A STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET, MALAYSIAKINI.COM AND DEMOCRATISING FORCES ON THE MALAYSIAN GENERAL ELECTION 2008 Saraswathy Chinnasamy Submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of the University of Adelaide in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Media Studies) October 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………………………….…i TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………………………ii THESIS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………..iv COPYRIGHT DECLARATION…………………………………………………………….v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.......................................................................................................vi LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................. x PREFACE ................................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................... 1 Malaysia’s 2008 General Election: Improving Political Participation ................................ 1 1.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The GE2008 Context ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Malaysiakini.com ............................................................................................................. 7 1.3 Research Aims ............................................................................................................... 13 1.4 Research Questions ........................................................................................................ 14 1.5 Proposed Theoretical Frameworks ................................................................................. 14 1.6 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 15 1.6.1 Preliminary desktop research ................................................................................... 16 1.6.2 Textual Analysis ...................................................................................................... 17 1.6.3 In-depth Interviews .................................................................................................. 18 1.7 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 20 1.8 Keywords ........................................................................................................................ 23 1.9 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................................... 24 1.10 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................... 26 Background to Malaysia’s Internet Infrastructure, Regulatory Environment and the Potential for the Online Democratisation of News .............................................................. 26 2.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 26 2.1 Part One: Rapid Development of the Internet for Economic Reasons ........................... 26 2.2 Drawing Links Between Internet Penetration and Malaysiakini.com’s Growth ............ 32 2.2.1 Status of Internet Regulation in 2008 ...................................................................... 34 2.2.2 Freedom of Speech and the Press ............................................................................ 35 2.2.3 Malaysiakini.com and Mainstream Media ............................................................... 36 2.3 Part Two: Consolidating a Means for Challenging Government: Political Crisis 1998 Onwards ...................................................................................................................... 39 2.3.1 Malaysiakini.com and the Reformasi Connection ................................................... 41 2.3.2 Limitations on Content ............................................................................................ 42 2.4 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 47 A Framework for Examining Changes in Malaysian Democracy ..................................... 47 3.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 47 3.1 Defining Democracies .................................................................................................... 48 3.1.1 Malaysian Democracy Under BN Stewardship ....................................................... 51 3.1.2 Deliberative Model of Democracy .......................................................................... 57 3.2 Observable Changes in the Existing Media Landscape and BN Government’s Power 61 3.2.1 The Impact on the Media Landscape ....................................................................... 61 3.3 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 73 ii CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................... 74 Emerging Signs of Deliberative Democracy and Internet Elections .................................. 74 4.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 74 4.1 The Internet’s Potential as a Democratisation Tool ........................................................ 74 4.2 The Question of ‘Internet Elections’ .............................................................................. 77 4.3 Examples of Internet Elections in Other Countries ........................................................ 79 4.3.1 United Kingdom (UK) and the 2010 General Election ........................................... 79 4.3.2 United States (US) 2008 Presidential Election ........................................................ 82 4.3.3 Singapore: The 2006 Election .................................................................................. 85 4.4 Malaysia’s GE2008 ......................................................................................................... 88 4.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................. 102 Changes in the Existing Media Landscape and Government’s Power ............................ 102 5.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 102 5.1 Malaysiakini.com Shifting the Media Landscape ......................................................... 102 5.2 Moving Towards the Change of Government .............................................................. 111 5.2.1 Malaysiakini.com as Political Mobilisation and Resistance Tool ......................... 114 5.2.2 Malaysiakini.com’s Formative Techniques ........................................................... 117 5.2.3 Locating the Participation Group – Third Force: Malaysiakini.com’s Networking with NGOs and Civil Society Movements, Youth (including university students) and the Middle Class ................................................................................................................... 125 5.3 Contention Between the Government and Malaysiakini.com ...................................... 129 5.3.1 Internal Political Unrest Caused by Freer Reportage ............................................ 129 5.3.2 Reluctant Acceptance of INP Credibility ................................................................. 133 5.7 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 134 CHAPTER 6 .......................................................................................................................... 135 GE2008 in the Election Coverage and from the Perspectives of Media Practitioners ... 135 6.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 135 6.1 Malaysiakini.com versus Utusanmalaysia.com GE2008 reporting .............................. 135 6.2 Issues that led to public deliberation ............................................................................. 138 6.3 Responses from the Category A Respondents (Media Practitioners ) .......................... 157 6.4 Summary ......................................................................................................................