Watching the Watchdog 2.0

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

USNO 0.00 0.00 SAPP 0.00 0.00 PCM 0.00 0.00 PBB 0.00 0.00 UPKO 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.26 SUPP 0.26 0.39 Warisan 0.53 0.53 PRS 0.92 1.32 Gerakan 1.45 2.11 MCA 3.16 3.29 Other 3.42 5.39 UMNO 6.58 9.34 DAP 10.00 16.32 BN 26.18 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• BN received the most coverage (26.18%), followed by PH (16.32%) and DAP (10.00%).

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

GS 6.25

Independent 0.45

PH 46.13

BN 47.17

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 50.00

• Once parties/coalitions’ coverage volumes are combined, BN received the highest level of coverage (47.17%), followed by PH (46.13%) and GS (6.25%).

1.2 Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions Figure 3: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Political Parties & Coalitions Attacked Positive 2% 8% Negative 8%

Neutral 82% • The Neutral tone was used the most (82%), followed by Positive and Negative (8%).

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Figure 4.1: Attacked Political Party & Coalition Coverage

STAR 0.00 USNO 0.00 Warisan 0.00 LDP 0.00 Other 0.00 AMANAH 0.00 UPKO 0.00 SUPP 0.00 SAPP 0.00 PSM 0.00 PRM 0.00 PRS 0.00 PPBM 0.00 PH 0.00 PKR 0.00 PDP 0.00 PCM 0.00 PBS 0.00 PBRS 0.00 PBB 0.00 PAS 0.00 MIC 0.00 MCA 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 Gerakan 0.00 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.00 UMNO 20.00 DAP 20.00 BN 26.67 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• BN received the highest coverage of Attacked tones (26.67%), with DAP and UMNO sharing the rest of the coverage (20%).

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Figure 4.2: Negative Political Party & Coalition Coverage

STAR 0.00 USNO 0.00 Warisan 0.00 LDP 0.00 Other 0.00 AMANAH 0.00 UPKO 0.00 SUPP 0.00 SAPP 0.00 PSM 0.00 PRM 0.00 PRS 0.00 PPBM 0.00 PDP 0.00 PCM 0.00 PBS 0.00 PBRS 0.00 PBB 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 Gerakan 0.00 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.00 MCA 1.75 MIC 5.26 UMNO 7.02 PKR 7.02 DAP 7.02 PH 12.28 PAS 19.30 BN 24.56 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• BN received the most Negative coverage (24.56%), followed by PAS (19.30%) and PH (12.28%).

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Figure 5.1: Positive Political Party & Coalition Coverage

STAR 0.00 USNO 0.00 Warisan 0.00 LDP 0.00 Other 0.00 AMANAH 0.00 UPKO 0.00 SUPP 0.00 SAPP 0.00 PSM 0.00 PRM 0.00 PRS 0.00 PDP 0.00 PCM 0.00 PBS 0.00 PBRS 0.00 PBB 0.00 PAS 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.00 PH 1.64 MIC 1.64 PPBM 3.28 MCA 3.28 DAP 3.28 UMNO 4.92 Gerakan 4.92 PKR 6.56 BN 45.90 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 50.00

• BN received the highest amount of Positive coverage (45.90%), followed by PKR (6.56 %) and Gerakan and UMNO (4.92%).

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Figure 5.2: Neutral Political Party & Coalition Coverage

USNO 0.00 LDP 0.00 SAPP 0.00 PSM 0.00 PCM 0.00 PBRS 0.00 PBB 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 UPKO 0.16 PRM 0.16 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.16 STAR 0.32 SUPP 0.32 PDP 0.49 Warisan 0.65 PBS 0.65 PRS 1.13 Gerakan 1.30 AMANAH 1.62 MIC 1.62 MCA 3.24 PPBM 3.73 Other 4.21 PAS 4.86 UMNO 6.48 PKR 9.72 DAP 10.86 PH 18.64 BN 24.31 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• BN received the most Neutral coverage (24.31%) followed by PH (18.64%) and DAP (10.86%).

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

5.56 0.00 GS 22.92 0.00

0.54 0.00 Independent 0.00 0.00

50.00 19.57 PH 31.25 30.00

43.91 80.43 BN 45.83 70.00

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00 90.00

Neutral Positive Negative Attacked

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

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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

Mah Siew Kong 2.34

Nur Jazlan Mohamed 3.27

Muhyiddin Yassin 3.74

Najib Razak 6.23

Mahathir Mohamad 12.93

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00

• Only politicians with a coverage weightage of more than 4% are shown on this graph. • Out of those selected, received the most mentions by a significant proportion (12.93%), followed by (6.23%).

Figure 8: Volume of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other BN 18%

Others 54% PH 28%

• 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 Independent/Others (54%). • There was more coverage of PH compared to BN.

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

Liow Tiong Lai 2.88

Hishamuddin Hussein 3.31

Azmin Ali 4.80

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 7.90

Najib Razak 16.12

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00

• 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, Najib Razak received the most coverage (16.12%), followed by (7.90%).

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

Others BN 40% 41%

GS PH 1% 18% • 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 (41%). BN received more coverage than PH.

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2.3 Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures Figure 11: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Politicians & Political Figures Negative Attacked 5% 1% Positive 4%

Neutral 90% • Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of politicians and political figures, the Neutral category was used the most often (90%), followed by the Negative category (5%).

Figure 12.1: Negative Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Muhyiddin Yassin 9.38

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 9.38

Mahathir Mohamad 31.25

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00

• In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Mahathir Mohamad received the highest negative coverage (31.25%), followed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Muhyiddin Yassin (9.38%).

Figure 12.2: Attacked Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Chew Mei Fun 33.33

Mahathir Mohamad 66.67

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00

• Mahathir Mohamad was attacked the most (66.67%), followed Chew Mei Fun (33.33%).

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Figure 13.1: Positive Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Musa Aman 3.70

Abdul Rahman Dahlan 3.70

Lim Guan Eng 3.70

Chow Kon Yeow 7.41

Liow Tiong Lai 7.41

Najib Razak 22.22

Mahathir Mohamad 25.93

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Mahathir Mohamad received the most positive coverage (25.93%), followed by Najib Razak (22.22%).

Figure 13.2: Neutral Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Mah Siew Kong 2.63

Nur Jazlan Mohamed 3.68

Muhyiddin Yassin 3.68

Najib Razak 5.96

Mahathir Mohamad 11.05

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

• Mahathir Mohamad received the most neutral coverage (11.05%), followed by Najib Razak (5.96%).

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

Attacked 0.00 Neutral 55.09

Negative 50.00 Others Positive 25.93 Attacked 0 Neutral 0 GS Negative 0 Positive 0 Attacked 66.67 Neutral 27.37 PH Negative 40.63 Positive 37.04 Attacked 33.33 Neutral 17.54

BN Negative 9.38 Positive 37.04 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00

Overall, PH received the highest coverage for Attacked coverage, and had the same coverage for Positive as BN. Others received the highest coverage for Neutral and Negative 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?

Salleh Said Keruak 4.55

Nur Jazlan Mohamed 4.55

Maria Chin Abdullah 4.55

Liow Tiong Lai 4.55

Azmin Ali 9.09

Teng Chang Yeow 11.36

Najib Razak 15.91

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 27.27

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. • Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was the politician most likely to engage in attack politics (27.27%), followed by Najib Razak (15.91%).

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Figure 16: Attack Politics: Which Coalition Employs Attack Politics Most Often? Others 14%

PH 18%

BN 68%

• This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. • Overall, BN party politicians engaged in attack politics most often (68%), followed by PH (18%).

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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

Policy Issues 27%

Non-policy Issues 73%

Note: Non-policy issues was covered more than Policy issues.

Figure 18: Policy Issues

Oppressive Legislation Vision 14% 18%

National Security Environment 11% 3%

Foreign Policy 7%

Education 5% Economy/Development 42%

Note: Economy/Development was the most covered issue, followed by Vision and Oppressive Legislation.

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Figure 18.1: Breakdown of Vision/Policy/Programme TN50 NEP Transformasi 2% 3% 3%

Other 39%

BN Manifesto 45%

PH Manifesto 8%

Note: BN Manifesto received the most coverage, followed by PH Manifesto. Gagasan Manifesto received no coverage.

Figure 18.2: Breakdown of Economy/Development Issues Unemployment Recession Poverty 1% 2% 2% Privatisation Other 1% 20%

Growth 19%

Housing 11%

Inflation/GST 20%

Infrastructure 24%

Note: Infrastructure was the most covered topic, followed by Inflation/GST, and Growth.

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Figure 19: Non-Policy Issues Ethnicity 11% Democracy & Human Rights Electioneering 7% 34%

Socioeconomic sectors 12%

Gender 4%

Mudslinging 2% Territory 30% Note: Electioneering was the most covered topic, followed by Territory and Socioeconomic sectors.

Figure 19.1: Breakdown of Socioeconomic Sectors Working class 11% Other 24%

Aristocracy/Monarc Cost of living hy 4% 27% Rural 4% RELA/Wataniah 1% FELDA 2% Civil service Military and police 6% 21% Note: Aristocracy/Monarchy was the most covered issue, followed by Military and police, and the Working class.

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Figure 19.2: Breakdown of Territory Issues

Semenanjung// 11

Bangsa 0

Sabah Independence 0

Sarawak Independence 0

Terengganu 2

Selangor 34

Sarawak 9

Sabah 13

Penang 15

Perlis 2

Perak 5

Pahang 4

Negeri Sembilan 5

Malacca 9

Kelantan 5

Kedah 16

Johor 37

Putrajaya 7

Labuan 2

Kuala Lumpur 5

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Note: Johor was the territory most covered, followed by and .

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