaks; news is not a value-free reflection of facts ( p.4). Roger further explains that the institution of news reporting and presentation are socially, economically and politically situated, all news is always reported from some particular angle. Anything that is said or written about the world is articulated from a particular ideological position and language is not a clear window but a refracting, structuring medium (p.10). In examining the relationship between media and language, noticeably, the manufacturing of news never takes place in a vacuum. Stuart Hall et.al quoted by Roger Fowler (1991, pp.12-13) noted as follows: The media do not simply and transparently report events which are naturally newsworthy in themselves. News is the end-product of a 8
complex process which begins with a systematic sorting and selecting of events and topic according to a socially constructed set of categories. Danuta Reah (1998, p.4) shares the same views with Stuart Hall et.al. She noted that the selection of items put on the news pages may also affect the way in which the reader is presented with the world. She added that newspapers present facts in a way that is designed to arouse the reader s interest and curiosity. It is also possible to present facts in a way that will influence the reader s view of them. She sees language as a powerful tool that can be used to represent particular groups to promote particular attitudes or conform to an existing stereotype (p. 54). 2.4 Social Theory of Discourse Approach to discourse analysis is developed by social psychologist Potter and Wetherell (1987) and the critical approaches are also used by critical linguistics such as Roger Fowler et. al (1979) and the French approach to discourse analysis developed on the basis of Althusser s theory of ideology by Pecheux (Norman Fairclough 1995a, p.13). On the other hand, critical linguistics was the approach developed by a group based at the University of East Anglia in the 1970s (Norman Fairclough 1995a, cited in Fowler at al. 1979; Kress and Hodge 1979). They tried to marry a method of linguistic text analysis with a social theory of the functioning of language in political and ideological processes, drawing upon the functionalist linguistic theory associated with Michael Haliday (1978, 1985), known as systematic linguistic. Accoridng to Norman Fairclough (1995a, p.3), a linguist from Lancester University, discourse emphasizes interaction between speaker and addressee or between writer and reader, and therefore processes of producing and interpreting speech and writing, as well as the situational context of language use. Discourse is also used for different types of language used in different 9
sorts of social situation, for example newspaper discourse, advertising discourse, classroom discourse, the discourse of medical consultations and so on. Discourse is shaped and constrained by social structure in the widest sense and at all levels: by class and other social relations at a societal level, by the relations specific to particular institutions such as law or education, by systems of classification, by various norms and conventions of both a discursive and a non-discursive nature and so forth Discourse is a practice not just of representing the world, but of signifying the world, constituting the world in meaning (Norman Fairclough 1995a, p. 64) Norman Fairclough noted that discourses do not just reflect or represent social entities and relations, they construct or constitute them; different discourses constitute key entities in different ways and position people in different ways as social subjects (1995a, p.4). He added that discourse constructs social relationships between people and contributes to the construction of systems of knowledge and belief. He proposed a three-dimensional approach to assess the relationships between discursive and social change and to relate detailed properties of text to social properties of discursive events as instances of social practice in a more systematic way (1995a, p. 8) His three-dimensional approach examines the text production and consumption in the context of discourse practice and sociocultural practice in a more critical way. This critical approach shows how discourse is shaped by relations of power and ideologies, and the constructive effects discourse has upon social identities, social relations and systems of knowledge and belief (1995a, p. 12). 3.0 Methodology 10
In order to achieve a holistic data collection and analysis, a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches were implemented in this research. The research methods employed in this study include content analysis and critical discourse analysis. Two different newspapers have been selected as research samples. The Chinese language newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh and the Malay language newspaper Utusan Malaysia are both the largest circulation newspapers in Malaysia. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations report on 15 th February 2001, the circulation of Utusan Malaysia from July 1 st, 1998 to June 30 th, 1999 was 246, 671 while Sin Chew Jit Poh circulation was 289, 514 (http://www.abcm.com.my/v_sale.html). These two dailies had the largest newspaper circulation during the 1998 Reform Movement. The research period chosen for both content analysis and critical discourse analysis were September 1 st, 1998 to December 31 st, 1998, as they were the peak of street demonstration during the Reform Movement of 1998. Operationalization and Conceptualization 3.1 Content Analysis Content Analysis is used to analyze both Sin Chew Daily and Utusan Malaysia s news coverage on the demonstration from September 1 st, 1998 to December 31 st, 1998. The unit analysis used in this research include completeness of news, news value, source of the news, contents of the news, fairness of the reporting and the neutralization of news (Refer to Figure 1). Figure 1: Unit Analysis of Content Analysis Method 11
Unit Analysis Category 1 Newspaper 1) Utusan Malaysia (UM) 2) Sin Chew Jit Poh (SCJP) 2 Research Period September 1 st, 1998 to December 31 st, 1998 3 Completeness of News 1) Good 2) Moderate 3) Weak 4 News Value 1) Newsworthy 2) Lack of Newsworthiness 5 Source of News 1) Reporters observations 2) Government information 3) Informal source 4) Other sources 5) Opinions 6) Source not clear 6 Contents of News 1) Events 2) Statements in an Event 3) Support or criticism to a statement 4) Background of an event 7 Fairness of the Reporting 1) One-sided reports 2) Two-sided and more 8 Neutralization of News 1) Positive 2) Neutral 3) Negative In the category of Completeness of News, news that completely answers WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY and HOW are considered Good. News reporting with 4 to 5 elements of this 5W1H are considered Moderate while news reporting with 3 or less than 3 of the 5W1H elements are considered Weak. 12
News reporting that fulfills all the criteria of newsworthiness, e.g. it is of importance, involves conflicts, is popular, contains negativity and human interest are considered Newsworthy while news reporting with 3 or less than 3 of these criteria are considered Lack of Newsworthiness. For Source of News, Reporters Observation refers to news that was observed and witnessed by the reporters personally. Government information refers to news that was released by the Malaysian government, political leaders or in press conferences. Informal sources is defined as news released by non-governmental parties, activists and/or opposition political party leaders. Other sources refers to news from the sources outside Malaysia, such as foreign news agencies, news observers and foreign television and radio stations. Opinions refer to the articles published in the opinion columns or editorial columns. Source not clear refers to news reports that did not state its sources. Supports and criticism to a statement refer to news reporting that supported or criticized the street demonstration. For Contents of News, events refer to a main event s news reporting and the responses towards the main event. Statements in an event refer to the statements from the government, political leaders, other leaders and outsiders. Background of an event refers to news reporting on the chronology of the street demonstration and other relevant factors. One-sided reports refer to news that reported and focused on one dimension of the conflict or only quoted one source. Two- sided and more refers to news that reported different dimensions of the conflict and quoted more than one source. Neutralization of News refers to the stand took by the particular news reporting. News reporting that supported the street demonstration is considered positive, while news reporting that 13
criticized the street demonstration is considered negative. News reporting without pros and cons are considered neutral. 3.2 Critical Discourse Analysis In order to explore the relationship between language (in newspapers) and social institutional (media institutions) practices in a wider political and social structures context, Critical Discourse Analysis by Norman Fairclough has been implemented in this research. The critical discourse analysis by Norman Fairclough (1995b, pp.57-62 ) has been used particularly in analyzing (1) the (news) Texts which covers traditional forms of linguistic analysis, and textual organization; (2) Discourse Practice that involves various aspects of the processes of text production and text consumption and (3) Sociocultural Practice that involves the wider context of institutional practices the event is embedded within or the yet wider frame of the society and the culture (Refer to Figure 2). Figure 2: A Framework for Critical Discourse Analysis of by Norman Fariclough Text Production TEXT Text Consumption DISCOURSE PRACTICE d SOCIOCULTURAL PRACTICE 14
The analysis of texts covers the analysis of vocabulary, grammar, cohesion and text structure. Vocabulary deals mainly with individual words, grammar deals with words combined into clauses and sentences, cohesion deals with how clauses and sentences are linked together and text structure deals with large-scale organizational properties of texts (1995a, p. 75). Discursive practice involves processes of text production, distribution and consumption, and the nature of these processes varies between different types of discourse according to social factors (1995a, p. 78). The aspects involved for further analysis include interdiscursivity, intertextual chains, conditions of discourse practice, manifest intertexuality and presupposition (1995a, pp.232-234). Discourse as a social practice is examined in the context of discourse in relation to ideology and power within a view of hegemonic power and struggle. Two aspects will be analyzed, which is social matrix of discourse and ideological and political effects of discourse. (Refer to Figure 3). Figure 3: A Three-dimensional Approach of Critical Discourse Analysis Dimension Aspect 1. Text 1) Vocabulary 2) Grammar 3) Cohesion 4) Text Structure 2. Discourse Practice 1) Interdiscursivity 2) Intertextual Chains 3) Conditions of Discourse Practice 4) Manifest Intertexuality 5) Presuppostion 3. Sociocultural Practice 1) Social Matrix of Discourse 2) Ideological and Political Effects of Discourse 15
4.0 Malaysia Media: The Issue of Ownership & Control The issue of ownership and control of the Malaysian Media has been discussed by many of the critical communication scholars in Malaysia in the past two decades. The main concern of the discussion is the ownership of the media by the government and the companies that are directly and indirectly owned by the political parties or pro-government individuals. The control refers to how media laws have been used to scrutinize the manufacturing of news in this country. The restrictive laws have limited the press freedom of the country. In general, media are examined in its relations to the state power in a larger context of democracy and pluralism. The issue of ownership and control of the Malaysian media is in fact an issue of old wine in a new bottle that curbs the diversity of thought and restricts the creation of public sphere. The first newspaper in Malaysia that was published in 1806, The Prince of Wales Island Gazzete obtained its financial support from the British government at that time. News that was not relevant to the British government was censored. Before the Wold War II, laws that restricted the press freedom such as the Printing Press Ordinance 1835-1921 were introduced by the British colony. The ownership of the printing machines was also restricted by the Ordinance of Printing Machine 1920 (Mohd. Safar Hashim 1996, p.126). During the Japanese occupation in Malaya from 1942 to 1945, Malai Simpo for example, was one of the newspapers established as a propaganda tool of the Syonan government. Japan established Syonan Sin-bun-kai, a news agency to monitor the media in Malaysia and Sumatera during that period of time (1996, p. 205). The independence of Malaya in 1957 did not promise an independent newspaper industry in this country. The restructuring of media ownership took place after the independence of Malaya. 16
The ownership of the media by the political elite became a new trend. The Utusan Melayu strike of 1961 was in fact a reaction to UMNO s bid to control Utusan Melayu s editorial policy. However, it failed to stop UMNO from intervening in the editorial policy of the newspaper. In 1972, UMNO became the majority share owner of Utusan Melayu. The death of press freedom started with the Utusan strike (http://www.thenutgraph.com/strike-for-press-freedom/). In the 1980s, the Malaysian government under Mahathir Mohamad s premiership amended many laws to restrict the freedom of press. The Printing Presses and Publication Acts 1984 gives absolute power to the Minster of Internal Security to issue permits to those who wish to publish a newspaper or magazine in this country. The publication permit is required to be renewed annually and the Minister s decision to issue, suspend and/or cancel the permit is deemed as the final decision while judicial review of his decision is denied 7. The Internal Security Act of 1960 (ISA) is a draconian law that restricts many of the dissent voices in this country. This law allows detention without trial. It is a preventive detention law enforced in Malaysia. Reporters detained under ISA were A. Samad Ismail from New Straits Times and Samani Mohd. Amin from Berita Harian. Both of them were arrested under the ISA in June 22 nd, 1976. In October 1981, Aziz Ahmad and Halim Mahmud were also arrested under the ISA (Mohd, Safar Hashim 1996, p.292). The most recent detention of a reporter was the Sin Chew Daily senior reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng. She was arrested on September 12 th, 2008 for reporting racial remarks made by Member of Parliament of Bukit Bendera, Ahmad Ismail. (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/12591/84/). The Official Secret Act of 1972 (OSA) empowered all ministers to classify any documents as official secret at their discretion. Those who have access to, or have published these 17
documents are subject to a mandatory jail sentence for at least one year. The reporters that have been arrested and fined under OSA are James Clad from Far Eastern Economic Review, who was fined RM10,000 and Sabri Sharif from New Straits Times who was fined RM7,000 (Mohd. Safar Hashim 1996, p.294). The Sedition Act of 1948 places many limitations on freedom of expression, particularly on sensitive political issues. The Act has a very ambiguous definition of sedition. The law states that any act, speech, word or publication is seditious if it has a seditious tendency. The Defamation Act of 1957 is an act related to the law of libel and slander as well as other malicious falsehoods. In January 1999, the eldest son of Mahathir Mohamad, Mirzan Mahathir sued two of the Malaysian Chinese dailies, i.e. Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily for alleged defamation in articles that they published about his business activities. However, both parties settled the case out of court. The ownership and control of the media in Malaysia have curbed the press freedom of this country and contributed to the self-censorship practice by most of the Malaysian media. Both Sin Chew Daily and Utusan Malaysia are now operating under this media environment. 5.0 Street Demonstration News coverage on 1998 Malaysia Reform Movement- A study on Sin Chew Daily and Utusan Malaysia 5.1 Finding & Analysis of Content Analysis 18
The data collected through the Content Analysis method shows that throughout the four months research period, i.e. September to December 1998, Sin Chew Jit Poh (SCJP) reported 290 street demonstration news compared to Utusan Malaysia (UM) with 232 street demonstration news. The data shows that the month of October was the peak of the street demonstration event. The October news coverage contributed 48.3% of the total news coverage in SCJP while it contributed 44.8% of the amount throughout the four months news coverage in UM. The second peak falls in September where it contributed 29% of the total news coverage in SCJP and 28% of the total news coverage in UM. In November, it contributed 22.9% of the total news coverage in UM compared to 17.6% of the total news coverage in SCJP. Evidently, the news coverage on street demonstrations declined in the month of December. It contributed only 5.1% and 4.3% of the total news coverage in SCJP and UM respectively. (Refer to Figure 4 & Figure 4.1) Figure 4 Amount of Demonstration News Amount of News Sept Oct Nov Dec Total Utusan Malaysia 65 104 53 10 232 % 28.0 44.8 22.9 4.3 100 Sin Chew Jit Poh 84 140 51 15 290 % 29.0 48.3 17.6 5.1 100 Figure 4.1 Histogram to compare Amount of Demonstration News 19
Amount of News 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 140 104 84 65 53 51 10 15 Sept Oct Nov Dec Month Utusan Malaysia Sin Chew Jit Poh The collected data revealed that 90.7% of the total news coverage in SCJP is considered moderate in terms of the completeness of news while 83.6% of the total news coverage in UM falls in the moderate category as well. 13.4% of the total news coverage in UM is considered weak in terms of the completeness of news compared to 7.9% for SCJP. The data shows that only 1.4% of news in SCJP is considered good compared to UM which recorded 3%. (Refer to Figure 5 & Figure 5.1) Figure 5 Completeness of News Completeness News of Sept Oct Nov Dec Total % 20
Utusan Malaysia Good 5 1-1 7 3.0 Moderate 50 87 50 7 194 83.6 Weak 10 16 3 2 31 13.4 Total 65 104 53 10 232 100 Sin Chew Jit Poh Good 2 2 - - 4 1.4 Moderate 68 134 48 13 263 90.7 Weak 14 4 3 2 23 7.9 Total 84 140 51 15 290 100 Figure 5.1 Histogram to compare Completeness of News 21
Completeness Berita Weak Moderate Good 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Unit of News Utusan Malaysia Sin Chew Jit Poh In terms of news values, 100% of the news coverage in SCJP falls in the category of Newsworthy while 94.8% of news coverage in UM falls in the same category. However, 5.2% of UM s news coverage are categorized under lack of newsworthiness. (Refer to Figure 6 & Figure 6.1) Figure 6 News Value News Values Sept Oct Nov Dec Total % Utusan Malaysia Newsworthy 61 98 53 8 220 94.8 Lack of 4 6-2 12 5.2 Newsworthiness 22
Total 65 104 53 10 232 100 Sin Chew Jit Poh Newsworthy 84 140 51 15 290 100 Lack of Newsworthiness - - - - - - Total 84 140 51 15 290 100 Figure 6.1 Histogram to compare News Value Unit of News 300 200 100 0 220 290 Newsworthy Utusan Malaysia News Value 12 0 Sin Chew Jit Poh Lack of Newsworthiness Out of 232 street demonstration news reported in UM, 53% of the news was the information from government, 23.7% from informal sources; 12.5% were opinions of various sources, while reporters observations only contributed 9% and 0.9% were other sources and 0.9% were sources not clear. 39.3% of SCJP s demonstration news also quoted information from government. On the other hand, SCJP reporter s observations during the event contributed 27.6% of the total news 23
coverage. SCJP also quoted a lot of informal sources, such as the demonstrators, opposition leaders, etc. Informal sources contributed 21.4% of the total news coverage on demonstrations in SCJP. The rest of the news were from sources such as Opinion (5.9%), other sources (5.5%) and only 0.3% for sources of news that were not clear. (Refer to Figure 7 & Figure 7.1) Figure 7 Source of News Source of News Sept Oct Nov Dec Total % Utusan Malaysia RO 4 10 7-21 9.0 GI 42 47 26 8 123 53.0 IS 8 31 15 1 55 23.7 OS 2 - - - 2 0.9 P 9 15 5-29 12.5 NC - 1-1 2 0.9 Total 65 104 53 10 232 100 Sin Chew Jit Poh RO 33 32 13 2 80 27.6 GI 31 54 20 9 114 39.3 IS 6 46 9 1 62 21.4 OS 8 2 5 1 16 5.5 P 6 6 4 1 17 5.9 NC - - - 1 1 0.3 Total 84 140 51 15 290 100 24
Note: RO-Reporters Observations GI-Government Information IS-Informal Source OS-Other Sources P-Opinions NC-Source not clear Figure 7.1 Pie Chart to compare Source of News Source of News of Utusan Malaysia 12% 1% 1% 24% 9% 53% RO GI IS OS P NC 6% 0% 6% Source of News of Sin Chew Jit Poh 21% 28% 39% The data collected shows that 46.1% of the news coverage in UM was statements on street demonstration events; 40.5% was statements that supported or criticized street demonstrations while 11.2% was reported on the event itself and only 2.2% was about the background of the event. Statements on street demonstration also contributed 52.8% of SCJP s news coverage. 25.5% of the news was the reporting of the event while 16.9% was under the support or criticism on the event category. Only 4.8% of SCJP news reported the background of the street demonstration. (Refer to Figure 8 & Figure 8.1) Figure 8 Contents of News 25
Content of News Sept Oct Nov Dec Total % Utusan Malaysia E 8 8 9 1 26 11.2 SE 36 45 20 6 107 46.1 SC 18 49 24 3 94 40.5 BE 3 2 - - 5 2.2 Total 65 104 53 10 232 100 Sin Chew E 27 34 11 2 74 25.5 Jit Poh SE 37 80 26 10 153 52.8 SC 14 20 12 3 49 16.9 BE 6 6 2-14 4.8 Total 84 140 51 15 290 100 Note: E-Events SE-Statement in an event SC-Support or criticism to a statement BE-Background of an event Figure 8.1 Pie Chart to compare Contents of News 26
Utusan Malaysia Sin Chew Jit Poh 2% 11% E SE 17% 5% 25% 41% 46% SC BE 53% In terms of fairness of the reporting, the content analysis finding shows that 82.8% of UM s news coverage was one-sided compared to 17.2% that was considered two-sided. However, SCJP had a higher percentage of two-sided news coverage, i.e 37.9% and one-sided coverage contributed to 62.1% of total news coverage on the street demonstration. (Refer to Figure 9 & Figure 9.1) Figure 9 Fairness of the Reporting Fairness of the Reporting Sept Oct Nov Dec Total % Utusan One-sided 50 87 46 9 192 82.8 Malaysia Two-sided or more 15 17 7 1 40 17.2 Total 65 104 53 10 232 100 Sin Chew One-sided 46 89 35 10 180 62.1 Jit Poh 27
Two-sided or more 38 51 16 5 110 37.9 Total 84 140 51 15 290 100 Figure 9.1 Pie Chart to compare Fairness of the Reporting Utusan Malaysia Sin Chew Jit Poh 17% One-Sided 38% Two-sided Or More 62% 83% The data reveals that 56% of UM s news coverage on the street demonstration was negative news, 42.7% neutral and only 1.3% positive. SCJP portrayed a more neutral stand in reporting street demonstration news with 59% neutral, following by 37.6% of negative news and 3.4% of positive news. (Refer to Figure 10 & Figure 10.1) Figure 10 Neutralization of News Neutralization of News Sept Oct Nov Dec Total % 28
Utusan Positive 1 1 1-3 1.3 Malaysia Neutral 28 42 24 5 99 42.7 Negative 36 61 28 5 130 56.0 Total 65 104 53 10 232 100 Sin Chew Jit Poh Positive 2 7 1-10 3.4 Neutral 59 77 24 11 171 59.0 Negative 23 56 26 4 109 37.6 Total 84 140 51 15 290 100 Figure 10.1 Pie Chart to compare the neutralization of News Utusan Malaysia Sin Chew Jit Poh 56% 1% 43% Positiv e Neutral 38% 3% 59% 5.2 Finding and Analysis of Critical Discourse Analysis Method For critical discourse analysis method, three (3) news texts have been selected from Sin Chew Jit Poh (SCJP) and Utusan Malaysia (UM) as analysis samples respectively. The news was 29
published on September 26 th, October 5 th and November 16 th in SCJP while the ones published in UM was on September 26 th, October 19 th and November 16 th in the year of 1998. These news texts were selected based on the research period, i.e each news reporting from each month of the peak event. The news texts were analyzed based on Normain Fairclough s critical discourse analysis framework and three-dimensional approach. The finding showed that both SCJP and UM often use the terms violence, riot, disturbances, illegal assembly, street protest in describing the street demonstrations of the Reform movement in 1998. The street demonstration was also described as a violent event that threatened the stability of Malaysian society, threatened the country s peace, created disturbance in the country and so on. They avoided the reality that the people of this democratic country have the rights of assembly as well as rights of expression. The demonstrators were labeled in a negative way and they were divided between the police who acted as peace protectors and the people who did not take part in the street demonstrations. The use of us/ we (police/authority) and them (street demonstrators) was quite apparent in the news texts. We should not tolerate with them because they created disturbance and threatened the stability of our society. This was the strong message conveyed by both SCJP and UM in their news reporting of the street demonstrations in 1998. Besides that, both of the newspapers tend to quote the words from the authority as the source of their news. According to Stuart Hall et. al (1981, p.341), the people who enjoy representative status in the society tends to gain access in the media compared to the general public who do not have much influences and political-economy power. In this case, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his ministers were often quoted when they commented on the street demonstration while the street demonstrators and even the civil society were not given any space 30
in the mainstream newspaper, i.e SCJP and UM to comment on the event and the police brutality. It is noticeable that the Malaysian government led by Dr Mahathir had played a dominant role in constructing the dominant, mostly negative view on the street demonstration event. This is one of the characteristic examples of ideological and political impact on news discourse. 6.0 Conclusion The media today plays an important role in human lives. Thus, the research on media practice as well as the study on media products, i.e the news text is crucial as we attempt to explore how media represents certain groups in the society or how the media carries itself when it comes to the reporting of a crisis, such as the 1998 Reform Movement in Malaysia which witnessed a series of demonstrations on the street. In a nutshell, this research finding showed that street demonstrations in the Reform Movement were portrayed negatively by two Malaysian mainstream newspapers. Both Utusan Malaysia and Sin Chew Jit Poh were used as ideological apparatus to overcome the hegemonic crisis, i.e the Reform Movement by Anwar Ibrahim and his supporters. Utusan Malaysia did not provide a fair coverage on the Reform Movement compared to Sin Chew Jit Poh. Last but not least, language is proved to be part of the power struggle that enables the construction of a reality during a crisis such as the Reform Movement in 1998. Clearly, the political-economy influences on the media practice as well as the control via media ownership have curbed the freedom of speech of the civil society and to a certain extent have restricted the pluralism and democracy of the country. 31
NOTES 1 He is a Malaysian politician who served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. He was once named by the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as his successor. In 1970s, Anwar was a student leader who actively involved in Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM). 32
2 UMNO was established in May 11, 1946. It is the Malay dominant party in the National Front Coalition since Independent in 1957. 3 Mahathir was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. He was the longest serving Prime Minister in Malaysia. 4 Permatang Pauh Declaration was (i) to establish justice for all, the weak and strong, the rich and poor, to preserve the institutions and processes of law from the defilement of graft and abuse of power; (ii) to sanctify the power of the people through democratic means, for democracy is an imperative: man s instinct for justice makes democracy a possibility, but the existence of tendencies to oppress makes it a necessity; (iii) champions economic justice, one that advocates fairness in economic growth and distribution so that the rich do not get richer at the expense of the poor, for the world has enough for everyone, but too little to satisfy everyone s greed; (iv) to eradicate graft and abuse of power, to strip the opulent and greedy clique of their power to manipulate the market; (v) to reinforce a dynamic cultural identity, where faith in our noble cultural traditions is intact, but there is openness to all that is good in all traditions; (vi) to launch the Malaysian nation into the information age and the borderless world, encouraging wisdom, self-assurance and openness towards a global friendship based on the principles of truth and justice (Ahmad Lutfi Othman, 1998, pp.317-319). 5 Mahathir as quoted by an online news portal Malaysia-Today, said that he would have sacked Anwar if advised not to as he couldn t accept an immoral person as his successor. (http://malaysia today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/43463-dr-m-i-would-have-sacked-anwar-even-if-advisednot-to) 6 Gramsci was active in the Italian Communist Party when Italy was under the Fascist regime of Mussolini. He was incarcerated for 10 years by the regime. 7 The Malaysia government led by the current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tabled the Printing Presses and Publications (Amendments) 2012 Bill at Dewan Rakyat on April 18 th, 2012. Among the changes are to remove the reference to the minister s absolute discretion in granting or refusing a printing press licence; to remove the power of the minister to specify in the licence the period of validity of such a licence and to allow the licence or permit to remain valid as long as it is not revoke (http://www.nst.com.my/top-news/media-freedom-boost- 1.75496?localLinksEnabled=false#). 33