'Watching the Watchdog'

Malaysian Media Coverage of GE13

Final Individual Report: THE NEW STRAITS TIMES
15/08/13 Dr Tessa J. Houghton School of Modern Languages and Cultures Director of the Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture University of Nottingham Malaysian Campus

in collaboration with

Comments and feedback welcomed at: tessa.houghton@nottingham.edu.my 010 523 4575 or Masjaliza Hamzah Executive Officer Centre for Independent Journalism cijmalaysia@gmail.com 03-4023-0772/4024-9840

The work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Table of Contents
Executive Summary of Key Results for THE NEW STRAITS TIMES...................................................................3 Section 1: Media Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions.......................................................................... 5 1.1 Volume of Coverage of Parties & Coalitions......................................................................................... 5 Figure 1: Volume of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions.......................................................... 5 Figure 2: Volume of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other........................................................................................................................................6 1.2 Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions...............................................................................7 Figure 3: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Political Parties & Coalitions............................................7 Figure 4: Negative Political Party & Coalition Coverage .................................................................... 8 Figure 5: Positive Political Party & Coalition Coverage.........................................................................9 Figure 6: Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other.....................................................................................................................................10 Section 2: Media Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures....................................................................... 11 2.1 Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures....................................................................... 11 Figure 7: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures....................................................... 11 Figure 8: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other.....................................................................................................................................12 2.2 Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures as Sources....................................................... 13 Figure 9: Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures as Sources........................................13 Figures 10: Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures As Sources: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other..........................................................................................................14 2.3 Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures............................................................................15 Figure 11: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Politicians & Political Figures......................................15 Figure 12: Negative Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures.......................................................16 Figure 13: Positive Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures..........................................................17 Figure 14: Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other.....................................................................................................................................18 2.4 Tone of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures As Sources: Attack Politics or Negative Campaigning......................................................................................................................................................19 Figure 15: Attack Politics: Which Politicians and Political Figures Employ 'Attack Politics' Most Often?............................................................................................................................................................ 19 Figure 16: Attack Politics: Which Coalition Employs Attack Politics Most Often?..........................20 Section 3: Media Coverage of Issues.................................................................................................................21 3.1 Volume of Media Coverage of Policy Issues vs. Non-Policy Issues..................................................21 Figure 17: Coverage of Policy Issues vs. Non-Policy Issues.................................................................21 Figure 18: Media Coverage of Policy Issues......................................................................................... 22 Figure 19: Media Coverage of Non-Policy Issues................................................................................ 23 Section 4: A Brief Methodology..........................................................................................................................24 Section 5: Appendix 1 Tables.......................................................................................................................... 25 Section 6: Appendix 2 Coding Scheme......................................................................................................... 32

2 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Executive Summary of Key Results for THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Introduction Like all modern elections, it the Malaysian 13th General Election was fought primarily through the media the so-called 'watchdogs' of democracy. But how effective were Malaysian media outlets at providing fair and objective information about national politics? How well did they inform Malaysian citizens about their political environment, and thus enable them to make informed decisions about who to vote for? The Watching the Watchdog project monitored coverage from 28 media newspapers, television news broadcasts, online news sites as well as the national press agency, in four languages (English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, and Tamil); in Sabah and Sarawak as well as in Peninsular Malaysia, during the month spanning April 7th to May 7th 2013 (31 days in total). It is a collaboration between the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the Centre for Independent Journalism. The key results summarised below pertain to the individual publication addressed in this report. Key Results In scrutinising the GE13 coverage provided by The New Straits Times we found the following trends: (1) Coverage of Parties & Coalitions BN & PR received remarkably similar volumes of coverage. BN received the most positive coverage, while PR received the most negative coverage and attacks. This dichotomous trend was extremely pronounced. Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of political parties and coalitions, the neutral category was used very much the most often (92%).

(2) Coverage of Politicians and Political Figures Who is talked about the most? And how are they talked about? The volume of mention-level coverage given to politicians from both coalitions was skewed towards PR (58%). Najib Razak was the most mentioned politician, followed by Anwar Ibrahim. Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of politicians and political figures, the neutral category is used very much the most often (91%), followed by attacks. However, of the non-neutral material, much more positive coverage was given to BN politicians (91.67%), while PR politicians were given much more negative coverage (98.18%) and attacks (95.8%). Indeed, BN politicians were never attacked. Who is used as a source the most? And who engages in attack politics the most? Najib Razak (24.8%), Mahathir Mohamad (16.48%) and Muhyiddin Yassin (14.72%) were 3 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

most commonly used as sources by the media - their combined use as sources represents 56% of all source use. Due in large part to this dominance, BN politicians were used much more often as sources overall than PR politicians, who were used as sources less than 10% of the time - notably less than independent political figures. Muyhiddin Yassin (29%) was most commonly engaged in attack politics, followed by Najib Razak (22.5%), with these two politicians constituting over 50% of all attacks. Overall, BN coalition politicians engaged in attack politics vastly more often than either opposition politicians or independent politicians or political figures. (3) Policy Issues vs. Non-Policy Issues Non-Policy Issues were given more coverage than Policy Issues. The Non-Policy Issue of Socioeconomic Status was the most covered issue overall.

4 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Section 1: Media Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions

1.1 Volume of Coverage of Parties & Coalitions
Figure 1: Volume of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions

PRM 0.01 SPDP 0.09 PBB 0.19 PRS 0.19 SAPP 0.26 UPKO 0.34 PBS 0.36 SUPP 0.44 PSM 0.44 MIC 1.07 Gerakan 1.31 Other 2.07 MCA 3.29 UMNO 5.35 PKR PAS DAP PR BN 0 5

9.55 11.51 12.56 15.00 35.97 10 15 20

Volume

25

30

35

40

BN received the most coverage (35.97%), followed by PR, DAP, PAS then PKR. Refer to Table 1 for figures.

5 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Figure 2: Volume of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other

Other

2.07

Independent

0.71

PR

48.62

BN

48.60

10

20
Volume

30

40

50

60

Once parties/coalitions' coverage volumes are combined, the two major coalitions received remarkably similar volumes of coverage. Refer to Table 2 for figures.

6 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

1.2 Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions

Figure 3: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Political Parties & Coalitions

2% 3% 2% Attacked Negative Neutral Positive

92%

Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of political parties and coalitions, the neutral category was used very much the most often (92%).

7 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Figure 4: Negative Political Party & Coalition Coverage

Attacked UPKO SPDP PRM PBS PBB MIC Gerakan MCA UMNO SUPP PSM Other SAPP PRS BN PKR DAP PAS PR 0 20 40 60
Coverage Volume

Negative

80

100

120

PR was the most negatively covered (51.42%) and the most attacked (53.2%) by significant margins, followed by PAS, DAP, then PKR. Refer to Table 3 for figures.

8 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Figure 5: Positive Political Party & Coalition Coverage

Positive PRM SPDP PRS PBB SAPP UPKO PBS PSM SUPP MIC Gerakan Other MCA UMNO PKR PAS DAP PR BN 0 20 40 60
Coverage Volume

Neutral

80

100

120

140

BN received the most positive (93.66%) and neutral (26.53%) coverage by very significant margins, with the opposition coalition/parties receiving very little positive coverage at all. UMNO was the second most positively covered party (2.61%). Refer to Table 3 for figures.

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Figure 6: Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other

Positive Independent & Other Neutral Negative Attacked Positive PR Neutral Negative Attacked Positive BN Neutral Negative Attacked 0

0.00 2.93 1.21 0.56 0.37 47.05 94.74 95.26 99.63 50.02 4.05 4.18 20 40 60 80 100 120

Coverage Volume

When coalition and party coverage is combined into the two opposing coalitions, it becomes very clear that BN's coverage was very significantly positive, while PR received the most negative coverage and attacks. This dichotomous trend was extremely pronounced. It should, however, be remembered that the neutral tonal category is overwhelmingly the largest category. Refer to Table 4 for figures and below for ratios. Coverage Type Positive Neutral Negative Attacked Tonal Weighting 2% 92% 2% 3%

BN : PR 1 : 0.03 1 : 0.9 1 : 23.4 1 : 22.8

10 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Section 2: Media Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

2.1 Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures
Figure 7: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures
Rosmah Mansur Musa Aman Azmin Ali Ambiga Sreenevasan Chua Soi Lek Jeffrey Kitingan Tian Chua Liow Tiong Lai Rafizi Ramli Nurul Izzah Khalid Ibrahim Karpal Singh Muhyiddin Yassin Hadi Awang Mahathir Mohamad Nik Aziz Lim Kit Siang Lim Guan Eng Anwar Ibrahim Najib Razak 0 0.76 0.76 0.92 0.92 0.96 1.31 1.43 1.51 1.91 2.07 2.19 2.47 2.63 3.31 3.63 4.66 8.33 9.12 17.97 27.97 5 10
Coverage Volume

15

20

25

30

Only the top 20 most mentioned politicians are shown on this graph. Of these 20, Najib Razak received the most mentions by a significant proportion (27.97%), followed by Anwar Ibrahim (17.97%), then Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang, with Nik Aziz coming in with the fifth most mentions overall. Refer to Table 5 for full figures.

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Figure 8: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other

2% 39% BN PR 58% Independent/ Other

When the mentions of individual politicians and political figures are combined and merged into their respective coalitions, we can see that coverage of figures from both major coalitions is skewed towards PR (58%). Refer to Table 6 for figures.

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2.2 Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures as Sources

Figure 9: Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures as Sources

Lim Kit Siang Lim Guan Eng Musa Aman Anwar Ibrahim Hadi Awang Chua Soi Lek Election Commission Spokesperson Muhyiddin Yassin Mahathir Mohamad Najib Razak 0

1.29 1.29 1.71 2.06 2.48 3.74 6.85 14.72 16.48 24.80 5 10 15 20 25 30

Coverage Volume

Of the politicians and political figures tracked, Najib Razak (24.8%), Mahathir Mohamad (16.48%) and Muhyiddin Yassin (14.72%) were most commonly used as sources by the media - their combined use as sources represents 56% of all source use. This dominance flows on to the next graph which shows combined source use from each coalition across all politicians tracked. Interestingly, while Muhyiddin and Mahathir are not spoken about much, they are used as sources or allowed to speak very often. Opposition politicians were rarely used as sources. Refer to Table 7 for figures.

13 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Figures 10: Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures As Sources: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other

28% BN PR Independent/Other 9%

62%

Politicians from BN were used as sources much more often (62%) than both independent political figures and PR, whose politicians received under 10% use as sources. Refer to Table 7 for figures.

14 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

2.3 Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Figure 11: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Politicians & Political Figures

2% 5% 2% Positive Neutral Negative Attacked 91%

Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of politicians and political figures, the neutral category is used very much the most often (91%), followed by attacks.

15 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Figure 12: Negative Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Attacked Baru Bian Alfred Jabu Abdul Rahman Dahlan Rosmah Mansur Mahathir Mohamad Chua Soi Lek Mohamad 'Mat' Sabu Azmin Ali Ambiga Sreenevasan Yong Teck Lee Tian Chua Nizar Jamaluddin Jeffrey Kitingan Khalid Ibrahim Nurul Izzah Rafizi Ramli Hadi Awang Karpal Singh Nik Aziz Lim Kit Siang Anwar Ibrahim Lim Guan Eng 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Negative

Coverage Volume

In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Lim Guan Eng received the most negative coverage (27.27%), followed by Anwar Ibrahim (23.64%), Lim Kit Siang (14.55%), Nik Aziz, then Karpal Singh. Anwar Ibrahim was most attacked (33.61%), followed by Nik Aziz (11.77%), Lim Kit Siang (10.92%), Lim Guan Eng (7.56%), then Nurul Izzah (6.72%). Notably, BN political figures were very rarely attacked and were never covered negatively. Refer to Table 8 for full figures.

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Figure 13: Positive Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Positive Baru Bian Khalid Samad Rosmah Mansur Musa Aman Azmin Ali Ambiga Sreenevasan Chua Soi Lek Jeffrey Kitingan Tian Chua Liow Tiong Lai Rafizi Ramli Nurul Izzah Khalid Ibrahim Karpal Singh Muhyiddin Yassin Hadi Awang Mahathir Mohamad Nik Aziz Lim Kit Siang Lim Guan Eng Anwar Ibrahim Najib Razak 0 20 40
Coverage Volume

Neutral

60

80

100

120

In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Najib Razak received the most positive (85%) coverage by a very significant margin all others trail by a huge margin. Najib Razak also received the most neutral coverage (28.59%), followed by Anwar Ibrahim (17.4%). Refer to Table 8 for figures.

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Figure 14: Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other

Positive Independent/ Other Neutral Negative Attacked Positive PR Neutral Negative Attacked Positive BN Neutral

1.67 2.25 1.82 2.52 6.67 56.70 98.18 95.80 91.67 41.06

Negative 0.00 Attacked 0 1.68 20 40 60 80 100 120

Coverage Volume

Overall, much more positive coverage was given to BN politicians (91.67%), while PR politicians were given much more negative coverage (98.18%) and attacks (95.8%). Indeed, BN politicians were never covered negatively (hence the non-standard ratio expression below). It should, however, be remembered that the neutral tonal category is overwhelmingly the largest category. Refer to Table 9 for figures and below for ratios. Coverage Type Positive Neutral Negative Attacked Tonal Weighting 2% 91% 2% 5%

BN : PR 1 : 0.7 1 : 1.4 0 : 95.8 1 : 57

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2.4 Tone of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures As Sources: Attack Politics or Negative Campaigning
Figure 15: Attack Politics: Which Politicians and Political Figures Employ 'Attack Politics' Most Often?

Baru Bian Ambiga Sreenevasan Nazri Aziz Lim Guan Eng Taib Mahmud Hassan Ali Hadi Awang Anwar Ibrahim Musa Aman Lim Kit Siang Mahathir Mohamad Nik Aziz Chua Soi Lek Najib Razak Muhyiddin Yassin 0

0.00 0.00 0.50 0.50 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.00 3.50 4.00 5.00 22.50 29.00 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Attack Volume

This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. Muyhiddin Yassin (29%) was most commonly engaged in attack politics, followed by Najib Razak (22.5%), with these two politicians constituting over 50% of all attacks. The opposition leaders follow at a distance, with Nik Aziz registering most attacks (4%). Refer to Table 10 for figures.

19 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Figure 16: Attack Politics: Which Coalition Employs Attack Politics Most Often?

24% BN PR Independent/Other

65%

12%

This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. Overall, BN coalition politicians engaged in attack politics vastly more often than either opposition politicians or independent politicians or political figures. PR politicians were very rarely 'allowed' to attack others. Refer to Table 10 for figures.

20 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Section 3: Media Coverage of Issues

3.1 Volume of Media Coverage of Policy Issues vs. Non-Policy Issues
Figure 17: Coverage of Policy Issues vs. Non-Policy Issues

36%

Policy Issues Non-Policy Issues 64%

More coverage overall was given to Non-Policy Issues than Policy Issues. Refer to Table 11 for figures.

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Figure 18: Media Coverage of Policy Issues

8% 0% 1% 4%

Policy Issues
34% 10% Vision Policies/Programmes Environment Economy/Development Education Foreign Policy Domestic Policy, Crime & National Security Oppressive Legislation Health Religion

5%

1%

37%

Of all Policy Issues covered, the Economy & Development was given the most attention, followed by Vision Policies and Programmes, then Foreign Policy. Refer to Table 11 for figures.

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Figure 19: Media Coverage of Non-Policy Issues

16% 26%

Non-Policy Issues

13%

8%

1%

Ethnicity Religion Democracy & Human Rights Socioeconomic Status Mudslinging Gender Electioneering

8% 28%

Of all Non-Policy Issues covered, Socioeconomic Status was given the most coverage, followed by Ethnicity then Electioneering. Refer to Table 11 for figures.

23 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Section 4: A Brief Methodology

Dates analysed: 7/4/13 07/05/13 (nd = 31 days) Number of data points/references identified and analysed: ndp = 40484 Number of articles identified and analysed: na = 960 Average number of articles/day: na/d = 31 Data Collection The data was collected or 'coded' using sentence-level content analysis. A team of around 70 'coders' from all over Malaysia, from both private and public universities, and from civil society, coded their assigned media on a daily basis. Stories 'coded' were selected according to the following criteria: They were within the Malaysian news section/s of the newspapers including the front page, or were the paper's editorial (if they run one). They were from pre-defined 'Malaysian News' areas of the news websites monitored, with 'snapshots' taken at 8pm daily. They were from within the TV news broadcasts. They were more than 1/3 about the election, and were news stories as opposed to columns, opinions pieces, letters, etc (with the exception of the paper's own editorial, if present).

Within each story, category/operator references were identified and coded at the sentence level (from period to period). The 21 categories identified and their sub-categories or 'operators' are outlined in Appendix 2. These 21 categories form the 'unit of analysis' for this study. Tone (positive, negative, neutral, attacking, or attacked) was determined based on matching each reference to a media frame or frames, supportable via emotive/descriptive/subjective language/vocabulary utilised by the either the news personnel or the source being quoted/paraphrased. As such, tone is not based upon coder opinion but on linguistic data. Coders were instructed to 'code as neutral' whenever there was a lack of linguistic data to support a positive/negative/attacking/attacked frame, or whenever they were unsure/conflicted. Data Analysis The data was analysed using the open source software package GNU Octave (a multi-disciplinary mathematical data analysis programme capable of SPSS/NVIVO-level statistical analysis, as well as much higher-level mathematical analysis). Scripts were composed to count occurrences of key datacodes, as specified by the project's finite code-listing set (see Appendix 2), for every row of coded data (i.e. every reference). Where appropriate, code-count occurrences have been normalised to provide the percentage of these key-code occurrences.

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Section 5: Appendix 1 Tables

TABLE 1 Party Percentage BN 35.967 DAP 12.56 Gerakan 1.306 MCA 3.2883 MIC 1.0745 PAS 11.514 PBB 0.18525 PBS 0.36124 PKR 9.5498 PR 14.996 PRS 0.19452 PRM 0.0092627 PSM 0.44461 SAPP 0.25936 SPDP 0.092627 SUPP 0.43535 UMNO 5.3538 UPKO 0.34272 Other 2.0656 Party BN Gerakan MCA MIC PBB PBS PRS SPDP SUPP UMNO UPKO PR DAP PAS PKR PRM PSM SAPP Other TABLE 3 Parties & Coalitions BN DAP Gerakan MCA MIC PAS PBB PBS PKR PR PRS PRM PSM SAPP SPDP SUPP UMNO UPKO Other Attacked 1.9499 13.092 0 0.27855 0 16.713 0 0 12.256 53.203 0 0 0 0.27855 0 0 1.9499 0 0.27855 Negative 2.834 14.17 0 0 0 16.599 0 0 12.551 51.417 0.80972 0 0.40486 0.40486 0 0.40486 0 0 0.40486 Neutral 36.528 12.795 1.3937 3.5447 1.1614 11.513 0.20198 0.39386 9.6445 13.098 0.19188 0.010099 0.45445 0.25247 0.10099 0.45445 5.6958 0.35346 2.2117 Positive 93.657 0.37313 1.1194 0.74627 0.37313 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.37313 2.6119 0.74627 0 TOTAL 134.9689 40.43013 2.5131 4.56952 1.53453 44.825 0.20198 0.39386 34.4515 117.718 1.0016 0.010099 0.85931 0.93588 0.10099 1.23244 10.2576 1.09973 2.89511 TABLE 2 Percentage Coalition 35.967 1.306 3.2883 1.0745 0.18525 0.36124 BN 0.19452 0.092627 0.43535 5.3538 0.34272 14.996 12.56 PR 11.514 9.5498 0.0092627 0.44461 Independent 0.25936 2.0656 Other Percentage

48.601307

48.6198

0.7132327 2.0656

25 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

BN

PR

Independent & Other

TABLE 4 Attacked Negative Neutral Positive Attacked Negative Neutral Positive Attacked Negative Neutral Positive

TABLE 5 4.17835 4.32713 50.02022 99.6271 95.264 94.737 47.0505 0.37313 0.5571 1.21458 2.928719 0 Politician/Political Figure Abdul Rahman Dahlan Alfred Jabu Ambiga Sreenevasan Anwar Ibrahim Azmin Ali Baru Bian Bernard Dompok Chong Chieng Jen Chua Soi Lek Dzulkefly Ahmad Elizabeth Wong G. Palanivel Hadi Awang Hassan Ali Hishamuddin Hussein Ibrahim Ali James Masing Jeffrey Kitingan Karpal Singh Khalid Ibrahim Khalid Samad Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Liow Tiong Lai Mahathir Mohamad Maximus Ongkili Mohamad 'Mat' Sabu Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Ng Yen Yen Nik Aziz Nizar Jamaluddin Nurul Izzah Rafizi Ramli Rosmah Mansur Siti Mariah Mahmud Taib Mahmud Teresa Kok Tian Chua Tony Pua William Mawan Wong Ho Leng Wong Soon Koh Yong Teck Lee

Percentage (mention) 0 0.039841 0.91633 17.968 0.91633 0.51793 0.35857 0.079681 0.95618 0.039841 0 0.35857 3.3068 0 0.23904 0.43825 0.039841 1.3147 2.4701 2.1912 0.67729 9.1235 8.3267 1.5139 3.6255 0.039841 0.55777 2.6295 0.75697 27.968 0.35857 4.6614 0.27888 2.0717 1.9124 0.75697 0 0.47809 0.43825 1.4343 0 0.11952 0 0 0.11952

26 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Politician/Political Figure Chua Soi Lek Liow Tiong Lai Ng Yen Yen G. Palanivel Alfred Jabu Taib Mahmud Maximus Ongkili James Masing William Mawan Wong Soon Koh Abdul Rahman Dahlan Hishamuddin Hussein Mahathir Mohamad Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Bernard Dompok Chong Chieng Jen Karpal Singh Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Teresa Kok Tony Pua Wong Ho Leng Dzulkefly Ahmad Hadi Awang Khalid Samad Mohamad 'Mat' Sabu Nik Aziz Nizar Jamaluddin Siti Mariah Mahmud Anwar Ibrahim Azmin Ali Baru Bian Elizabeth Wong Jeffrey Kitingan Khalid Ibrahim Nurul Izzah Rafizi Ramli Tian Chua Ambiga Sreenevasan Hassan Ali Ibrahim Ali Rosmah Mansur Yong Teck Lee

TABLE 6 Party etc. Percentage MCA MIC PBB PBS PRS SPDP SUPP 2.82865 0.35857 0.517931 0.039841 0.039841 0.11952 0

Coalition

Percentage

BN

39.481933

UMNO

35.21901

UPKO

0.35857

DAP

20.438231

PAS

9.521981 PR 58.286772

PKR

28.32656

Bersih Independent Perkasa '1st lady' SAPP

0.91633 0 0.43825 0.75697 0.11952

Independent/Ot her

2.23107

27 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Politician/Political Figure Chua Soi Lek Mahathir Mohamad Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Nazri Aziz Taib Mahmud Anwar Ibrahim Baru Bian Hadi Awang Jeffrey Kitingan Khalid Ibrahim Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Nik Aziz Ambiga Sreenevasan Hassan Ali Vox Pop Male Vox Pop Female Public Opinion/Vox Pop General Election Commission Spokesperson

TABLE 7 Percentage (source) 3.7392 16.476 14.723 1.706 24.796 0.02337 0.79458 2.0566 0.18696 2.4772 0.07011 0.84132 1.2853 1.2853 1.075 0.16359 0.44403 11.895 4.6039 4.5104 6.8474

Coalition

Percentage

BN

62.25815

PR

9.27779

Independent

28.46432

28 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

Politician/Political Figure Abdul Rahman Dahlan Alfred Jabu Ambiga Sreenevasan Anwar Ibrahim Azmin Ali Baru Bian Bernard Dompok Chong Chieng Jen Chua Soi Lek Dzulkefly Ahmad Elizabeth Wong G. Palanivel Hadi Awang Hassan Ali Hishamuddin Hussein Ibrahim Ali James Masing Jeffrey Kitingan Karpal Singh Khalid Ibrahim Khalid Samad Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Liow Tiong Lai Mahathir Mohamad Maximus Ongkili Mohamad 'Mat' Sabu Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Ng Yen Yen Nik Aziz Nizar Jamaluddin Nurul Izzah Rafizi Ramli Rosmah Mansur Siti Mariah Mahmud Taib Mahmud Teresa Kok Tian Chua Tony Pua William Mawan Wong Ho Leng Wong Soon Koh Yong Teck Lee

TABLE 8 Attacked Negative 0 0 0 0 1.6807 0 33.613 23.636 1.6807 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.84034 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.6807 5.4545 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.2017 1.8182 3.3613 5.4545 5.8824 1.8182 0 0 7.563 27.273 10.924 14.545 0 0 0.84034 0 0 0 1.6807 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11.765 9.0909 1.6807 1.8182 6.7227 1.8182 4.2017 3.6364 0.84034 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.84034 1.8182 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.8182

Neutral 0 0.044053 0.88106 17.401 0.88106 0.57269 0.39648 0.088106 1.0132 0.044053 0 0.39648 3.4361 0 0.26432 0.48458 0.044053 1.1894 2.4229 2.0705 0.7489 8.9427 8.2819 1.63 3.8767 0.044053 0.52863 2.8634 0.837 28.59 0.39648 4.2291 0.17621 1.8943 1.8062 0.79295 0 0.52863 0.48458 1.4978 0 0.13216 0 0 0.088106

Positive 0 0 1.6667 0 1.6667 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.6667 0 1.6667 3.3333 0 0 1.6667 0 85 0 3.3333 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

29 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

BN

PR

Independent/ Other

TABLE 9 Attacked Negative Neutral Positive Attacked Negative Neutral Positive Attacked Negative Neutral Positive

1.68068 0 41.057009 91.6667 95.79794 98.1813 56.696129 6.6667 2.52104 1.8182 2.246696 1.6667

TABLE 10 Politician/Political Figure Chua Soi Lek Mahathir Mohamad Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Nazri Aziz Taib Mahmud Anwar Ibrahim Baru Bian Hadi Awang Jeffrey Kitingan Khalid Ibrahim Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Nik Aziz Ambiga Sreenevasan Hassan Ali Vox Pop Male Vox Pop Female Public Opinion/Vox Pop General Election Commission Spokesperson Percentage (source + attacking) 5 3.5 29 3 22.5 0.5 1 2.5 0 2 0 0 0.5 3 4 0 2 15 1.5 5 0 Coalition Percentage

BN

64.5

PR

12

Independent

23.5

30 THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

TABLE 11 Issues Vision Policies/Programmes Environment Economy/Development Education Foreign Policy Domestic Policy, Crime & National Security Oppressive Legislation Health Religion Ethnicity Religion Democracy & Human Rights Socioeconomic Status Mudslinging Gender Electioneering Coverage 6.432 0.20277 7.016 0.88409 1.9953 0.77865 0.15411 0.056777 1.606 8.9545 2.8794 2.8145 9.652 0.41366 4.3637 5.6696 PI/NPI Coverage

Policy Issues

19.125697

Non-Policy Issues

34.74736

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Section 6: Appendix 2 Coding Scheme

1. Politician or Political Figure (Mentioned) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 2. Abdul Rahman Dalan Alfred Jabu Ambiga Sreenevasan Anwar Ibrahim Azmin Ali Baru Bian Bernard Dompok Chong Chieng Jen Chua Soi Lek Dzulkefly Ahmad Elizabeth Wong G. Palanivel Hadi Awang Hassan Ali Hishamuddin Hussein James Masing Jeffrey Kitingan Karpal Singh Khalid Ibrahim Khalid Samad Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Liow Tiong Lai Mahathir Mohamad Maximus Ongkili Mohamad 'Mat' Sabu Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Ng Yen Yen Nik Aziz Nizar Jamaluddin Nurul Izzah Rafizi Ramli Rosmah Mansur Siti Mariah Mahmud Taib Mahmud Teresa Kok Tian Chua Tony Pua William Mawan Wong Ho Leng Wong Soon Koh Yong Teck Lee 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 3. Muhyiddin Yassin Musa Aman Najib Razak Nazri Aziz Nik Aziz Taib Mahmud Vox Pop Male Vox Pop Female Public Opinion/Vox Pop General Election Commission Spokesperson

Party or Coalition 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. BN (Barisan Nasional) DAP (Democratic Action Party) Gerakan (Malaysian People's Movement Party) MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) PAS (Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party) PBB (Parti Besaka Bumputera Bersatu) PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) PKR (People's Justice Party) PR (Pakatan Rakyat) PRS (Sarawak People's Party) PRM (Parti Rakyat Malaysia) PSM (Parti Sosialis Malaysia) SAPP (Sabah Progressive Party) SPDP (Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party) SUPP (Sarawak United People's Party) UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) UPKO (United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation)

4.

Organisations 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Bersih Community-based organisations. Democracy- or human rights-oriented organisations (excluding Bersih) Environmentally-oriented organisations Ethnicity-oriented organisations JATI Perkasa Professionals organisations Religious organisations. Trade Unions Womens' rights or issues focused organisations. Youth or student focused organisations Election Commission

Politicians or Political Figure (Used as a Source) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Ambiga Sreenevasan (Bersih) Anwar Ibrahim (PKR) Baru Bian Chua Soi Lek Hadi Awang Hassan Ali Jeffrey Kitingan Khalid Ibrahim Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Mahathir Mohamad

5.

Policy Issues 1. Vision Policies or Programmes 1. 1Malaysia 2. GTP (Government Transformation Programme) 3. ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) 4. NKRA (National Key Results Areas) 5. NEP/'Bumiputeraism'

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6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 2.

PAS's Welfare State PKR's Buku Jingga NEM (New Economic Model) 'Transformasi' BN Manifesto PR Manifesto Other

6. 7. 8.

SOSMA (Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012) Other

Health 1. 1Care 2. Other Religion 1. Apostasy 2. Islamic State 3. Hudud 4. Conversion (into Islam) 5. 'Allah' issue 6. Other

Environment 1. Deforestation/Land Rights 2. Recycling 3. Lynas 4. Polluting Industries (non-Lynas) 5. Damming Projects 6. Other Economy/Development 1. Recession 2. Welfare 3. Unemployment 4. Poverty 5. Privatisation 6. Growth/FDI 7. FTA/Globalisation 8. Inflation/Price Rises 9. Infrastructure 10. Housing 11. Other Education 1. Vernacular Schools 2. Access 3. PPSMI 4. Academic Freedom 5. System 6. PTPTN 7. Other Foreign Policy 1. Western World 2. Singapore (Mentions of) 3. Singapore (Comparison with) 4. China 5. India 6. Islamic World 7. Israel/Palestine 8. Indonesia 9. Other Domestic Policy, Crime, & National Security 1. Immigration 2. Illegals/Refugees 3. Terrorism (not Lahad Datu) 4. Crime 5. Lahad Datu Incident 6. Other Oppressive Legislation 1. ISA (Internal Security Act) 2. AUKU/UUCA (Universities and University Colleges Act 1971) 3. Sedition Act 4. PPPA (Printing Presses and Publication Act) 5. PAA (Peaceful Assembly Act 2012) 6.

9.

3.

Non-Policy Issues 1. Ethnicity 1. Malaysia 2. Chinese 3. Indian/South Asian 4. Orang Asli 5. Orang Asal, Sabah & Sarawak 6. Thai 7. Portuguese/Eurasian 8. Malay Rights 9. Other Religion 1. Islam 2. Buddhism/Taoism 3. Hinduism 4. Christianity 5. Sikhism 6. Religious Freedom (non-apostasy related) 7. Interfaith Dialogue/Unity 8. Interfaith Friction 9. Other Democracy & Human Rights 1. General Corruption 2. Electoral Corruption 3. Media Freedom 4. Electoral Reform 5. Electoral Legislation 6. 2-Party System 7. Protest/Rallies 8. Other Socioeconomic Sectors 1. Middle Class/Professionals 2. Working Class 3. Aristocracy/Monarchy 4. Civil Service 5. Military and Police 6. FELDA 7. Plantation/Estate Workers 8. Chine New Villagers 9. Senior Citizens/Retirees 10. RELA/Wataniah 11. Urban 12. Rural 13. Cost of Living

4.

2.

5.

3.

6.

4.

7.

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14. Other 7. 5. Territory 1. Kuala Lumpur 2. Labuan 3. Putrajaya 4. Johor 5. Kedah 6. Kelantan 7. Malacca 8. Negeri Sembilan 9. Pahang 10. Perak 11. Perlis 12. Penang 13. Sabah 14. Sarawak 15. Selangor 16. Terengganu 17. Sarawak Independence 18. Sabah Independence Mudslinging 1. Anwar/Sodomy 2. Altantuya 3. Rosmah 4. Penang CM 5. Selangor CM 6. NFC 7. Arms Deals 8. Psy/CNY Concert 9. Project IC 10. Taib Mahmud and Logging Expose 11. Other Gender 1. Sexuality 2. Women in politics 3. Personal/Private life 4. Womens' Issues 5. LGBT/Q 6. Appearance 7. Sexism 8. Other Electioneering 1. Event-specific Gifts 2. Handouts 3. Timely Developments 4. Election Promises 5. Baby-kissing 6. Cybertroopers/Social Media War 7. Other

8.

6.

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