'Watching the Watchdog'

Malaysian Media Coverage of GE13

Final Individual Report: MALAYSIAKINI ENGLISH
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 MALAYSIAKINI ENGLISH.................................................................... 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

Executive Summary of Key Results for MALAYSIAKINI ENGLISH

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 Malaysiakini English, we found the following trends: (1) Coverage of Parties & Coalitions The coverage of parties and coalitions was relatively equally split between BN and PR, with a slight skew towards PR. The vast majority of the coverage of political parties and coalitions was neutral in tone (over 86%), but with regards to non-neutral material, BN received the most positive and negative coverage, while PR received the most attacks.

(2) Coverage of Politicians and Political Figures Who is talked about the most? And how are they talked about? Najib Razak was the most mentioned politician, but overall, the coverage given to politicians from both major coalitions was relatively equal. Najib Razak received the most of all kinds of coverage (positive, negative, neutral and attacked), 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 (74%) followed by attacks (12%). Overall, BN politicians received the most negative coverage and the most positive coverage, while PR and BN's politicians were attacked at very similar rates. Who is used as a source the most? And who engages in attack politics the most? Anwar Ibrahim and Najib Razak were most commonly used as sources. Apart from Najib Razak, BN politicians were very rarely used as sources.

 This is possibly linked to the barring of Malaysiakini from UMNO press conferences, as it is good journalistic practice to preferentially cite direct sources. Lim Kit Siang was most commonly quoted as engaged in attack politics, followed by Najib Razak then Lim Guan Eng. Overall, PR coalition politicians engaged in attack politics very slightly more often than BN politicians. (3) Policy Issues vs. Non-Policy Issues Non-Policy Issues were given significantly more coverage than Policy Issues. The Non-Policy Issue of Democracy & Human Rights was the most covered issue overall.

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 PRS 0.02 PBB 0.05 SPDP 0.08 UPKO 0.22 SUPP 0.41 PBS 0.42 SAPP 0.99 Gerakan 1.01 MIC 1.14 PSM 1.83 MCA Other UMNO PAS PKR DAP PR BN 0

4.54 5.33 7.54 9.02 11.98 12.91 15.09 27.39 5 10 15

Volume

20

25

30

BN received the most coverage (27.39%), followed by PR, DAP, PKR, & PAS. Refer to Table 1 for figures.

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

Other

5.33

Independent

2.83

PR

49.00

BN

42.83

10

20
Volume

30

40

50

60

Once parties/coalitions' coverage volumes are combined, PR received slightly more coverage than BN overall 49% to 43%. Refer to Table 2 for figures.

1.2 Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions

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

6%

5%3% Attacked Negative Neutral Positive

86%

Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of political parties and coalitions, the neutral category was used very much the most often (86%).

Figure 4: Negative Political Party & Coalition Coverage

Attacked UPKO SPDP PRM PRS PBB PBS SAPP PSM SUPP Other MIC Gerakan MCA DAP PKR PAS UMNO PR BN 0 10 20 30

Negative

40

50

60

70

80

Coverage Volume

BN was the most negatively covered (39.09%) and most attacked (31.57%). PR, PAS, PKR and DAP were second, fourth, fifth and sixth most negatively covered (in that order), while UMNO was third most negatively covered. PR, DAP, PAS and UMNO were second to fifth most negatively coevred, in that order, followed by PKR in sixth place. Refer to Table 3 for figures.

Figure 5: Positive Political Party & Coalition Coverage

Positive PRM PRS PBB SPDP UPKO SUPP PBS Gerakan SAPP MIC PSM MCA Other UMNO PAS PKR DAP PR BN 0 10 20 30 40

Neutral

50

60

70

80

90

Coverage Volume

BN received the most positive (57.2%) and neutral (25.36%) coverage by a significant margin, followed by PR and its constituent parties. Refer to Table 3 for figures.

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

1.14 9.25 2.27 1.02 35.23 49.94 37.52 54.58 63.64 40.81 60.21 44.40 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Coverage Volume

When coalition and party coverage is combined into the two opposing coalitions, it becomes clear that BN received the most positive and negative coverage, while PR received the most attacks. 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. Tonal Weighting 3% 86% 6% 5%

Ratio Type Positive Neutral Negative Attacked

BN : PR 1 : 0.6 1 : 1.2 1 : 0.6 1 : 1.2

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

Ambiga Sreenevasan Bernard Dompok Rafizi Ramli Jeffrey Kitingan Khalid Samad Yong Teck Lee Liow Tiong Lai Hadi Awang Nik Aziz Taib Mahmud Ibrahim Ali Muhyiddin Yassin Nurul Izzah Khalid Ibrahim Chua Soi Lek Lim Guan Eng Mahathir Mohamad Lim Kit Siang Anwar Ibrahim Najib Razak 0

0.83 0.87 1.02 1.06 1.17 1.21 1.44 1.48 1.55 1.63 2.46 2.65 3.07 3.29 3.29 5.49 6.06 9.39 16.24 27.10 5 10
Coverage Volume

15

20

25

30

Only the top 20 most mentioned politicians are shown on this graph. Out of these 20, Najib Razak received the most mentions (27.10%), followed by Anwar Ibrahim (16.24%), then Lim Kit Siang, Mahathir Mohamad, then Lim Guan Eng. Refer to Table 5 for full figures.

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

5% BN 46% 49% PR 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 was relatively equal. Refer to Table 6 for figures.

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

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

Khalid Ibrahim Ambiga Sreenevasan Mahathir Mohamad Muhyiddin Yassin Chua Soi Lek Election Commission Spokesperson Lim Kit Siang Lim Guan Eng Najib Razak Anwar Ibrahim 0

1.96 3.16 3.51 4.10 4.10 5.30 7.37 8.16 13.75 16.68 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Coverage Volume

Of the politicians and political figures tracked, Anwar Ibrahim and Najib Razak were most commonly used as sources (16.68% and 13.75%). They were followed by Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, and the EC Spokespeople (in that order). Apart from Najib Razak, BN politicians were very rarely used as sources. This is possibly linked to the barring of Malaysiakini from UMNO press conferences, as it is good journalistic practice to preferentially cite direct sources.

Refer to Table 7 for figures.

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

28%

34% BN PR Independent/Other

38%

Politicians from PR were used as sources more often (37.86%) than both independent political figures and BN, with BN politicians being used as sources the least (27.94%). Again, this is possibly linked to the barring of Malaysiakini from UMNO press conferences. It is worth noting that the distribution amongst the three key groups was still relatively equitable overall.

Refer to Table 7 for figures.

2.3 Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

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

5%

12% 8% Positive Neutral Negative Attacked

75%

Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of politicians and political figures, the neutral category is used very much the most often.

Figure 12: Negative Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Attacked Chong Chieng Jen Abdul Rahman Dahlan Jeffrey Kitingan Ambiga Sreenevasan Hadi Awang Azmin Ali Nurul Izzah Maximus Ongkili Liow Tiong Lai Hishamuddin Hussein Yong Teck Lee Tian Chua Lim Guan Eng Ibrahim Ali Lim Kit Siang Muhyiddin Yassin Chua Soi Lek Khalid Ibrahim Mahathir Mohamad Taib Mahmud Anwar Ibrahim Najib Razak 0 10 20
Coverage Volume

Negative

30

40

50

60

In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Najib Razak received the most negative coverage (26.7%) and attacks (28.31%), followed by Anwar Ibrahim (11.17% and 19.69% respectively). Taib Mahmud, Mahathir Mohamad, and Khalid Ibrahim received the third, fourth and fifth most negative coverage respectively. Lim Kit Siang, Mahathir Mohamad, and Chua Soi Lek received third, fourth and fifth most attacks respectively. Refer to Table 8 for full figures.

Figure 13: Positive Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Positive Taib Mahmud Maximus Ongkili Karpal Singh G. Palanivel Bernard Dompok Khalid Samad Jeffrey Kitingan Yong Teck Lee Rafizi Ramli Liow Tiong Lai Hadi Awang Nik Aziz Muhyiddin Yassin Khalid Ibrahim Chua Soi Lek Ibrahim Ali Nurul Izzah Mahathir Mohamad Lim Guan Eng Lim Kit Siang Anwar Ibrahim Najib Razak 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Neutral

Coverage Volume

In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Najib Razak received the most positive (42.62%) and neutral coverage (26.24%) by significant margins. Anwar Ibrahim received the second most positive and neutral coverage (18.03% and 16.3% respectively). Khalid Ibrahim received the third most positive coverage, followed by Lim Guan Eng and Lim Kit Siang. Refer to Table 8 for figures.

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 Negative Attacked 0

2.46 5.50 5.83 1.23 45.08 50.99 32.52 48.62 52.46 43.50 61.65 50.15 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Coverage Volume

Overall, BN received the most negative coverage and the most positive coverage, while PR and BN were attacked at very similar rates. 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. Tonal Weighting 5% 74% 8% 12%

Ratio Type Positive Neutral Negative Attacked

BN : PR 1 : 0.9 1 : 1.2 1 : 0.5 1:1

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?

Election Commission Spokesperson Jeffrey Kitingan Nazri Aziz Hadi Awang Taib Mahmud Khalid Ibrahim Nik Aziz Chua Soi Lek Ambiga Sreenevasan Mahathir Mohamad Muhyiddin Yassin Anwar Ibrahim Lim Guan Eng Najib Razak Lim Kit Siang 0

0.21 0.21 0.41 0.41 1.03 1.03 2.47 4.12 4.95 8.25 10.31 10.72 12.17 14.85 16.70 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Attack Volume

This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. Lim Kit Siang (16.7%) was most commonly quoted as engaged in 'attack politics', followed by Najib Razak (14.85%) and Lim Guan Eng (12.17%). Anwar Ibrahim and Muhyiddin Yassin came in at fourth and fifth place respectively. Refer to Table 10 for figures.

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

17% 39% BN PR Independent/Other 44%

This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. Overall, PR coalition politicians engaged in attack politics slightly more often than BN politicians (43.71% to 38.97%). Refer to Table 10 for figures.

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

29% Policy Issues Non-Policy Issues 71%

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

Figure 18: Media Coverage of Policy Issues

7% 27%

1% 4%

Policy Issues
18% Vision Policies/Programmes Environment Economy/Development Education Foreign Policy Domestic Policy, Crime & National Security Oppressive Legislation Health Religion

5% 5% 7% 25%

Of all policy issues covered, Vision Policies and Programmes were given the most attention, followed by the Economy & Development, then Domestic Policy, Crime & National Security. Refer to Table 11 for figures.

Figure 19: Media Coverage of Non-Policy Issues

10% 3% 28% 3%

Non-Policy Issues

12%

7%

Ethnicity Religion Democracy & Human Rights Socioeconomic Status Mudslinging Gender Electioneering

37%

Of all Non-Policy Issues covered, Democracy & Human Rights was given the most coverage, followed by Ethnicity, then Socioeconomic status. Refer to Table 11 for figures.

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 = 36353 Number of articles identified and analysed: na = 698 Average number of articles/day: na/d = 22.516 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.

Section 5: Appendix 1 Tables

TABLE 1 Party Percentage BN 27.385 DAP 12.908 Gerakan 1.0116 MCA 4.5422 MIC 1.1431 PAS 9.0238 PBB 0.050582 PBS 0.42489 PKR 11.978 PR 15.094 PRS 0.020233 PRM 0.010116 PSM 1.8311 SAPP 0.9914 SPDP 0.080931 SUPP 0.41477 UMNO 7.5367 UPKO 0.22256 Other 5.3313 Party BN Gerakan MCA MIC PBB PBS PRS SPDP SUPP UMNO UPKO PR DAP PAS PKR PRM PSM SAPP Other TABLE 2 Percentage Coalition 27.385 1.0116 4.5422 1.1431 0.050582 0.42489 BN 0.020233 0.080931 0.41477 7.5367 0.22256 15.094 12.908 PR 9.0238 11.978 0.010116 1.8311 Independent 0.9914 5.3313 Other Percentage

42.832566

49.0038

2.832616 5.3313

TABLE 3 Parties & Coalitions BN DAP Gerakan MCA MIC PAS PBB PBS PKR PR PRS PRM PSM SAPP SPDP SUPP UMNO UPKO Other Attacked 31.568 10.794 0.40733 2.444 0.81466 10.183 0 0 5.2953 28.31 0 0 0 0.20367 0 0.20367 8.9613 0 0.81466 Negative 39.092 6.9808 2.0942 5.4101 1.5707 8.726 0 0.17452 7.5044 14.311 0 0 0.52356 0.34904 0 0.8726 10.995 0 1.3962 Neutral 25.359 13.746 0.9894 4.6408 1.1425 9.1166 0.058893 0.48292 13.039 14.04 0.023557 0.011779 2.0612 1.1072 0.094229 0.36514 7.4087 0.24735 6.066 Positive 57.197 3.0303 0 2.2727 1.1364 4.9242 0 0 2.2727 25 0 0 1.1364 0 0 0 3.0303 0 0 TOTAL 153.216 34.5511 3.49093 14.7676 4.66426 32.9498 0.058893 0.65744 28.1114 81.661 0.023557 0.011779 3.72116 1.65991 0.094229 1.44141 30.3953 0.24735 8.27686

TABLE 5 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) 0.1514 0.1514 0.8327 16.238 0.6056 0.11355 0.87055 0.26495 3.293 0.1514 0.03785 0.71915 1.4762 0.11355 0.56775 2.4603 0.0757 1.0598 0.6813 3.293 1.1734 5.4883 9.3868 1.4383 6.056 0.71915 0.41635 2.6495 0.5299 27.101 0.11355 1.5519 0.757 3.0659 1.022 0.41635 0.26495 1.6276 0.34065 0.757 0.4542 0.11355 0.18925 0 1.2112

BN

PR

Independent & Other

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

44.39896 54.62559 40.812489 63.6364 54.5823 37.5222 49.9416 35.2272 1.01833 2.2688 9.246179 1.1364

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 4.84485 0.71915 1.779 0.71915 0.0757 0.11355 0

Coalition

Percentage

BN

46.1775

UMNO

37.05555

UPKO

0.87055

DAP

16.80545

PAS

5.7912 PR 48.78935

PKR

26.1927

Bersih Independent Perkasa '1st lady' SAPP

0.8327 0.11355 2.4603 0.41635 1.2112

Independent/Ot her

5.0341

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) 4.096 3.5108 4.096 0.58514 13.751 0.70217 1.1995 16.676 0.46811 1.5506 0.35108 1.9602 8.1627 7.3727 1.3166 3.1597 0 10.971 8.0749 6.6998 5.2955

Coalition

Percentage

BN

27.94061

PR

37.85799

Independent

34.2009

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 0.48544 0.30769 0 0.30769 0.48544 19.692 11.165 1.8462 0.48544 0 0 0 0 0 0.48544 6.1538 5.8252 0 0.48544 0 0 0.61538 0 1.5385 0.48544 0 0 0.30769 1.4563 0.30769 3.3981 0 0 0.30769 0.48544 0.30769 0 2.1538 8.7379 0 0 4.9231 2.4272 10.462 4.8544 0 1.4563 9.8462 9.2233 0 0.97087 0 0 3.0769 5.3398 0 0 28.308 26.699 0 0 1.2308 0 2.1538 0 2.7692 0.48544 0.30769 0 0 0.48544 0 0 1.5385 10.194 0 0 0.92308 2.4272 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.61538 1.4563

Neutral 0.15283 0.050942 0.76414 16.302 0.40754 0.15283 1.0188 0.30565 2.8018 0.15283 0.050942 0.86602 1.6811 0.15283 0.56037 2.8018 0.050942 1.2226 0.86602 2.5981 1.1717 5.9093 10.036 1.5283 5.2471 0.86602 0.56037 2.2924 0.71319 26.235 0.15283 1.8339 0.66225 3.515 1.3245 0.45848 0.30565 0.81508 0.45848 0.61131 0.61131 0.15283 0.25471 0 1.3245

Positive 0 0 0 18.033 0.81967 0 2.459 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.6393 0.81967 1.6393 0 9.0164 1.6393 6.5574 4.918 2.459 2.459 0 0 1.6393 0 42.623 0 0.81967 0 0.81967 0 0.81967 0.81967 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BN

PR

Independent/ Other

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

50.15416 61.65021 43.504454 52.45897 48.61555 32.52434 50.994092 45.08208 1.23076 5.82528 5.50175 2.45897

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) 4.1237 8.2474 10.309 0 14.845 0.41237 1.0309 10.722 0 0.41237 0.20619 1.0309 12.165 16.701 2.4742 4.9485 0 4.1237 2.268 5.7732 0.20619 Coalition Percentage

BN

38.96837

PR

43.71166

Independent

17.31959

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 4.3583 0.80379 4.0457 1.1967 0.8663 2.9204 0.57158 0.1161 1.161 11.342 2.8668 14.683 4.8852 1.3932 1.0717 3.8135 PI/NPI Coverage

Policy Issues

16.03987

Non-Policy Issues

40.0554

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 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 3. Mahathir Mohamad 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. 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

5.

Policy Issues 1. Vision Policies or Programmes 1. 1Malaysia 2. GTP (Government Transformation Programme) 3. ETP (Economic Transformation Programme)

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 2.

NKRA (National Key Results Areas) NEP/'Bumiputeraism' PAS's Welfare State PKR's Buku Jingga NEM (New Economic Model) 'Transformasi' BN Manifesto PR Manifesto Other

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

PPPA (Printing Presses and Publication Act) PAA (Peaceful Assembly Act 2012) 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 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

4.

2.

5.

3.

6.

4.

7.

12. Rural 13. Cost of Living 14. Other 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 7. 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.