The Malay press reporting race and religion in Malaysia and general election in 2013

• Main Author: Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UniversityPublications.net 2016
• Subjects: J General legislative and executive papers
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/24540/1/HSSR%205%202%202016%20401%20412.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/24540/; http://universitypublications.net/hssr/0502/html/T6H92.xml

This paper traces the political role of the Malay press from pre- to post-independence Malaysia. Malay newspapers have been championing the Malay causes in politics, economy, social and culture, however, they have been always under the influence of ruling party, Barisan Nasional (BN) and United Malay National Organisation (UMNO). The state has set the agenda for the Malay-Muslim, even to decide on the interpretation of Islam. Therefore, this paper highlights the issues of race and religion as covered by the Malay press during the 13th general election, from nomination day on 20 April 2013 until polling day on 5 May 2013. These two issues were chosen in order to understand their link to the Malay and Islamisation agenda of the state.Three newspapers were selected for this study namely Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and Sinar Harian.It is clear that all three newspapers gave special coverage for the Malays and Islam from the Sunni doctrine. In the coverage, the Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian, owned by UMNO-linked companies, were biased for the BN and UMNO which considered as the protector of Islam. They were also very critical to Pakatan Rakyat (PR), a loose coalition of the Islamic Party (PAS), People Justice Party (PKR), and Democratic Action Party (DAP) who were against each other on agenda.Sinar Harian, owned by a no-linked company to political party, however tried to balance the coverage for BN and PR and gave opportunity for both coalitions to argue and debate on the Malay and Islamic issues.It is obvious that the issues of race and religion were used by political parties especially BN to gain supports and votes in the general election.Based on the success of BN in winning the majority of Malay seats, especially in rural areas, it proves that the Malay press played a significant role in determining the election result.