1

Watching the Watchdog 2.0 Utusan Malaysia Section 1: Coverage of Political Parties and Coalitions

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

• BN received the most coverage (20.68%), followed by DAP (9.28%) and PKR (8.84%).

20.689.28

8.846.50

6.305.19

4.493.77

3.233.03

2.662.382.31

2.062.041.96

1.410.94

0.820.60

0.420.40

0.220.120.050.000.000.000.00

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00

BN

PKR

UMNO

PAS

PBRS

PCM

IKATAN

Gagasan Sejahtera

Other

PBS

PRM

STAR

Warisan

SUPP

USNO

2

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

• Once parties/coalitions’ coverage volumes are combined, BN received the highest

level of coverage (59.52%), followed by PH (26.29%) and GS (10.01%). 1.2 Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions Figure 3: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Political Parties & Coalitions

• The Neutral tone was used the most (72%), followed by Negative (19%) and Positive

(8%).

59.52

26.29

4.19

10.01

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00

BN

PH

Independent

GS

Positive8%

Negative19%

Neutral72%

Attacked1%

3

Figure 4.1: Attacked Political Party & Coalition Coverage

• PKR received the highest coverage of Attacked tones (15.79%), with DAP and PBRS receiving (14.04%) respectively.

15.79

14.04

14.04

8.77

7.02

7.02

5.26

1.75

1.75

1.75

1.75

1.75

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00

PKR

DAP

PBRS

PPBM

IKATAN

STAR

PBB

BN

PAS

PDP

PH

AMANAH

Gagasan Sejahtera

Gerakan

MCA

MIC

PBS

PCM

PRS

PRM

PSM

SAPP

SUPP

UMNO

UPKO

Other

LDP

Warisan

USNO

4

Figure 4.2: Negative Political Party & Coalition Coverage

• DAP received the most Negative coverage (17.09%), followed by PKR (12.29%) and BN and MIC (9.61%).

17.09

12.29

9.61

9.61

3.46

2.79

2.35

2.23

2.01

1.90

1.79

1.68

1.45

1.34

1.34

1.34

1.23

1.23

1.12

0.89

0.56

0.34

0.34

0.22

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00

DAP

PKR

BN

MIC

MCA

PBRS

PBB

LDP

UMNO

Gerakan

PH

Other

PPBM

Gagasan Sejahtera

PRM

AMANAH

PAS

PDP

PCM

PBS

IKATAN

PSM

SAPP

STAR

PRS

SUPP

UPKO

Warisan

USNO

5

Figure 5.1: Positive Political Party & Coalition Coverage

• BN received the highest amount of Positive coverage (32.38%), followed by MIC (15.03%) and GS (8.29%).

32.38

15.03

8.29

7.77

4.66

4.15

3.37

2.85

2.85

2.85

2.33

2.07

1.55

1.55

1.30

0.78

0.52

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00

BN

MIC

Gagasan Sejahtera

Gerakan

PDP

PCM

PKR

MCA

PAS

UMNO

PH

DAP

PBB

PPBM

PBRS

IKATAN

PBS

PRS

PRM

PSM

SAPP

SUPP

UPKO

AMANAH

Other

LDP

Warisan

USNO

STAR

6

Figure 5.2: Neutral Political Party & Coalition Coverage

• BN received the most Neutral coverage (23.23%) followed by PKR and UMNO (8.39%).

23.23

8.39

8.39

7.38

5.96

5.92

4.38

4.12

3.45

3.45

3.03

3.00

2.70

2.06

1.80

1.57

1.42

0.86

0.67

0.49

0.37

0.15

0.11

0.07

0.07

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00

BN

PKR

UMNO

DAP

Gerakan

PAS

MIC

MCA

PBRS

PDP

IKATAN

PCM

PPBM

PH

PBB

Other

Gagasan Sejahtera

PBS

LDP

PSM

AMANAH

PRM

STAR

SAPP

Warisan

PRS

SUPP

UPKO

USNO

7

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

• PH had the highest Attacked coverage.

• BN received the highest coverage for Neutral, Positive, and Negative tones.

28.26

52.17

8.70

10.87

47.59

44.38

3.94

4.09

73.08

9.89

4.40

12.64

61.63

22.93

4.10

11.34

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00

BN

PH

Independent

GS

Neutral Positive Negative Attacked

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Section 2: Coverage of Politicians and Political Figures

2.1 Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures Figure 7: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

• Only the top five politicians are shown on this graph.

• Out of those selected, Abang Johari Tun Openg received the most mentions by a significant proportion (11.17%), followed by Mahathir Mohamad (7.23%).

Figure 8: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures: Government vs. Opposition vs. 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 PH (39%).

• There was more coverage of PH compared to BN.

11.17

7.23

7.15

6.42

5.15

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

Abang Johari Tun Openg

Mahathir Mohamad

Chow Kon Yeow

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

Anwar Ibrahim

BN35%

PH39%

GS1%

Others25%

9

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

• Only the top 5 most mentioned politicians/those who have a weightage of more than

4% are shown on this graph.

• Out of these 5, Abang Johari Tun Openg received the most coverage (8.41%), followed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (6.29%).

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

• When the mentions of individual politicians and political figures are combined and

merged into their respective coalitions, we can see that coverage is skewed towards BN (39%), which received more coverage than PH.

8.41

6.29

5.66

4.47

4.23

4.00

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00

Abang Johari Tun Openg

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Rais Hussin

Kadir Syeikh Fadzir

Chong Chieng Jen

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

BN39%

PH23%

GS5%

Others33%

10

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

• Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of politicians and political figures, the

Neutral category was used the most often (68%), followed by the Negative category (21%).

Figure 12.1: Negative Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

• In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Mahathir

Mohamad received the highest negative coverage (15.21%), followed by Abdul Rahman Dahlan (12.29%).

Figure 12.2: Attacked Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

• Ambiga Sreenavasan was attacked the most (28.57%), followed Chow Kon Yeow and

Baru Bian (14.29%).

Positive11%

Neutral68%

Negative21%

Attacked0%

15.21

12.29

11.92

8.03

7.18

5.96

4.62

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00

Mahathir Mohamad

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

Chow Kon Yeow

Anwar Ibrahim

Abang Johari Tun Openg

Azmin Ali

Mah Siew Kong

28.57

14.29

14.29

7.14

7.14

7.14

7.14

7.14

7.14

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

Ambiga Sreenevasan

Chow Kon Yeow

Baru Bian

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

Abang Johari Tun Openg

Hadi Awang

Nga Kor Ming

Husam Musa

Nur Jazlan Mohamed

11

Figure 13.1: Positive Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

• In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Anwar Ibrahim

received the most positive coverage (14.39%), followed by Abang Johari Tun Openg (12.47%).

Figure 13.2: Neutral Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

• Abang Johari Tun Openg received the most neutral coverage (12.15%), followed by

Chow Kon Yeow (6.28%).

14.39

12.47

10.55

8.63

7.67

6.24

4.32

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00

Anwar Ibrahim

Abang Johari Tun Openg

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Azalina Othman Said

Ahmad Maslan

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

Baru Bian

12.15

6.28

5.46

4.34

3.51

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00

Abang Johari Tun Openg

Chow Kon Yeow

Mahathir Mohamad

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

12

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

Overall, PH received the highest coverage for Attacked, Neutral, and Negative coverage. Others received the highest coverage for Positive coverage.

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?

• This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source.

• Najib Razak was the politician most likely to engage in attack politics (9.57%), followed by Kadir Syeikh Fadzir (7.45%).

50.96

27.45

25.71

16.67

30.94

57.46

34.51

42.86

0.00

1.22

0.79

7.14

11.99

10.88

31.03

28.57

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00

Positive

Negative

Neutral

Attacked

Positive

Negative

Neutral

Attacked

Positive

Negative

Neutral

Attacked

Positive

Negative

Neutral

Attacked

BN

PH

GS

Oth

ers

9.57

7.45

5.32

4.26

3.19

3.19

3.19

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

Najib Razak

Kadir Syeikh Fadzir

Abdul Rahman Dahlan

Muhyiddin Yassin

Salleh Said Keruak

Rais Hussin

Chong Chieng Jen

13

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

• This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source.

• Overall, Independent/Others (50%) party politicians engaged in attack politics more often than others. BN engaged in more attack politics than PH.

BN28%

PH14%

GS8%

Others50%

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Section 3: Coverage of Issues

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

Note: Non-policy issues received more coverage than Policy issues. Figure 18: Policy Issues

Note: Vision received the most coverage, followed by Economy/Development, and Education.

Policy Issues24%

Non-policy Issues76%

Vision35%

Environment1%

Economy/Development33%

Education12%

Foreign Policy9%

National Security2%

Oppressive Legislation

7%

Religion1%

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Figure 18.1: Breakdown of Vision/Policy/Programme

Note: 1Malaysia received the most coverage, followed by BN manifesto and PH welfare. Figure 18.2: Breakdown of Economy/Development Issues

Note: 1MDB received the most coverage, followed by Growth and Unemployment.

1Malaysia28%

TN506%

NEP3%

PH Welfare15%

NEM1%

Transformasi4%

BN Manifesto23%

PH Manifesto7%

GG Manifesto1%

Other12%

1MDB20%

Recession12%

Welfare5%

Unemployment12%

Poverty0%

Privatisation5%

Growth14%

FTA9%

Inflation/GST1%

Infrastructure6%

Housing6%

Other10%

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Figure 19: Non-Policy Issues

Note: Territory received the most coverage, followed by Electioneering and Ethnicity. Figure 19.1: Breakdown of Socioeconomic Sectors

Note: Middle class/professionals issues received the most coverage, followed by Plantation/estate workers and FELDA issues.

Ethnicity14%

Religion4%

Democracy & Human Rights

6%

Socioeconomic sectors

12%

Territory34%

Mudslinging3%

Gender2%

Electioneering25%

Middle class/Professionals

14%

Working class14%

Aristocracy/Monarchy1%

Civil service4%

Military and police4%

FELDA13%

Plantation/estate workers

13%

Chinese new villagers

6%

Senior Citizens/Retirees

3%

RELA/Wataniah7%

Urban1%

Rural5%

Cost of living2%

Other13%

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Figure 19.2: Breakdown of Territory Issues

Note: Kuala Lumpur received the most coverage, followed by Malacca and Labuan.

188

120

41

87

27

44

121

91

29

97

29

28

45

118

55

35

3

0

10

3

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Kuala Lumpur

Labuan

Putrajaya

Johor

Kedah

Kelantan

Malacca

Negeri Sembilan

Pahang

Perak

Perlis

Penang

Sabah

Sarawak

Selangor

Terengganu

Sarawak Independence

Sabah Independence

Bangsa Johor

Semenanjung/Sabah/Sarawak