Journal of Media and Information Warfare Vol. 5, 73 - 116, 2014 A Content Analysis of Propaganda in Harakah Newspaper *Shamsiah Abd Kadir, Ahmad Sauffiyan bin Abu Hasan Centre for Media and Information Warfare Studies (CMIWS) Faculty of Communication and Media Studies Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia *[email protected] Abstract This study aims to analyse propaganda technique used in alternative Malaysian print media, by using the ‘Harakah’ as a case study. The two objectives of this study are to identify a) the types of propaganda that are in use by Harakah to influence its readers and b) the techniques of propaganda employed by Harakah to influence its readers. Qualitative media content analysis is conducted in this study; a specialised sub-set of content analysis as well as being a well- established research methodology. Data collected is analysed to determine the frequent types and techniques of propaganda used in Harakah. Data collected are derived from the National Section of Harakah within the limits of a three- month period from February 2013 until April 2013. Each article is analysed using existing guidelines on propaganda types and techniques as recognised by the Institute of Propaganda Analysis. Results are then evaluated according ISSN 1675-1302 © 2014 Centre for Media and Information Warfare Studies, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, UiTM 73 Journal of Media and Information Warfare to the objectives of the study, based on past literature reviews and mostly, the researcher’s interpretations. The findings showed that the most frequently used type under the type category is white propaganda by 79 articles, and that card-stacking is the most frequently used technique under the technique category by 107 articles, from a total of 161 articles; hence the study aims are met. With better understanding of Harakah’s propaganda, the government could enhance its political strategies to counter the issues being played by the opposition. The Malaysian public could be nurtured to reach a level of political maturity in their thinking, with the ability to make rational, informed and better judgments on information being fed by the media. In the context of media and information warfare studies, this study could benefit future researchers who are interested in this field, with various possibilities of extensive expansion of the subject. Keywords: Harakah, media content analysis, types of propaganda and techniques of propaganda. 74 A Content Analysis of Propaganda in Harakah Newspaper 1.0 Introduction This study focuses on Harakah’s newspaper reports on the current social, political and economic issues in Malaysia. Harakah is one of the alternative media in Malaysia owned by the opposition political party, Parti Islam Semalaysia or Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS). Harakah was established in 1987 as the official newspaper of PAS. According to [1], in its early days, high confidence in good circulation revenue had made the paper to choose not to be reliant on any initial capital from its members; dealers of Harakah paid upfront instead. The decision to make the newspaper self-reliant proved justified when Harakah emerged as one of the party’s main source of income. Published twice weekly, its sale was at an average of about 75,000 copies daily by the mid-1990s. [1] further added, in 1999, as the general election came closer, the party acknowledged that in the fast-paced election campaign, the state- controlled newspapers and broadcast stations would outpace Harakah, as the paper’s publication was confined to only twice a week since its existing permit did not allow publication to be extended on a daily basis. PAS then launched the ‘Harakah Daily’ in its web-site a week prior to election-day as a way of providing feedback or counter-information on mounting inevitable assaults on PAS by the Government. Although political attacks by the Government was seen as a strategy to gain votes in the election, PAS continued to take serious steps to use the website and the Internet as new mediums to disseminate all sorts of information related to their political agenda in the 1999 elections. [1] also stated that when Harakah’s publishing license expired in February 2000, the authorities released a statement that the new licence would restrict its publications to only twice monthly, down from nine issues per month. The restrictions were a massive blow to PAS’s party revenue and constrained its ability to disseminate information in a timely manner. Subsequently, in March 2000, Harakah re-launched the HarakahDaily.net as a daily news site online, complete with web television. Editor-in-Chief of Harakah, Zulkifli Sulong, acknowledged a debt to the dozens of smaller sites that have blazed the reform path and showed the possibility of empowering Internet. For good measure, Harakah also submitted a permit application for publishing its daily newspaper, the Purnama, which was never granted. Perhaps, Harakah uses 75 Journal of Media and Information Warfare propaganda to promote the party’s agenda amongst its readers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine and identify the types and techniques of propaganda employed by Harakah. In a general context, propaganda can be seen as an appeal to the emotions rather than to the intellect. Advertising and public relations share a common propaganda technique, where the propaganda could play a role in promoting a commercial product or even shaping the perception of an organisation, person or brand. Modern propaganda can be seen as an attempt to influence opinion through the communication of ideas and values of a specific persuasive purpose. It is also consciously designed to serve the propagandist’s interests either directly or indirectly. In this case, the propaganda can be separated from information that serves to transmit the objective facts that can open the minds of the audience. Today, many people are continuously bombarded with persuasive messages on a daily basis. These persuasive messages are generally disseminated via the media, such as newspapers, television broadcasts, radio, magazines, advertisements etc. Most times, these media are cluttered with paid advertisers and organisations that put their own interests foremost in their minds. From this study’s perspective, all units behind these messages share common interests and ideas in mind, for example, a political organisation would want to convince people to concur with the message presented and accept it as their own beliefs and to reject the point of view of the “other” side. The messages are referred to as propaganda, a term denoting the use of deceptive persuasive techniques aimed at target audiences to promote the propagandists’ interests. Propaganda can be categorised according to the source and nature of the message. There are three types of propaganda, namely, white propaganda – coming from an openly identified source; black propaganda – identified as being from one source, but actually from another; and grey propaganda – one which is without any identifiable source or author [2]. As regards the techniques of propaganda, the Institute of Propaganda Analysis (IPA), a United States based organisation composed of social scientists, opinion leaders, historians, educators, and journalist, has identified seven devices that can transmit such propaganda. These are name-calling, 76 A Content Analysis of Propaganda in Harakah Newspaper glittering generality, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, card stacking and bandwagon [3]. This study uses the seven techniques recognised by the IPA as a guideline because they are simple and commonly used in propaganda materials. They also appear to be well known. Propaganda can be communicated and disseminated via a variety of mediums, including print media, such as newspapers, magazines, brochures and posters, and also via electronic media such as television, radio broadcasts, and film. According to [4], print propaganda is often communicated in the form of newspapers, especially through political newspapers owned by certain political parties and also through political cartoons and caricatures in the newspapers. A current issue discussed in the newspaper, for example, can stir up conversation about the given topic, which can also be misappropriated to intensify strain between opposing groups. Propaganda in the newspapers usually arises when there are pressures and constraints on the production of news arising from the current economies and political realities of the countries. The individual or even the overall editorial policy can identify the news in newspapers that are usually written in a piece of comment [5] . For example, the newspaper’s strength usually lies in providing an overt political bias in the news. The issue then centres on the manipulation of news that is being played up by the newspaper. Propaganda will exist when there are differences in the political agenda. The set issues that are the subjects of decision-making and debate within a given political system at any one time can be referred to as political agenda. When the mass media—the newspapers, in particular, point out a topic, the audience receiving the message will consider the topic as important [6]. According to [7], with regard to issues and sources, a high degree of convergence between different media outlets came into existence due to daily contacts between the journalists and the competitive media environment. Despite of this media influence, diverging newspaper and television political agenda had set