The win of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States on November 9, 2016, shocked the world. While many might have predicted the win, tough some kept their fingers crossed hoping on Hillary Clinton’s winning the 2016 Presidency US Election. Upon the announcement on his winning, Trump surpassed the threshold of 270 out of the total 538 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. People around the world reacted as the world was coming down on them. Some even believed that The Simpsons from 2000 projection on Trump being the US president and US facing a major financial crunch, which turned out to be true.
Bernama on Nov 9, quoting a report from China’s Xinhua news agency reported, that the victory has made Trump the first president that never held elected office since 1953, pulling a major upset after a controversial and scandalous campaign cycle. What made people feared his win was his crazy campaign resolutions calling to impose ban on Muslim travellers in to the United States. Diamond (2015) a CNN journalist quoting a campaign press release his article mentioned:
“Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”
Trump proposed for the move reacting to a deadly mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, suspected ISIS sympathizers (Diamond, 2015).Trump’s proposal resulted in many of his opponents to engage in a debate over whether a religious test should be conducted for one to enter America. However, his supporters, showed their approval towards proposal (Diamond, 2015) on the ban which was widely debated on netizens on social media.
During the 2016 election on November 8, the stock markets around the world started to show uncertainty and investors projected US Dollar to plunge upon Trump’s win. Referring to a Bernama news report, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) was down in a knee-jerk reaction in line with global bourses to the shocking results of Donald Trump winning the US presidential election. When the announcement on the current status of the market made, Trump had won 276 electoral votes, and only needed six electoral votes to become the next US President, leaving Clinton far behind with only 218 electoral votes. With these results in hand, it was pretty obvious that Trump will hold the next US President post.
A BBC report titled “US Election 2016: Asia markets jolted by Trump win” said Asian stocks had fallen sharply as Trump beat Hillary in their race into the White House.
“All regional markets closed lower, with money flowing into safe haven stocks, gold and currencies including the yen. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped by 5.4% while European and US markets are expected to slide when trading resumes on Wednesday”
According to the report, the market showed negativity as traders had expected Hillary Clinton to win. The BBC report also said, analyst believed the plunge in Asian Market was because Trump’s win was seen as negative for Asian economies due to his previous protectionist rhetoric. The Republican candidate had talked about imposing tariffs on China imports and punishing companies that send their work overseas.
However, US markets took a U-turn, when it closed higher the following day after Donald Trump’s election win, defied expectations of a slump as investors predicted. The dollar dived after the US election result was called, but has continued to recover against the euro during the day.
On to the Ringgit, The Edge Markets on Nov 10 reported, the ringgit to depreciate to its weakest point at 4.2537 against the US Dollar a day after Donald Trump’s election win. Analysts said Trump’s victory against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had created uncertainty on US policies on world political and economic backdrops.
It was also reported that, the ringgit lost two per cent week-on-week against a strong US dollar on November 11. Analyst from Affic Hwang Asset Management said, this phenomenon of currency fall, was not only experienced in Malaysia, but the risk-off sentiment shockwave was sent globally. Many emerging market currencies were affected upon a republican winning the presidency. This was mainly due to Trump’s intention to impose stricter trade deals.
Reference
Chong, J. H (2016). Ringgit weakens on Trump win, Malaysia rate cut talk.
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Diamond, J (2015). Donald Trump: Ban all Muslim travel to U.S. CCN News, 8 Dec
2015. Retrieved on 23 Nov 2016 from
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The 2013 Lahad Datu standoff was a military clash that began on 11th February 2013 and finished on 24th March 2013. The standoff emerged after 235 activists were armed, touched by pontoons in Lahad Datu, Sabah. The gathering, calling themselves the “Imperial Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo”, was sent by Jamalul Kiram III, one of the inquirers to the royal position of the Sultanate of Sulu.
BACKGROUND OF THE MEDIA
Local Media : Astro Awani
Astro Awani (Channel 501) is a 24-hour news channel number one in Malaysia. They publish news bulletins, business and sports all day from Kuala Lumpur city centre, with a network of experienced journalists throughout Malaysia. Astro Awani was launched on 6th September 2007 together with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence. Astro Awani is the in-house rolling news and current affairs television channel providing 24-hour news coverage including news in Malay. With its slogan and motto tagline, News that transcends Dimensions (Malay: All the News Dimension), Astro Awani presents news and informative programs including current affairs, lifestyle, documentaries, interview programs and local and international magazine.
International Media : Reuters
Reuters /ˈrɔɪtərz/ is an international news agency headquartered in Canary Wharf, London,United Kingdom and is a division of Thomson Reuters. The Reuter agency was established in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in Britain at the London Royal Exchange. Paul Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions in 1848.
Propaganda is any misleading and bias information which is to promote or publicise a particular political party or any point of view. Two of the alternative media that has been chosen to compare the propaganda of MH17 news is Berita Harian online and BBC news online. Awani news propaganda involves small incident in which they reported the entry of Philippine rebels discovered by some fishermen and has entered several locations in the village. This is a small issue is that may be created to make the story more sensational. Compared to Reuters news, they begin by describing the news about how the Malaysian military against rebels stormed the camp of armed groups. In addition, Awani news also reported that it was not reasonable, as the rebel group is composed of individuals who are malnourished whereas the elderly in sarongs and slippers are mostly unarmed. It is said to be not logic because if they attack Lahad Datu with such external, then why the people are feeling threatened and insecure? While the Reuters press clearly stated the gunman was still at large and were not captured. The rest were suspected to be linked with Anwar Ibrahim who was accused of being involved in the rebellion.
Reuter had been associating it with a riot case affects investment in Sabah where it will draw back investors’ interest. After the issue was being analyzed, it clearly showed that it does not affect Sabah until such time as the issues related to the invasion of the heirs of the Sulu Sultanate asking for their rights. According to Awani news, they assumed that the Philippine government is letting the issue go and leaving the fate of Sulu in the hands of the military forces of Malaysia. News Awani Malaysia reported a police officer was killed by an attacker with a heartbreaking situation. This news could not be identified the authenticity of conflict Lahad Datu because the murder was not being reported and they did not give the details of the murder case. Reuters has also added news by associating it with Islamic rebels in the news where there is no direct relationship with the uprising in Lahad Datu. As explained previously, the purpose of this revolt is the heir of the Sulu Sultanate that demands their rights in land in Sabah.
Timeline of the Issue
The chronology of the cases is extracted from various sources from local media. Starting on February 9 the intruder entered using a boat and assembled in stages starting from Felda Sahabat 17, Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu and end of March 2 the body of Inspector Zulkifli Mamat and Corporal David Sabarudin were killed in a battle with a group of armed intruders in Lahad Datu. They arrived at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Subang at about 12.43pm. Inspector Zulkifli Mamat was buried in the cemetery in Kampung Gong Bayor, Jertih Corporal David Sabarudin was buried at the Muslim cemetery in Kampung MasjidSungai Makmuriah Lias, Owerri.
I think the most important lesson that Malaysia must learn from the standoff in Lahad Datu is the weakness of our border defence. Like other Malaysians, I’m very concerned with the speculation that Lahad Datu standoff used whereby it was just an excuse by a desperate government to declare emergency for fear of losing the coming elections.
After the heart-breaking stories of two Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight, MH370 and MH 17, again the world has been shocked by the same flight brand only on a different case, the controversial news regarding on sexual assault by Malaysia Airlines’ steward towards its passenger. The occurrence was reported in August 2014 which was a month after the tragic incident of the airlines’ flight.
What had made the incident look a lot bitter, the assault was carried out during the Chief Steward of MAS, Mohammed Rosli Bin Ab Karim performing his formalities. He was then detained by the police officers in France after allegations of sexual assault to one of the MH20 passengers, Laura Bushney on August 4th 2014. According to Bushney, the steward was trying to ‘calm and comfort’ as she was expressing how worried she was being on the plane in conjunction with the incidents that took place between MH370 and MH17. At the end, the action then allegedly turned into a sexual assault. Bushney made a police report about the ‘inappropriate sexual behaviour’. MAS terminated Mohd Rosli two weeks after the alleged incident on August 25th, 2014, and MAS came to admit of the following indictment, Mohammed Rosli was misbehaving against her. According to Astro Awani, MAS affirmed that:
… Malaysia Airlines has always expect the best standard of our staff and we also take seriously the claims of its kind. We will assist the French authorities to investigate (Tamboo, 2014).
However, two years after the occurrence, Bushney sued the carrier under the Montreal Convention for RM616, 000 while Mohammed Rosli was guaranteed in France and is still awaiting trial. Bushney has two years to get compensation based on the physical harm suffered and financial loss, according to Montreal Convention.
The fact that the incident took place between two different countries is obvious to show how drastically contrast the media coverage is. Now, let’s have a little glance on how the story was being covered between a Malaysian media, Astro Awani and an International media, Daily Mail.
Fairness
Based on what was seen by Astro Awani coverage, it was crystal clear that they were playing with ‘picking side’ style of reporting. This can be proven when Astro Awani for a numerous times revealed the name and personal data of the sexual assault victim, Laura Bushney.
The offender (Mohammed Rosli) on the other hand, not even a single name was mentioned throughout the entire coverage. This plainly shows that Astro Awani was not being ethically fair to both parties of the case because when someone’s name is revealed, in fact, it technically endangers the person’s position too. However, both names were revealed according to the coverage made by Daily Mail.
Table 1: the table shows certain info and taken a passage from the article that was reported by Astro Awani which shows a different standard given by them towards Bushney and Mohammed Rosli where only the victim’s name and information was revealed.
Propaganda
One of the things that many news agencies always fail to ‘keep an eye’ onto is to prevent from any sense of a ‘hoop-la’. Why? Because audience loves it when seasoning and flavour are added to the stories.
On November, 15 2014, Astro Awani posted a news article entitled ‘Keluarga bekas pramugara MAS didakwa lakukan serangan seksual rayu bantuan’ shows more sympathy for Mohammed Rosli where they interviewed his daughter and son in law.
…“Kami semua merindui sangat bapa kami dan tidak tahu apa lagi yang boleh kami lakukan… “Kami hanya berharap kepada mana-mana pihak yang boleh membantu kami untuk membawa balik bapa kami,” tambah Mohamad Faiq (son in law)… “Surat tersebut mengatakan bahawa MAS memberinya 60 hari untuk memfailkan rayuan terhadap keputusan itu sedangkan mereka sedia maklum bahawa bapa kami sedang dalam tahanan di Paris dan tidak berada dalam Malaysia… “MAS tidak memberikan bantuan kepada kami untuk menjejaki bapa kami. MAS meninggalkan kami dalam keadaan serba tidak tahu dan ini amat mengecewakan dan menyedihkan kami sekeluarga,” tambahnya. “Dia (bapa) telah kehilangan berat badan. Dia kelihatan sakit dan tertekan. Dia menghadapi masalah berkaitan pemakanan dan mengalami stres selain tekanan darah tinggi… “Paling menyedihkan adalah pada hari terakhir kerana kami tidak dapat berjanji kepadanya bila dia boleh pulang,” kongsi Syaza yang tidak dapat menahan kesedihan… (Syafique Shuib, 2014).
Apart from that, Astro Awani also posted a news article which reported that Bushney had been deprecated on social media. Together with the news, Astro Awani attached few tweets that were posted by the netizens that disagreed with the entire issue of sexual assault and thought that Bushney was actually playing victim.
From the tweets, what can we digest from Astro Awani is that they had shown less professionalism in news reporting. At this point, what can we question is; are these propagandas purposely implanted so that their news would sell?
At the end of everything, we can never deny the fact that communication is the most significant part for every organisational operation as it not only functioning in connecting and interacting within the organisation itself, hence also enables people to communicate world-widely. With the existence of communication, automatically it enables ones to be reached borderless. However, the same thing also goes to media, where communication becomes a connector with one country to another. Hence to every company that sells communication like Astro Awani and Daily Mail, what they need to be aware of is that communication is actually representing who they are. For example, if they are practising and promoting good communication, it shall be a direct image of the company viewed positively among others.
Nevertheless, after a thorough glance of this issue, what can be summarised is that both of local and international news media agencies have their strengths and weaknesses moreover on the way of reporting. Local news are more to exaggerating the news to make it bombastic while international news are straight forward on the issue that they want to report even they if practice freedom of media. However, it is clear that Astro Awani is still in poor communication when it comes to reporting news to its audience.
Bibliography
Malaysiakini. (2015, December 11). 3,000 rape cases in Malaysia every year. Retrieved from Malaysiakini.com: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/322980
Syafique Shuib. (2014, November 15). Keluarga bekas pramugara MAS didakwa lakukan serangan seksual rayu bantuan. Retrieved from Astro Awani`: http://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/keluarga-bekas-pramugara-mas-didakwa-lakukan-serangan-seksual-rayu-bantuan-48465
Tamboo, L. T. (2014, August 14). Pramugara MAS ditahan polis Perancis kerana didakwa lakukan serangan seksual. Retrieved from Astro Awani: http://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/pramugara-mas-ditahan-polis-perancis-kerana-didakwa-lakukan-serangan-seksual-41909
Zika virus which is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito is not a new born disease, it was founded in decades ago when it was first identified in Uganda 1947 in monkey (WHO, 2016) before founded in humans in 1952. According to the WHO, the virus has been among the human community but was not highlighted in the media until the first large outbreak where Zika infection cases were reported from the Islands of Yap in 2007 (WHO, 2016). Yap is an island group in the Western Pacific that is part of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Since then, the virus spread explosively, to other Pacific Islands before it landed in Brazil, and from there spreading rapidly to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean (Teh, 2016). The outbreak of Zika virus began in Brazil in April 2015 which later spread to South and Central America and then the Caribbean Island (Teh, 2016).
Several countries around the globe were experiencing Zika virus outbreaks. In January 2016, a level 2 travel alert was imposed for people travelling to regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing (Teh, 2016) especially pregnant women. The virus was spreading from one country to another, through individuals that may have been infected by virus, travelling from Zika infected nations back to their own country and others countries around the world.
A news report by Bernama on January 23, 2016, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) had said, that the virus has been reported in 23 countries over the two months since its worldwide alert in late 2015. It also said, Zika virus has spread to 13 additional countries and territories in just one month since.
Unlike a normal person, the consequences of a pregnant woman are more serious, this is because as the Zika virus infection can cause microcephaly in a small number of unborn foetus of pregnant women. According to WHO’s earlier reports, there is no evidence that pregnant women are more likely to get infected with the virus. Pregnant women with symptoms of probably infected with Zika virus are advised to seek medical attention immediately.
How Zika Virus Transmit
The Aedes mosquito-borne disease primarily is transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. This is this the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever (WHO, 2016). However, what differs Zika virus from other types of diseases carried by Aedes mosquito is it can also be transmitted through sexual intercourse.
Prevention Measures:
People can avoid mosquito bites by wearing light coloured clothes
Keep the doors, and window shut, sleeping under a mosquito net
Apply insect repellent.
Keep home surroundings clean
Keep buckets, drums, pots, gutter and used tyres empty.
Summary of Chronology of on The Spread of Zika Virus in Singapore & Malaysia
Since the large and fast moving spread of the infectious Zika Virus in 2015, the South East Asian region has been alerted on the scare. Thus the probability of the disease transmitted into close to Malaysia country was still low but not impossible, however, the Malaysian Health Ministry were prepared at any cost to face the outbreak.
BBC on May 20 reported that Singapore declared its first imported Zika case in May. A 48-year-old local who had travelled to Brazil, where the outbreak started, got infected with the disease. Likely Malaysia as well alerted its public on the matter, according to a Bernama report on that date, Malaysian Health Minister Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam, advised Malaysians not to panic following the Zika threat in Singapore. He said, it was among the first few Zika cases reported in Singapore, but was claimed as an imported and isolated case. No travel restriction was imposed between the two neighbouring nations as it situation back then was still under control and no sign of the disease spreading and not an epidemic.
However, managing the large outbreak on August 28 which was more intense and gave a different implication, the Ministry of Health in Singapore confirmed 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection in the republic, with the victim being a 47-year-old Malaysian woman living in southeastern Singapore as the city-state’s first case of a local transmission of the virus. Zika was spreading fast in Singapore, five days later, a Bernama report said 115 cases were confirmed of Zika virus infection.
Malaysia on the other hand, became a victim itself, when it first announced its first Zika infection case on September 1. According to the Bernama news report, the Malaysian Health Ministry said the victim, a woman from Klang was tested positive for the disease upon her return from Singapore a week before. Malaysia immediately became risk at high alert. The virus spread in late August alarmed the Singapore Ministry of Health did not rule out further community transmission in the country, as some of the Zika victims tested positive also live or work in other parts of Singapore (MOH, 2016).
The Malaysian Health Ministry at this level quickly took first preventive measures to conduct screenings at the main entrance into the country especially at the airports. Picking a Bernama news report on August 28, the Malaysian Health Ministry said, it would intensify monitoring at the two main entry points into Johor Bharu following the case of a Malaysian woman being infected by the Zika virus in Singapore. Quoting Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the report said, precautionary measures to be taken included distributing pamphlets on the prevention of Zika infection and placing paramedics at the entry points to examine tourists showing signs of the disease.
Seven days later, on September 7, a report by Bernama said, the first case involving a pregnant woman was confirmed in Malaysia. According to Datuk Seri S Subramaniam who made a press announcement, the 27-year-old woman’s last visit to Singapore was six months ago, but her husband commuted daily to his workplace in Geylang. Zika infection among pregnant woman created massive attention from the public and the media, and at a point, religious department came up with new guidelines on the possibility of abortion if a pregnant woman is infected with the virus which may result the child born having Guillain-Barré syndrome and other complications.
Reference
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of Health & Human Services. Retrieved on 18 Nov 2016 from
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Davies, W. (2016). Zika virus: Risk higher than first thought, say doctors. BBC News, Rio de
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Kindhauser, M.K; Allen,T.; Frank, V.; Santhana, R. & Dye, C. (2016). Zika: the origin and spread
of mosquito-borne virus. World Health Organization. Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved on
18 Nov 2016 from http://www.who.int/bulletin/online_first/16-171082/en/
No Need To Panic, Zika Virus Infection In Singapore An Isolated Case- Dr S. Subramaniam.
(2016). Bernama.com, 20 May, retrieved on 20 Nov 2016 from
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Malaysia Reports First Zika Virus Case.(2016). Bernama.com, 1 Sept, retrieved on 18 Nov 2016
From http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/newsindex.php?id=1278573
Malaysia Reports First Zika Case Involving Pregnant Woman (2016). Bernama.com, 7 Sept,
retrieved on 18 Nov 2016 from
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Singapore Confirms 41 Cases Of Locally Transmitted Zika Virus Infection. 2016. Bernama.com,
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According to Merriam-Webster, anti-vaccine is defined as an opposed to the use of vaccines where a handful parents and anti-vaccine activists told lawmakers on the House Health and Human Services Committee that they believe vaccines are responsible for countless cases of autism, learning disabilities and death.
The anti-vaccination movement is a loose organised conspiracy theorist subculture which blames the medical practice of vaccinations for a wide range of health problems.
The movement, to a large majority led by people with no medical or scientific qualifications, is based largely on alleged short and long term side effects of vaccination. Since the argument is made that vaccines are deadly poisons, the anti-vaccination movement fails to gain traction outside social media, then by necessity they argue that some kind of cover up must take place that the vaccines serve an agenda.
According to Free Malaysia Today, there are recent reports about new cases of diphtheria in Malaysia and it raised serious concerns about the anti-vaccine movement in Malaysia. It was reported that a two-year-old boy from Kedah and a seven-year-old girl from Malacca died from diphtheria. The number of children who came in close contact with the deceased has been suspected of the disease.
The two deaths related to diphtheria have alarmed the medical community in Malaysia as diphtheria is a disease caused by bacteria from an unhealthy environment and can be prevented through immunisation. Such cases seem to indicate the growing of anti-vaccine movement in Malaysia and it has become an issue of concern.
As stated in BBC News, the news coverage on anti-vaccine movement are more largely reported in international prospect and the point of perspective are also different compared to local news agency.
Some Malaysian parents have expressed their fears of side effects and links to autism. Andrew Wakefield, who is dubbed as the ‘Father of Anti-Vaccine Movement’, allegedly found links to autism to childhood vaccines but his study was retracted in 2010 after it was proven to be an “elaborate fraud”. However, even when many other studies have debunked these myths, some parents are still suspicious to vaccination and suspected that it may have caused autism.
According to BBC News, anti-science rhetoric has serious consequences for society. The rants on social media to the belief that vaccines cause autism, scientific ignorance takes on a variety of frustrating forms.
The people who choose not to vaccinate their children have a misguided belief that vaccines contain DNA from pigs, making the vaccines forbidden or haram for Muslim families. The rumours could have started as some vaccines on the global market are cultivated using the trypsin enzyme from pigs.
But even in these cases, scholars argue that the porcine elements are negligible that Islam allows it as it saves lives. According to Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, the consultant paediatrician and neonatologist said the oral polio vaccine was a big issue because it uses trypsin from porcine sources.
BBC News also reported on the religion sentiment that a Muslim in Asia and the East had seen “strong anti-vaccination propaganda”. The news reported that the rumours had been spread that a conspiracy to control or even harm the Muslim population was being initiated through administered vaccinations.
The anti-vaccine movement is giving diseases a second life as reported in local news. Even though Malaysia achieved low levels of vaccine-preventable diseases for diseases such as diphtheria and neonatal tetanus, these diseases have not been eradicated completely. Many of the viruses and bacteria are still circulating in this country and that is why it is important that children especially infants and young children receive the recommended immunisations on time.
The investigative reporting from The World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centres for Disease Control in the YS and the Ministry of Health of Malaysia have unequivocally stated that none of the vaccines given singularly or simultaneously causes autism.
Every propaganda from the anti-vaccine movement should be confirmed and study by all parent so they will not be manipulated by the movement. Evidence has shown that scientifically vaccine would not harm people either in autism or any other diseases. The issues on pig enzyme also being highlighted and should not be worried by the parents as it is clear from it.
Politics has always been a course of which includes the bright side and the gloomy side. It is a battle of both to the politicians. Politics is also a concerned issue in the local scene. The issue of 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal has been circulated and exposed since the year 2014. First of all, 1Malaysia Development Berhad is a strategic development company formerly known as Terengganu Investment Authority, wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. 1MDB leads market-driven initiatives to assist the Government in propelling Malaysia towards becoming a developed nation that is highly competitive in nature (1MDB.com). Its aim is to drive economic growth through joint ventures that bring foreign direct investment into Malaysia. It lays its focus on fields of energy, real estate, tourism and agribusiness (Bloomberg.com).
In Malaysia, the mainstream press mainly consists of the published newspapers that can be seen on newspaper stands. For examples Utusan Malaysia, Harian Metro and Kosmo. The three ways of reporting are reporting that are being carried out in a positive light, negative reporting and neutral journalism.
The positive reporting consists of two ways which are; showing support by direct words in their reports or non-coverage. What is meant by non-coverage? It literally means, when an issue is sensational, or more revelations or exposure have been made by the other media outlets, but some media, which mainly is the mainstream media may choose to keep silent on the arising revelations. Non-coverage and nil-reporting also constitute positive way of reporting as they choose to not touch at all on the sensitive revelations in their reports.
It has to be made known that most mainstream media outlets own a higher responsibility towards the government. It is because, they answer directly to the government and they are strictly governed by the Malaysian laws such as Defamation Act, Sedition Act, Printing Presses Publication Act, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission, and a few other related laws. They are bound to these rules and regulations.
For example, Utusan Malaysia’s article titled “1MDB jadi subjek serangan politik” clearly showed that Utusan is in favor of the government and connotes the government to be the “victim” in this scandal. Further in the article, it stated
“1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) telah menjadi bahan serangan bermotifkan politik dengan objektif untuk menjatuhkan ketua kerajaan yang dipilih secara demokrasi yang tidak pernah berlaku sebelum ini” (Utusan Online).
Translated as;
“1MDB has been the subject of attack with political motives with the sole objective to bring down the head of government that had been democratically chosen; something that has never happened before”.
Next, there is also a neutral way of reporting which is more truthful. The media does not take sides and reports it in a truthful light. The issues are not hidden, but enlightened in such way that is neutral and does not show support nor hatred. The example of media that exercises this way of reporting is Sinar Harian. The journalists tend to report the issue of 1MDB without giving their own thoughts or opinions that may be inclined toward any political parties.
Meanwhile, some media even have a negative coverage on the issue that might “polute” the thinking of the people. Some might even consider it as the hurtful truth, but it is up to the public’s acceptance to put their basis and beliefs on certain stories. For example, media tabloids such as Harakah and Suara Keadilan are clearly produced by the opposition parties, hence their style of reporting are direct, unfiltered, and sometimes extreme. They also show support towards the opposition parties and will report on any revelations and exaggerate them so as to get the most attention on the issues at hand. As a result, Harakah was sued by the Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak for defamation based on an online article by the online portal of the tabloid. Harakah failed to meet the PM’s requirements for settlement and that their failure to do so caused the case to be brought to court for trials (NSTonline, Hidir Reduan).
It has to be taken into account that the new media which is the internet plays a vital role in disseminations of information at current. As most of them are written and handled by citizen journalists with no proper journalism qualifications, most of their posts are biased and include extreme reporting.
For example, “The Sarawak Report” had been banned and blocked several times because of their abusive articles. They also face multiple civil suits against them and mostly are still on-trial. Quoted from The Guardian, Sarawak Report was blocked two weeks after the website first reported on how investigators probing the debt-laden 1MDB discovered that some US$700m allegedly made its way into Dato Seri Najib’s personal bank accounts. Dato Seri Najib, facing mounting calls to resign, has denied receiving money for his personal use. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, the country’s internet regulator, confirmed late on Sunday it had blocked Sarawak Report for reporting on what it called “unverified content” (The Guardian; Beh Lih Yi).
Because people demand to know more information about 1MDB conflict and only limited coverage can be found on mainstream media, hence it creates the urge to gain and demand more information to be released by the government. Especially opponent-biased newspapers urge the government to reveal more information or at least answer to most of the questions at rise. The government’s silent action may be caused by the fact that 1MDB scandal is a sensitive issue as it involves the goodname/ reputation of the country.
This is a totally different situation with the international media as they do not owe anything towards our government. They also exercise a free writing style and liberal in giving out their thoughts and opinions. As they are ungoverned by domestic laws, they freely report on our 1MDB issue and most shocking revelations also originated from these outside sources.
The United States, for example, is slanting left in their reporting style. This means they have become more liberal in their reporting. Conservatives have a point. Studies show mainstream media leans left, and that, as economists Tim Groseclose and Jeff Milyo have written, “an almost overwhelming fraction of journalists are liberal” (Fortune; Chris Mathhews).
On the other hand, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is among of the loudest media outlets that revealed information on the 1MDB scandal. Among others are Al-Jazeera, The Sunday Times, The Times US, ibtimesUK, The Listening Post and The Edge.
At first, WSJ revealed that 700million USD was transferred into the PM’s personal account from unknown and shady sources. It further stated that the money may have come from the funding of 1MDB which is used in an ill-manner and that the PM misused his position as the head of government to attain “silent money”.
One of the articles by WSJ include one with the title “Malaysia Leader Under Pressure From U.S. Lawsuit Over 1MDB Assets” which stated the Prime Minister Najib Razak faced fresh calls to resign Thursday after the U.S. moved to seize more than $1 billion of assets allegedly siphoned from a development fund he founded (WSJ; Jack M.W).
1MDB issue was alleged to be closely-related to Malaysia’s international debts. However, the PM on June 11, 2016 (in Sarawak speech) said our debts are much lower than of the US’, Singapore’s and Japan’s. We are pretty much in a good financial state and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are going to be a great assistance to Malaysia’s economy.
The Dubai-owned news agency, Al-Jazeera, is also loud in their revelations on 1MDB issues. Al-Jazeera had also made documentaries on sensational issues such as the murder of Altantuya, the conspiracy of the disappearance of MH 370, and not to forget on the issue of 1MDB. Some might even question the eagerness of Al-Jazeera in reporting our 1MDB issue where they even went all-out to do their reporting. Some might think Al-Jazeera might have some hidden agenda by manipulating this issue. It is because their eagerness is extreme even though the issue does not concern on their countries’ welfare or of any importance to them. The same question rises upon WSJ and its reports. Some might question their eagerness to keep on looking for information to reveal from underground sources is extreme to a point that they may have the agenda to bring down the government of Malaysia and weaken Malaysia from within.(Al-Jazeera).
If that is the thought of international media, then what do local media have in mind? It can be clearly seen that tabloid such as Harakah and Suara Keadilan had been using this issue to their advantage, so as to continuously report and open more rooms for the public to view the government negatively. As the tabloid support the opposition parties, hence this will definitely benefit the opposition leaders and politicians.
The new media which is mostly written by citizen journalists shows a more extreme kind of reporting. They also intend to create doubts in the hearts of the citizens towards the government. The internet may exist as a platform to voice out opinions, but it is used and manipulated by certain groups of people to further spread hate towards the government. Websites such as Sarawak Report and Financial Daily were even banned in July 2015 because their contents were abusive towards the Government and violated the freedom of speech under Article 13 of Malaysian Federal Constitution. They also faced defamation sues for their actions.
Yes, it has to be taken into account some media may become “loud” in order to uphold the public’s rights and feed the public of what they want. But, as we live in a country that has strict laws, they should exercise journalism Code of Ethics so as to prevent any legal suits that will just cause financial loss to them, on top of a deteriorated reputation.
There is also the most recent court case regarding the 1MDB issue. The Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur had sentenced the Parliament representative of Pandan, Rafizi Ramli with 18 months of imprisonment for the offence of revealing one page of the audit report on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad. The judge, Zulkarnain Hassan concluded the case, but it can be appealed at the Court of Appeal [PP vs Rafizi Ramli]. However, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s top leadership said the party is confident that lawyers representing its vice president Rafizi Ramli will proceed with an appeal against his sentencing at the Sessions Court (NST Online: Awaina Arbee).
In a nutshell, the 1MDB issue has attained global attention, as well as getting mixed perceptions from the local citizens. The issue has become big because 1MDB concerns on people’s money, and the controversies surrounding it from Tabung Haji savings, and buying of lands above market price, and selling them back below buying price is viewed as so worrisome by the people.
However, some media especially the western media have exaggerated the issue with more and more revealing information, sometimes obtained from invalid sources. When the issue is all on the surface; that is when it obtains more and more critiques. Legal suits by the western countries such as the civil suit by the US on our PM had also caused the issue to be more sensational. Thus, as citizens, we should limit our involvements in such controversial reporting, and do not trust 100% on each and every article we come across, especially online.
References
1MDB.com. About Us: 1MDB. n.d. 10 November 2016 <http://www.1mdb.com.my/>.
Al-Jazeera. Calls for Malaysia PM’s resignation over 1MDB scandal. 22 July 2016. 11 November 2016 <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/calls-malaysia-pm-resignation-1mdb-scandal-160721073904223.html>.
Bloomberg.com. Company Overview of 1Malaysia Development Berhad. n.d. 10 November 2016 <http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=140313786>.
CNBC News; Saheli R.C. Timeline: The twists and turns in the tale of 1MDB. 21 September 2015. 10 November 2016 <http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/21/malaysia-fund-1mdb-pm-najib-plagued-by-fraud-allegations.html>.
Fortune; Chris Mathhews. Conservatives Are Right: The Media Is Very Liberal. 2 November 2015. 11 November 2016 <http://fortune.com/2015/11/02/liberal-media/>.
NST Online: Awaina Arbee. Lawyers will appeal court decision on Rafizi, says PKR deputy president. 14 November 2016. 15 November 2016 <http://www.newsjs.com/url.php?p=http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/11/188531/lawyers-will-appeal-court-decision-rafizi-says-pkr-deputy-president>.
NSTonline, Hidir Reduan. 2016. 26 September. 10 November 2016 <ww.nst.com.my/news/2016/09/176146/pm-najib-harakah-fail-settle-1mdb-defamation-suit>.
The Guardian; Beh Lih Yi. Sarawak Report whistleblowing website blocked by Malaysia after PM allegations. 20 July 2015. 11 November 2016 <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/20/sarawak-report-whistleblowing-website-blocked-by-malaysia-over-pm-allegations>.
Utusan Online. 1MDB Jadi Subjek Serangan Politik. 22 July 2016. 10 November 2016 <http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/nasional/1mdb-jadi-subjek-serangan-politik-1.356409>.
WSJ; Jack M.W. Malaysia Leader Under Pressure From U.S. Lawsuit Over 1MDB Assets. 21 July 2016. 11 November 2016 <http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-prosecutors-1mdb-case-divides-malaysia-1469096192>.
The exclusive brand Honda currently stands as one of the top global automakers which not only provides a standout performance and comfortability, hence also costs a lot cheaper amongst its competitors. In Malaysia by far, 100,000 of cars are produced per year since 2015 as the sales have been steadily rising. However, only recently the world has been shocked by ‘airbag ruptured’ news which makes people wonder will it affect the very respectable name of Honda.
Hence, for a few years already, Honda had recalled thousands of mobile vehicles regarding on several accidents reported that had been linked with Takata airbag. However, the year 2016 doesn’t seem to be a decent year to Honda Malaysia as it involved several tragic issues. As much as it involved the lives of the loved ones, these types of accidents may defect the sales of Honda as well.
As supposed, the function of designed airbags to vehicle is mainly to inflate extremely rapidly then quickly deflate at times when crash or impact with a surface or a quick sudden deceleration and today, the problem was, many begin to worry as airbags do not work as how they should. In fact, people’s lives are at risk. Airbag is prompted by great velocity and open up at more than 200 miles per hour which are much faster than a car crash, hence due to its strong pressure could cause bodily harm. It was reported on Autos.com, children who are riding in rear-facing car seats are at the highest risk for harm from supplemental restraint system (SRS) systems.
The tense force of airbag has the ability either to break the car seat or shove on it with a great force that can lead to harm or death. Since children are regularly placed in a position of forward-facing car seats are at risk from airbag injury too, since these types of seats are a lot farther forward in the seat than an adult would normally sit. In reality, any child age below 10 should never sit in a seat equipped with an SRS system as the potential for injury is merely too high (Autos.com, 2013).
The table shows a chronology of car accident in 2016 which the drivers died because of the Takata airbag ruptured.
Since this issue involves two big brands name; Honda and Takata Corporation, the news obtained a massive coverage by local and international media. Here are a few variances that were found between these two local media Astro Awani and Reuters.
Propaganda: Does Reuters only cover on what would bring benefit to them?
We can never argue the fact that a good headline is the difference between encouraging someone to read the story and skipping over it to read something else. Hence, the entire point of a headline is initially to inform readers what the story is about and encourages them to find out more by reading the story. However, some reporters or editors have missed the entire point of headlines to what shall benefit them in return.
The table shows how Reuters only interested more on sensational stories although there are many other actual options. It seems like Reuters strives to pick issues that can provide a massive over-hyped reaction by audiences.
In the table, Astro Awani on the other hand, it was reporting stories that mattered more than just sensationalism. Based on the three headlines, Astro Awani was taking their opportunity as an informer to acknowledge and spread the right information through a right manner.
Practicality
Practicality
Many has misquoted that ‘sensationalism’ is the most important criteria that could sell their news however, what they have forgotten is the fact that informative news attract audience too. Although this may sound very cliché but mass media should minimize the damage by correcting mistakes quickly and completely. Hence every corrections of significant mistakes should be published without delay in a visible place.
In an article titled “Honda Malaysia compensates customers for Takata airbag recall” by Astro Awani; it had provided a very helpful yet informative information of hubs location of Honda in Malaysia.
Apart from that, Astro Awani also attached videos in their news which could be more than just sharing practicalities as some audience are more attracted to visuals. Apart from that, it shall bring an effective technique of disseminating news from Astro Awani to the people because people are easily attracted to visual and sound; remember last time when TV was the “in” thing?
In conclusion, what can be concluded by the news coverage made by Astro Awani, it really proves that Malaysian media is not that bad at all despite the fact that this country is still to be considered as a developing country to be compared to the coverage made by other international news agency; Reuters from England which has been established for more than 100 years. In fact, every inspection that has been carried out throughout this investigation and observation has made it clear that sometimes we as the locals would really look up on the westerners. Everything that is given by them, we always believe that it is so much better than what we already have to offer.
Reuters in other sense had used the element of sensationalism in covering the issue; however, it is essential to remember that sensationalism in the media is not always a bad thing. There are times where a story may be important to the general public but the topic is otherwise boring. Hence, to make it more exciting, the press may choose induce sensationalism in the presentation of the information that is important to the public but through the righteous procedure
Bibliography
Autos.com. (2013, October 7). The Dangers of Car Airbags. Retrieved from http://www.autos.com/: http://www.autos.com/driving-and-safety/the-dangers-of-car-airbags
The concerning refugee predicament is on its height recently as most European countries struggled to cope with refugee’s influx from the Middle East. In the midst of war, the civilian becomes victims of mass event massacre and displaced from their home. The Syrian’s civil war has displaced more than 11 million of its population, fleeing from home to seek humanitarian support from aiding countries. The conflicting war in Syria continues to be the biggest human displacement followed by Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2015 alone, the EU has settled more than 1 million refugees, where mostly seek for asylum.
Syrian civil war began from the collision between long-serving government, al-Assad family, and rebellion group. Initiates by Arab Spring uprising, people in Middle East demand for political reforms. The frustration is more likely of the government failure to achieve the long-promised economy. The successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt energised and gave hope to Syrian pro-democracy activists and many Islamist movements that were opposed by Assad’s rule. In April 2011, Syrian army attacked the demonstrators, leading the rebellion group armed themselves to fight back. This rebellion group grows combining local tribal groups, deserted militant and Jihadist, each with their own agendas.
In the other hand, battling global terrorism, these refugees are becoming the victims of judgement and discrimination of world issues which stroke some European countries due to several incidences involving Islamist extremist. Having all refugees being Muslims, while some countries welcome them with open arms, in contrary, it raises disputes on the foreign policies of migrant acceptance. It addresses the concerns of widening the risk of terrorist penetration, taking advantage from the migration, along with the on-going social problems among the local.
Since the refugee migration took place, there are several incidences and foreign policies changes in adapting this phenomenal influx. Many were criticised and pressured to give assurance to the refugees as required by The United Nations.
Media Propagation
To understand the current status of refugee crisis today, we monitored the local and international mainstream media outlets that disseminate updates and current news relating to this issue. The reflections of world views upon this matter are much likely influenced by how these media portrays the situation (Gerbner, 1999) and agreement of a particular cause. We examined two media outlets, a Malaysia’s news media, The Star and an international news media, The Guardian. In one month media monitoring is held in the month of October 2016 via online, collecting the related articles and extracting their perspective reporting upon this matter.
Malaysian Media: The Star
The Star is established by Star Media Group Berhad, formerly as Star Publication (Malaysia) Berhad, over 16 years and revamped in 2008, embracing digital news, The Star Online, integrate themselves along with readers demand, offering better access to news stories, channel and multimedia. Apart from news by local journalist, we’ve noticed that The Star subscribed to Reuters, a Russia’s based international media, for its foreign news.
It has been mixed feeling on the response of European countries providing adequate humanitarian aids for fellow refugees arrived. The Star reported the pressure build up on few European countries to fulfil the basic human need and fair treatment to all refugees. It criticised the failure of those countries to better manage the current crisis and carrying out their responsibilities as developed nation giving assistance to civilians in distressed.
ii. ISIS threat
The risk of open doors policy of refugees is the potential of extremist penetration that could jeopardise the safety of local citizen. Due to several occurrences recently in few Europe’s countries, Muslims around the world, particularly from the Middle East were stereotyped and discriminate by politician and the locals. The Star reports of few suspected Syrian refugees were wanted, adding up to the tension to aid provider’s countries. In the reports, The Star repeatedly relates Syrian refugee to agendas of strong connotation like ‘bomb’ and ‘attack’ could leave a perspective on the public readers.
iii. Restricting borders on refugees
In the period of monitoring, The Star highlights refugee migrant restriction and denial of entrance by few countries on its policies to limit refugee’s intake and deals made between governments to contain the placement of refugees that seek for asylum. The strict restriction led criticism over respective government decision not only denying their duty but also increase the risk of danger of refugees casualties, fleeing from home seeking for humanitarian aids.
For the international media, The Guardian, is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by The Scott Trust Limited which was created in 1936. In recent 2010, the Guardian has significantly developed and expanded its digital operations. Their objective is to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference.
In their reports, The Guardian constantly showcase the current situation of the Calais refugee camp and criticise the British government on its treatment of Calais’s children refugees. The Calais refugee camp is the largest refugee placement that is scheduled to be shut down due to its unavailability to occupy large amount of refugees. The demand of France government for the Britain to fulfil their duty has gained support by the media, which pressure the Britain government to uphold its humanities values over restriction of migration policies.
i. Refugees crisis management
In the midst of refugee crisis around Europe, several interest parties raise their concerns over the financial aids supports and management. The media highlights the rationale of arguments from NGO bodies to have a better plan during the crisis. They also express their frustration on international obligation in fulfilling their moral duty to provide safe havens for the victims. In several other articles, the media relevantly shares their opinion on the current management effort and how participating countries should improve.
The Guardian strongly highlights their criticism over the loss of humanities values in many westerns countries. They also constantly promoting and persuading their readers to have good humanities values in understanding the refugee hardship during these times, trying to eliminates negative perception among societies. Many concerned of the westerner’s avoidance in giving helping hands to ease the crisis and the up rise of discrimination and racism to the refugees.
Conclusion
From the observation over the month, we can see that the Malaysian media reliance of foreign media Reuters, shapes types of news and perspective of news reporting. The news focused is on the foreign government policies and ISIS updates instead of highlighting the internal problems faced by the refugees. From our view, the constant news of refugee’s rejection is the main angle of news story. The Star has very little opinion of the current situation and only reports factual policies. Apart from that, The Star most likely to report on the Syrian civil war updates in Aleppo compared to addressing the issues of refugees migration. This may due to the Malaysia’s does not highly impacted by the crisis, but The Star showed their support in condemning the on-going war.
The Guardian constantly promotes humanity values and shares an open criticism to respective countries that denied their duty on humanitarian aids. Not only spreading news, they also highlight writer’s opinion supporting the refugee’s humanitarian aid relating to local’s values and belief to reduce the tension and negative perception of the public of the current issues. In most of their article, they often discussed foreign response and reactions in welcoming the refugees. Their articles also supported by many opinion leaders in convincing their readers to understand and persuade them to give a helping hand to those in need. There has been large coverage on this issue because The Guardian, a media based in UK, is highly impacted from this crisis. Therefore, a constant coverage and advocacy is a must.
REFERENCES
2015 World Drug Report finds drug use stable, access to drug & HIV treatment still low. (n.d.). Retrieved Nov 01, 2016, from United Nation Office on Drug and Crime: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2015/June/2015-world-drug-report-finds-drug-use-stable–access-to-drug-and-hiv-treatment-still-low.html
AlJazeera. (2016, November 12). The refugee crisis and the Greeks: One year on. Retrieved from Aljazeera.com: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/inthefield/2016/11/refugee-crisis-greeks-year-161110113307707.html
Gerbner, G. (1999). Television and its viewers: Cultivation theory and research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The Guardian. (n.d.). Retrieved October 01, 2016, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/
The Star Online. (n.d.). Retrieved October 01, 2016, from The Star: http://www.thestar.com.my/
UNODC Drug Trafficking. (n.d.). Retrieved Nov 01, 2016, from United Nation Office on Drug and Crime: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/
The development of media technology has requires human to infuse the usage of media as a form of communication tools and to gain information in which will help them to improve their knowledge and skills. Moving towards modernization, many parents began introducing the use of media in their children’s lives in early age, not only to communicate, but also as learning tools that will influence, persuade and embedded various information for future use.
Children nowadays have the access of using the internet, in addition, they now have collections of smart phones, computers, game console, tablet PC and many computer-mediated communication tools. The advancement of media technologies facilitate the need of human interface in communication. The richer the media, the more effects it has on it consumer. Not only that, the hours of consumer dependency on media also contributes to the effects of media to children. With the richer media, it provides visual aids, interactive communication, and conveys information that captures the attention of children in using media.
Modern parents encounter many challenges in balancing their work and having to spend time with their kids. Therefore, turning to ‘gadget’ are the easiest way to keep their children entertain while they are away. To compensate the reduced in human face-to-face interaction between parents and their children, the media becomes their children’s
medium of companionship to satisfy their needs. These children uses the media to entertain themselves, acquiring information, building and maintaining social relationship with their family members, peer from school and form new connections from social networking sites. Children often engage with their smart phones, excessive time consumption on television and their social networking sites. Without having control, cases of obsessed with electronics are on the rise involving children are very concerning (Brown, Scharf, Bustos, Chavira & Stein, 2013).
Our children are depending on media for their development instead of human interface. The theory of Uses and Gratification Theory illustrates on how media usage comply with the need of human in acquiring information, personal and social integration and seeking the need of affection and tension release. This theory explains that the people are active in using a particular media and its users are self-aware and articulate the reasons why they use the media (West & Turner, 2014). However, in fulfilling these needs, the parent should have the responsibility to limit on what their children are consuming as it may affect their skills of human interaction in reality social situation. Face-to-face interaction should be encouraged.
The risk of disclosing private information
With easy access to the internet, at young age, we can see many children began to engage and use the social networking sites to form or maintain relationship in the virtual world. Now, a typical 7 year old have Facebook profiles, Twitter account and shares many photograph on Instagram on daily basis. Unconsciously, these children are sharing their location and vital information about their personal lives. Without guidance, this increase the risk of exposing private information to the public, jeopardising their information security and safety. Children may be not aware of their right of information and which appropriate information that are suitable to be shared to the public.
In the process of growing up, children are bound to make mistakes. Without having to know the consequences, they may disclose inappropriate information or photograph to the public, this makes them vulnerable to be discussed on public platform. Without having control of how the information are shared, cyber bullying are one of disturbing phenomenon that manipulate the information available on the internet and irresponsibly use it to bring damage to the children’s emotions and mentally. Suicidal cases among children and teen are highly record due to this sick behaviour. The Communication Privacy Management Theory explain how information can be shared and the ownership of information to determine the boundaries of private information that they are willing to share. When the children lost their ownership and control of their own information, one mistakes could lead to the turbulence of boundaries because the rules of privacy has been violated. We need to educate the children on the boundaries permeability in protecting our children safety in avoiding the public abuse.
Shapes the children’s perception and belief about the world
According to Christakis (2008), 90% of children spend large amount of time on television regularly before the age of 2 in spite of recommendation to contrary. Over time, with constant consumption of media, it effects on the children’s perception and belief about the world based on what they have been nurtured of. It can be positive or negative. Currently in Malaysia, the repetition of news reports on crime involving children are becoming regular. The on-going commentary about the situation and public campaign about children’s safety contributes to the perception of children about their surrounding environments are not safe anymore. Even though it is a good campaign to stay alert, however the negative feeling they feel in becoming the victim has shape negative perception about the world. Hence, limiting them to be optimistic and do social activities without having the risk of crime occurring.
Cultivation theory explains that the constant messages convey to the children shapes the perception about the world and society surrounds them. Through media, they will learn numerous facts on what are happening in the society (first order effect) and with these information, they will make general assumption about the condition of the world (second order effect). With heavy TV consumption, they will believe that the world is a violence place and crime will likely happen to them compared to children with light consumption (Gerbner, 1999).
Children are still in the phase of learning and developing. They can be easily influenced by what they see on the media. The media content that they consume will have a significant effect in their behaviour. While watching television, children observed the behaviour of the subject and learn to imitate the action and behaviour pattern of the person doing. The phenomena of Malaysian children imitating the behaviour of scene and dialogues from the movie ‘KL Gangster’ is one of an example of the effect of media on children. With the exposure of violence towards children, this motivates aggression and develops disturbing behaviour to society as they learn and applied it in surrounding environments. If the response from the society are encouraging and positive, they will continued with the behaviour. If the response are negative, they will learned that aggressive behaviour are not acceptable in a society.
Most minors get into crime because of negative peer influence and elements of gangsterism which are penetrating the schools. The young society perceived gangsterism as a cool and trendy behaviour, hence, increasing youth participation in gangsterism and juvenile crime totalled 7,816 cases in 2013 as compared to 3,700 cases in 2012 (Lee, 2014). In Social Cognitive Theory, it believe that people are self-organising, proactive, self-reflecting and self-regulating. Human self-development, adaptation, and changed are embedded in social systems (Bryant & Zillman, 2002). Children learned the behavioural capability through observational learning in order to perform a behaviour. They will learn on what to do and how to do it. The responses of the behaviour will determine the likelihood of continuing or discontinuing the behaviour. Resulting from positive of negative response, it will associate with the expectation of each action done.
The usage of media can be beneficial and have negative consequences at times. Parent must be responsible for their children’s welfare and development if they want to raise their child that shares the same values that the parent wanting them to. Even though parent encounter many challenging phenomenon in raising their children, the usage of media must be proportionate and adequately used parallel with the need of their children. Human need to educate themselves on the purpose of using the media and balance their technology literacy with human actual interaction. Human physical interaction contains valuable moments that build the values and belief of a child. It gives quality time and organic ways of communication. The face-to-face interaction and attention given will develop the attention of need and nurture sense of love in a family.
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