Watching the Watchdog 2.0 Astro Awani

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 The Government 0.00 0.00 SUPP 0.00 0.00 PRS 0.00 0.00 PRM 0.39 0.39 PBB 0.39 0.39 STAR 0.59 0.59 PBS 0.59 0.59 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.59 0.79 Gerakan 0.98 1.18 AMANAH 1.38 1.38 PPBM 2.95 3.15 DAP 3.94 4.53 PKR 6.69 7.87 PH 12.80 14.17 BN 33.66 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00

• BN received the most coverage (25.90%), followed by DAP (14.19%) and PH (13.63%).

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

Independent 1.28

GS 15.74

BN 52.98

PH 30.00

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00

• Once parties/coalitions’ coverage volumes are combined, BN received the highest level of coverage (52.98%), followed by PH (30.00%) and GS (15.74 %).

1.2 Tone of Coverage of Political Parties & Coalitions Figure 3: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Political Parties & Coalitions Attacked 4% Positive 28%

Neutral 52%

Negative 16%

• The Neutral tone was used the most (52%), followed by Positive (24%) and Negative (16%).

Figure 4.1: Attacked Political Party & Coalition Coverage

STAR 0.00 USNO 0.00 The Opposition 0.00 The Government 0.00 Warisan 0.00 LDP 0.00 Other 0.00 AMANAH 0.00 UPKO 0.00 UMNO 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 MIC 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 Gerakan 0.00 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.00 MCA 8.70 BN 8.70 PAS 13.04 DAP 17.39 PKR 21.74 PH 30.43 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00

• PH was attacked the most (30.43%), followed by PKR (21.74%) and DAP (17.39%).

Figure 4.2: Negative Political Party & Coalition Coverage

STAR 0.00 USNO 0.00 The Opposition 0.00 The Government 0.00 Warisan 0.00 LDP 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 PBB 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 Gerakan 0.00 PBRS 2.30 MIC 2.30 Gagasan Sejahtera 2.30 Other 3.45 PPBM 4.60 PH 5.75 PKR 6.90 DAP 6.90 MCA 8.05 PAS 13.79 UMNO 17.24 BN 26.44 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• BN received the most negative coverage (26.44%), followed by UMNO (17.24%) and PAS (13.79%).

Figure 5.1: Positive Political Party & Coalition Coverage

STAR 0.00 USNO 0.00 The Opposition 0.00 The Government 0.00 LDP 0.00 Other 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 PBRS 0.00 PBB 0.00 MIC 0.00 IKATAN 0.00 Gerakan 0.00 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.00 Warisan 1.38 AMANAH 1.38 PBS 1.38 DAP 1.38 PPBM 2.07 MCA 2.76 PKR 4.83 UMNO 8.97 PAS 12.41 PH 13.79 BN 49.66 0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00

• BN received the most positive coverage (49.66%), followed by PH (13.79%) and PAS (12.41%).

Figure 5.2: Neutral Political Party & Coalition Coverage

USNO 0.00 The Opposition 0.00 The Government 0.00 LDP 0.00 SUPP 0.00 SAPP 0.00 PRS 0.00 PCM 0.00 PRM 0.75 PDP 0.75 PBS 0.75 PBRS 0.75 PBB 0.75 IKATAN 0.75 Gagasan Sejahtera 0.75 STAR 1.12 UPKO 1.12 PSM 1.50 Warisan 1.87 MIC 1.87 Gerakan 1.87 AMANAH 2.25 PPBM 3.75 DAP 3.75 MCA 4.12 UMNO 4.87 Other 5.24 PKR 7.12 PH 12.36 PAS 15.36 BN 26.59 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00

• BN received the most Neutral coverage (26.59%), followed by PAS (15.36%) and PH (12.36%).

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

17.05 12.08 GS 16.67 13.04

3.41 0.00 Independent 0.00 0.00

35.61 26.85 PH 25.00 69.57

43.94 61.07 BN 58.33 17.39

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00

Neutral Positive Negative Attacked

• PH received the most Attacked coverage, while BN received the most coverage for Neutral, Positive, and Negative.

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

Muhyiddin Yassin 2.38

Anwar Ibrahim 2.38

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 3.37

Mahathir Mohamad 9.52

Najib Razak 10.12

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 Coverage Volume

• Only the top 5 most mentioned politicians are shown on this graph. • Out of these 5, Najib Razak received the most mentions by a significant proportion (10.12%), followed by Mahathir Mohamad (9.52%).

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

BN 18%

Others PH 59% 22%

GS 1%

• 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 Others (59%).

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

Mahathir Mohamad 2.82

Rais Hussin 3.13

Hishamuddin Hussein 3.13

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 5.33

Najib Razak 11.91

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00

• Only the top 5 most mentioned politicians are shown on this graph. • Out of these 5, Najib Razak received the most mentions by a significant proportion (11.91%), followed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (5.33%).

Figure 10: Volume of the Use of Politicians & Political Figures As Sources: Government vs. Opposition vs. Independent/Other BN 15%

PH 17%

Others GS 66% 2%

2.3 Tone of Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures Figure 11: Raw Tonal Coverage Volume of Politicians & Political Figures Attacked Negative 2% 14%

Positive 35%

Neutral 49%

• Of all the tonal categories used in the coverage of politicians and political figures, the neutral category was used the most often (49%), followed by the positive category (35%).

Figure 12.1: Negative Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Muhyiddin Yassin 2.90

Nur Jazlan Mohamed 2.90

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 5.80

Najib Razak 15.94

Mahathir Mohamad 15.94

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00

• In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, both Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Razak received the most negative coverage (15.94%), followed by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (5.8%)

Figure 12.2: Attacked Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Anwar Ibrahim 11.11

Musa Aman 11.11

Mahathir Mohamad 44.44

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 45.00 50.00

• Mahathir Mohamad was the most attacked (44.44%), followed by both Musa Aman and Anwar Ibrahim (11.11%).

Figure 13.1: Positive Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Abang Johari Tun Openg 2.33

Anwar Ibrahim 4.07

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 5.81

Mahathir Mohamad 5.81

Najib Razak 14.53

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00

• In terms of the tone of mentions of politicians and political figures, Najib Razak received the most positive coverage (14.53%), followed by both Mahathir Mohamad and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (5.81%).

Figure 13.2: Neutral Coverage of Politicians & Political Figures

Shafie Apdal 1.67

Tian Chua 1.67

Lim Guan Eng 1.67

Anwar Ibrahim 1.67

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi 1.67

Muhyiddin Yassin 2.93

Najib Razak 4.18

Mahathir Mohamad 7.53

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00

• Mahathir Mohamad received the most neutral coverage (7.53%), followed by Najib Razak (4.18%).

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

Attacked 33.33 Neutral 66.80 Negative Others 48.61 Positive 56.40 Attacked 0.00 Neutral 0.41 GS Negative 0.00 Positive 0.58 Attacked 50.00 Neutral 22.82 PH Negative 23.61 Positive 16.86 Attacked 16.67 Neutral 9.96

BN Negative 27.78 Positive 26.16

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 70.00 80.00

Overall, Independent/ Others received the most positive, negative, and neutral coverage whereas PH received the most 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?

Tian Chua 2.86

Mahathir Mohamad 2.86

Liow Tiong Lai 2.86

Hishamuddin Hussein 2.86

Lim Guan Eng 5.71

Khairy Jamaluddin 5.71

Najib Razak 48

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 • This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. • Najib Razak was the politicians most likely to engage in attack politics (48%), followed by both Khairy Jamaluddin and Lim Guan Eng (5.71%).

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

BN 27%

Others 57%

PH 14%

GS 2%

• This graph is weighted to show attack politics as a proportion of overall use as source. • Overall, Independent/ Other parties (57%) coalition politicians engaged in attack politics more often than BN (27%) and PH (14%).

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 29%

Non-Policy Issues 71%

Note: More coverage of non-policy issues than policy issues.

Figure 18: Policy Issues

Oppressive Legislation 4% National Security Vision 11% 26%

Foreign Policy 5%

Education 5% Environment 3%

Economy/Develop ment 46%

Note: Economy/Development was the most covered, followed by Vision and National Security. No mention at all about Religion.

Figure 18.1: Breakdown of vision/Policy/Programme TN50 NEM Other 5% 3% 21% Transformasi 8%

PH Manifesto 10%

BN Manifesto 53%

Note: As expected, BN Manifesto got the most coverage, more than 5x the coverage of PH Manifesto. Gagasan Manifesto received no coverage at all.

Figure 18.2: Breakdown of Economy/Development Issues Other 1MDB Welfare 13% 3% 12% Housing 3%

Unemployment 13%

Poverty 5% Infrastructure 36% Growth 15%

Note: No coverage of GST, contrary to initial expectations. Infrastructure was the highest, followed by Growth and Unemployment

Figure 19: Non-Policy Issues Ethnicity Electioneering 7% Religion 15% 1% Gender Socioeconomic 2% sectors Mudslinging 8% 2%

Territory 65% Note: Territory was the largest, but primarily because any news piece that mentioned anyone from any territory was tagged with the “Territory” tag – so there may have been overlap of the data with other categories. Electioneering and Socioeconomic sectors were the next two most covered issues by the Astro Awani.

Figure 19.1: Breakdown of Socioeconomic Sectors Other 3% Cost of living Working class 20% 27%

Military and police 7% FELDA 3% Rural 23% Plantation/estate workers Urban 10% 7% Note: Working class and Rural sectors received the most coverage.

Figure 19.2: Breakdown of Territory Issues

Semenanjung/Sabah/Sarawak 0

Bangsa Johor 0

Sabah Independence 1

Sarawak Independence 0

Terengganu 14

Selangor 11

Sarawak 13

Sabah 28

Penang 15

Perlis 7

Perak 15

Pahang 9

Negeri Sembilan 2

Malacca 9

Kelantan 31

Kedah 29

Johor 35

Putrajaya 0

Labuan 0

Kuala Lumpur 13

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

Note: Johor, Kelantan, and Sabah were the three most covered states.