Rhetoric, predictions and the March 8 political tsunami : an analysis of the pre-election coverage of the Malaysian mainstream newspapers

Abstract

The recently concluded 12th Malaysian General Election is an interesting political phenomenon. It has been dubbed as the ' political tsunami' as its result ' shocked' the whole nation. As much has been said, analysed and written about the election result, this paper is interested in looking at the coverage of the election issues during the preelection period. The paper will focus on the coverage of the 2008 general election, in which the print media gave a blanket and positive coverage to the ruling coalition BN. As one Malaysian newspaper editor remarked, the Malaysian newspapers 'behaved shamefully'. This paper will discuss the coverage of the newspapers in the context of its role in society. Should newspapers reflect the sentiments of society? The coverage of the sentiments on the ground and their predictions of the election's result were way off the mark. Why Malaysian newspapers did miss the 'political tsunami'? Or did they - taking cue from their political masters - simply dismiss it? Data collection will focus on three English newspapers (New Straits Times, The Star and The Sun) and two Malay newspapers (Berita Harian & Utusan Malaysia) in Malaysia, with analysis on the news and commentaries from the Nomination Day on 24th February to Election Day on 8th March 2008.