Chapter One

1.1 Background of the study

Newspaper can be defined as a publication printed on newsprint and distributed daily

or weekly, containing news, editorials, regular commentary by syndicated columnists,

cartoons, advertising, and other items of general interest.

The first newspaper however was said to be the Strasbourg Relation, in the early

seventeenth century. The history of newspapers is an often-dramatic chapter of the

human experience going back some five centuries. In Renaissance Europe

handwritten newsletters circulated privately among merchants, passing along

information about everything from wars and economic conditions to social customs

and "human interest" features. (Phill, Barber. 2010)

The first printed forerunners of the newspaper appeared in Germany in the late 1400's

in the form of news pamphlets or broadsides, often highly sensationalized in content.

Some of the most famous of these report the atrocities against Germans in

Transylvania perpetrated by a sadistic veovod named Vlad Tsepes Drakul, who

became the Count Dracula of later folklore. The German-language Relation aller

Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien, printed from 1605 onwards by Johann

Carolus in Strasbourg, is often recognized as the first newspaper. (Weber, Johannes,

2006)

The first English-language newspaper, Corrant out of Italy, Germany, etc., was
published in Amsterdam in 1620.

A year and a half later, Corante, or weekely newes from Italy, Germany, Hungary,

Poland, Bohemia, France and the Low Countreys was published in England by an

"N.B." (generally thought to be either Nathaniel Butter or Nicholas Bourne)

and Thomas Archer. (Stephen, Mitchel. 2006)

In Malaysia, there are newspapers in English language, Malay language, Tamil

language, Chinese and Dutch language. Examples of newspaper in English language

are The Malay Mail, The Sun, The News Strait Time, The Star and Business Time

meanwhile some of Malay newspaper are Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Sinar

Harian, Harian Metro, Kosmo, Harakah and Utusan Melayu. The examples of

newspaper in Chinese language are like Nanyang Siang Pau, Oriental Daily News and

Kwong Wah Yit Poh. The Tamil newspapers on the other hand are Tamil Nesan,

Makkal Osai and Malaysian Nanban.

Other than printed newspaper, another type of newspaper in Malaysia is the Online

Newspaper. Some of them are known as Malaysiakini, Bernama and Malaysian

Insider.

There are two types of newspaper which are the mainstream and alternative.

Alternative newspaper is more to give the public the true or real story that related with

their daily lives. As for example, in Malaysia we have Harakah, Suara Keadilan, Sinar

Harian which represents the story that related with public story or interest.

Meanwhile the Mainstream Newspaper is a newspaper organization which being

owned by board of directors and mainly served for the government of its country. As

for Malaysia, we have mainstream newspapers which are Berita Harian, Utusan

Malaysia and New Straits Times. These types of newspapers have built their own

prominent name in newspaper industry in Malaysia. The ruling party or government

in Malaysia owned most of them.

Nowadays, newspapers have become an important accessory of the breakfast table.

Newspapers give us information about the world around us. They keep the people in

touch with the changes taking place in the world. We also develop cosmopolitan

outlook because by reading newspaper we no longer think of our own town or our

country rather we think of the world as a whole. Newspapers are good source of

information because they keep us informed about the current affairs and help us to

enrich our knowledge.

As the importance of newspaper towards education youth are articles from newspaper

give facts about current affairs which may not be found in textbooks in their school,

college or university. Students learn new or unfamiliar words, expression and spelling

which add up to their vocabulary. On the other hand, newspapers provide topics that

students may use it in their conversations with friends. As the youth are educated on

social, political and economic issue when they read articles in the newspapers,

newspapers also educate both the youth and adults on the opinion and feelings of

people in the world on various issues. In addition, newspapers educate people about

news inventions, discoveries and developments in Science, Technology, Health and

Disease. When students read newspaper, they learn about different styles of writing.

Students, who read newspapers regularly, improve their reading in terms of fluency

and speed as they become familiar with a lot of words.

As for the public, newspapers provide reports on both local news and foreign news.

They provide news on crime, natural disasters, wars, the Stock Exchange, Sports, the

weather and many other issues. These news are important in the lives of many people

including the youth. Newspapers also give information on current and existing laws,
rules, regulations and bye-laws.The youth can easily obtain information on the

problems facing their country and other countries.

Newspapers in entertainment, they provide advertisement on entertainment, that is,

various forms, venue, date and time. Some students read newspapers during their free

time as a form of entertainment. Some youth also get a lot of fun from reading jokes,

poems, comics and cartoons in newspapers.

Although newspapers are advantageous in educating, informing and educating the

youth, they also have disadvantages. Some newspapers, especially private

newspapers, contain some articles that are not reliable and therefore not good or

useful for the youth. Some organizations make use of the importance of newspapers

to get profit rather than to educate and give information to people.

Therefore, this study will be focusing on the selection of Universiti Teknologi Mara

(UiTM) Shah Alam students between the alternative and mainstream newspaper to.

1.2 Problem Statement

Nowadays, the credibility of newspapers had been disputed because of some

individual who owned a newspaper company uses the newspaper as a medium to get

profit by publishing the news which is not reliable and full of sensational issue rather

than publishing useful information in order to educate the readers. As we know, the

Mainstream Newspaper was controlled by the government, it provides the accurate

information and news compare to the Alternative Newspaper which is owned by a

particular person or organization and mostly news inside the newspaper is against the

government, therefore if a student read the alternative newspaper, the possibility for

them to be one of person who against the government is high. This is because the

information provided inside the Alternative Newspaper is more likely to politic,

gossip and rumors which is uncertain credibility. The problem will occur when they

fully trust the information provided by the Alternative Newspaper without compare to

the Mainstream Newspaper to see the comparison of the news from both side.

1.3 Purpose of Study

As the name suggests newspapers are a source of news and information. In several

respects they are also a medium of communication among the peoples of the world.

Today there are hundreds of newspapers all over the world. Everywhere there is a

keen desire to learn more and more about the affairs of the world. Unfortunately, in

Malaysia there are a lot of newspapers which provided news in different angel. Other

than to analyze the importance of newspaper for students, the aim of this study is also

to see whether Alternative Newspaper report the same news as in Mainstream

Newspaper.
1.4 Objective of Study

1.4.1 To explore the importance of reading newspaper for students and to their life.

1.4.2 To identify the types of newspapers read by them

1.4.3 To describe what is the comparison between Mainstream and Alternative

Newspapers.

1.4.4 To identify whether mainstream and Alternative Newspapers report the same

news.

1.5 Research Questions

1.5.1 What are the importances of reading newspapers for students?

1.5.2 What are types of Newspaper usually read by students?

1.5.3 What is Mainstream Newspaper and Alternative Newspaper?

1.5.4 What are the different between those newspapers?

1.5.5 Are Mainstream and Alternative Newspapers report news in the same angel?

1.6 Significance of the Study

Although currently there is no concrete evidence that shows Mainstream Newspaper

is always read by the students, the finding of this study are important to identify the

selection of University Students towards both newspapers, Mainstream or Alternative.

It is important to the public, government and students themselves to know what are

the most beneficial newspaper that give accurate information.

1.7 Scope

This first study, Mainstream or Altrnative-A case study on Universiti Teknologi Mara

(UiTM) Students involved 3 types of Mainstream Newspaper which are Berita

Harian, Utusan Malaysia and News Straits Times meanwhile for the Alternative

Newspaper; it involves Harakah, Suara Keadilan and Roket. This study will be

conducted in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam on students of Faculty of

Communication and Media Studies and Faculty of Sport Science and it’s involved

with both genders. The questionnaire will be distributed randomly.