INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

ENGL 4740:
Computer Applications in Language Studies
CMC Assignment
A Study on Online Newspapers
(Framework: Critical Discourse Analysis)
Discourse representation in media discourse
Nurul Syuhada Suhaila Pa Su Ya (1312334)
Nurul Asyiqin Ammaleeyna binti Samsuri (1314132)
Sofea Nabila binti Mohd Najmi (1228352)
Siti Norfazira Farhana binti Mohd Razak (1225320)
Sumarni binti Mat Zain (1226856)
Section 2
Instructor: Dr. Rozina Abdul Ghani

1.0 Introduction
Among the problem statements that we want to focus upon is whether the type of
materials published via the online platform of newspapers different from the traditional
version of newspapers. We want to identify if the amount of ideologies, or the sentence
construction is typically the same with its counterpart; the older version of newspapers.
There are a few research questions that we attempt to answer through this paper;
one of such questions is that we want to study why have the online version of newspapers
becoming more of a preference among the readers instead of the traditional version of
them. What types of ideologies have they included in their writings and how have they
used these ideologies to attract readership from the people? Below are some of the
research questions that we attempt to prove throughout the course of this research:

Are the media censoring divergent views on the issue?

Do the media publish only selective reports?

Are there any implicit ideologies in the discourse representation of the

media?

Are there any differences in the discourse used in both the opposition and
government-based newspapers when reporting the discourses of those in
power?

The purpose of our study is such that we want to analyze the advancement in the
world of online newspapers which has something to do with the level of interactivity that
it provides and how it appeals to most readers nowadays who are generally hooked on the
internet. We also want to study some of the papers focuses on the mechanics of how the

media works and the types of ideology that they incorporate in the texts. We want to
highlight the importance of application of critical discourse analysis in our everyday life
and how it helps us to better understand the many controversial texts and ideologies
represented in todays media, especially through online newspapers.
Furthermore, we also want to understand the true reason on what makes it ticks
and why has it received so much attention lately. The vast types of information that they
could find just by surfing the net, especially among the younger generation seems to have
generated one cause for why more and more people are tending to the online version of
newspaper; simply because it is easier to access through their smart phones or tablets and
most of the time, it is relatively free.
In terms of the significance of this particular study, we want to prove that the
online newspaper is a form of discourse representation in media discourse as introduced
by Fairclough. We will be looking at some online newspaper articles found from different
companies to identify the type of ideologies implemented in the readings and if they are
different than the ones in the traditional version of newspapers. Fairclough mentioned in
his study that these texts represent certain power connection and social structure that
could be found within our society nowadays; and that is exactly the aim of this study as
well.

2.0 Literature review

Interactivity plays an important role in ensuring the success of online newspapers and
is the main idea discussed in the concept of computer-mediated communication or CMC.
Other than that, it also encourages user loyalty (Varadarajan et al. 2010), and sets this
mode of CMC apart from other types of mass media (Song and Zinkhan 2008). Through
the advance of technology and the internet, many newspaper agencies can now use this
platform to channel any rough news feeds, blogs, and online version of newspapers that
will ultimately attract more readers than through the traditional form of newspapers that
we have today (Flavin and Gurrea 2009).
These online newspapers generally rely on the hypertext markup language or html to
deliver information in a more dynamic and non-traditional format that is sure to reach the
readers in a more efficient and easier way (Stromer-Galley 2004); in other words, using
html facilitates customized media messages in more ways than one (Kalyanaraman and
Sundar 2006). Moreover, online newspapers also come with impressive technological
elements, such as enabling readers to download audio and visual feeds and other
functions which help the readers to post comments or communicate with each other.
According to the latest figures, more people have turned to reading the online version
of newspapers instead of the more traditional form of newspapers (Kaye and Johnson
2004). However, despite the latest increase in favor of online newspapers, good
readership remains hard to secure when about 35% of today's online readers admit to
having only one favorite news website which is rather surprising to say the least (State of
the Media 2010). One way to resolve this issue is the need to differentiate because simply
putting news items online will not cut it anymore (Chyi and Sylvie 1998). This means,

they need to come out with interactive features like two-way communication, multimedia
items, and real-time communication function.
There seems to be a rather high preference for the online version of newspaper. It is
perhaps due to its interactive and easy access over the internet; something that appeals to
most people nowadays, especially the younger generation. As such, this conforms with
the idea that the readers will accept the online newspapers as something good and highly
interactive as there have been countless studies in the past which highlighted the need for
online skills and understanding of technology to help them cope with such advances.
Thus, it shows that such interactivity that exists in online newspapers has indeed caused
an increase in the preferences for the online version of newspaper instead of the
traditional one.

3.0 Part 2: Sample Corpora Studies on Online Newspapers

3.1 Literature review (1)
Title of research: Interactivity Perceptions and Online Newspaper Preference

Author(s): Thijs Broekhuizen (University of Groningen) and Arvid

Hoffmann (Maastricht University and Netspar).
Journal of publication: Journal of Interactive Advertising; Vol. 12 No. 2, 2012.

Problem statement: What is influencing readers to start reading online

newspapers instead of the older version of newspapers?

 Purpose of study: To examine the relevance and importance of perceived

interactivity for online newspapers.
Research questions:

a) How is perceived interactivity influencing online newspaper readers' flow

experiences and quality of information processing?
b) How can readers with lower levels of cognition and online skills benefit
from perceived interactivity through the usage of online newspapers?
Significance of study: To emphasize the importance of perceived interactivity for
online newspapers because interactivity has proved to be very vital in determining
its success (Chyi and Sylvie 1998).
Research methodology

a) Sample and Procedure

An online survey collected data from readers of a well-known Dutch newspaper that
publishes both an online and a print version. The online version contains several
interactive features, such as search engines, customizable looks, multimedia (pictures,
sound bites, videos), and an opportunity to interact with journalists and other readers. In
2010, the publisher's website ranked second among Dutch online newspapers with more
than 1.6 million unique readers per year. An e-mail invitation to participate in the survey
to a random sample of 1,500 readers produced a response of 314 usable questionnaires.
Most respondents were men (61.8%), and two-thirds were older than 35 years. More than

40% visited the website daily. A comparison of early and late respondents revealed no
significant differences in the variables of interest and thus no evidence of nonresponse
bias (Armstrong and Overton 1977).

b) Construct Measurement
The five-point Likert scales ranged from 1 ("totally disagree") to 5 ("totally agree").
Two items from Sicilia, Ruiz, and Munuera (2005) measure NFC. Two items from
Novak, Yung, and Hoffman (2000) provided the measure of online skills. Ten items
measured perceived interactivity: seven that cover the dimensions of two-way
communication, control, and responsiveness (Liu 2003) and three that address
multimedia usage and fulfillment. This study used three items from Swaminathan,
Lepkowska-White, and Rao's (1999) measure of quality of information processing. Two
items from Csikszentmihalyi (1997) gauged flow. Finally, three items assessed online
preference, that is, consumers' preference for the newspaper's online version over the
physical version.
Because the data are not multivariate normally distributed, a partial least squares
(PLS) approach is more appropriate than covariance-based structural equation modeling
techniques to analyze the data (Ringle, Wende, and Will 2005; Tenenhaus et al. 2005). As
a component-based approach, PLS does not require multivariate normality, has minimum
measurement level requirements, and is suitable for complex models (Chin, Marcolin,
and Newsted 2003).
c) Construct Validity and Reliability

All constructs have reflective indicators (Table 1), because the manifest items should
be highly correlated, and removing any item does not alter the meaning of each construct
(Jarvis, MacKenzie, and Podsakoff 2003). We measure interactivity as a second-order
construct, reflected by four dimensions, through the repeated use of manifest variables
(Kleijnen, De Ruyter, and Wetzels 2007; Tenenhaus et al. 2005). Prior to testing the
structural model, we established the measurement model. The convergent validity tests
show that for all constructs except interactivity, the average variance extracted (AVE) is
greater than .50. Table 2 indicates that the square roots of the AVEs exceed the construct
intercorrelations, in support of discriminant validity. Finally, the constructs demonstrate
sufficient reliability; the construct reliabilities are greater than .60 (Bagozzi and Yi 1988).
The assessment of potential multicollinearity according to the variable inflation factor for
each dependent variable in a set of regressions reveals a highest value of 1.08, so
multicollinearity is not an issue.
Findings
Because this study uses a single interactive website, no test can assess the moderating
effects of individual characteristics on the relationship between structural interactivity
and perceived interactivity for different websites with varying levels of interactivity.
Instead, the analysis focuses on the mean differences of one-way analyses of variance to
show how NFC and online skills moderate perceived interactivity. The mean scores of
interactivity do not vary with different levels of NFC (F(8, 306) = .88, p = .54) but do
vary by online skills (F(8, 306) = 3.56, p = .001). A general linear model indicates that
online skills positively influence (p = .001) perceived interactivity, which explains the

limited amount of variance (R2 = .09) in perceived interactivity. Thus, the results support
H2 but not H1.
The PLS test of the main effects (H3-H7) uses the statistical significance of the
structural coefficients, with a bootstrapping procedure with 500 subsamples. The test of
the moderation effects (H8-H9) uses a two-step score construction procedure (Chin,
Marcolin, and Newsted 2003). Because PLS supports an explicit estimation of latent
variable scores, this method calculates the significance of the interaction terms by
creating a new construct that consists of the multiplied indicator scores of the manifest
items of the predictor and mediator variables (Tenenhaus et al. 2005). This two-step
procedure can test many interaction effects while also correcting for measurement error
(Chin, Marcolin, and Newsted 2003).
Although PLS path modeling lacks an index for global validation of the model (Chin,
Marcolin, and Newsted 2003), Tenenhaus et al. (2005) propose a global goodness-of-fit
(GoF) criterion that can serve as a diagnostic tool. The GoF measure represents the
geometric mean of the average communality and average R-square (for endogenous

constructs):

. Wetzels, Odekerken-Schroder, and van Oppen (2009)

also formulate indicative GoF values as baseline values for global validations of a PLS
model: GoFsmall = .1, GoFmedium = .25, and GoFlarge = .36. With a GoF of .35, the proposed
model performs well compared with baseline values.
The structural results largely confirm the direct effect hypotheses, whereas the
moderation effects are either insignificant or contrary to expectations (Figure 2).
Perceived interactivity positively and significantly explains both quality of information
processing ( = .35, p < .001, H3) and flow ( = .30, p < .001, H4). Perceived

interactivity ( = .23, p < .01, H5) and quality of information processing ( = .52, p < .
001, H6), positively affect online preference, but flow has no such effect ( = -.07, p > .
10, H7).
The tests for full, partial, or no mediation of the effects of perceived interactivity on
online preferences follow the procedures of Baron and Kenny (1986). The results show
partial mediation of the effects of interactivity by quality of information processing but
not by flow. Sobel (1982) tests confirm mediation for quality of information processing
(p < .001) but not for flow (p > .10).
This study tests the moderation effects in isolation of the remaining factors of the
conceptual model. In contrast with H8a and H9a, neither NFC nor online skills
significantly affects the relationship between interactivity and flow (p > .10). However,
NFC (NFCQUALINFO = -.22, p < .001, H8b; R2 = 4.3%) and online skills ( SKILLSQUALINFO =
-.16, p < .01, H9b; R2 = 2.1%) significantly attenuate the relationship between
interactivity and quality of information processing. These significant moderation effects
are contrary to the hypothesized direction, so the results reject both H8b and H9b.

Figure 2. Structural PLS Results

Notes: The figure shows standardized coefficients. The squared multiple correlations (in
bold) appear without moderation effects. n.s. = not significantly different from 0, based
on two-sided t-tests.
* p < .05.
** p < .01.
*** p < .001.
3.2 Literature review (2)
Title of research: Online newspapers: A substitute or complement for print
newspapers and other information channels?
Author(s): Ester De Waal, Klaus Schonbach and Edmund Lauf
Journal of publication: European Journal of Communications (2006), Vol. 55.
No.
30
Problem statement: What are online newspapers useful for other than being the
counterpart of their offline version?
Purpose of study: To investigate the relation between using online newspapers
and other media channels, and look into the usefulness of online newspapers for

different types of information compared to their offline counterparts and other

information channels.
Research questions:
a) How does reading online newspapers relate to the use of other information
channels and in particular print newspapers? How does this online reading
relate a) in terms of using these media channels at all, and b) in terms of
the time spent on them?
b) What are the differences between the media use behaviors among groups
that differ in terms of age, gender, and education?
c)

What kind of information are online newspapers used for, compared to

other media channels?

Significance of study: To find out other usefulness of online newspapers for

different types of information compared to their offline counterparts and other
information channels.
Research methodology:
Our analyses of online newspaper reading and the use of other channels
are based on a telephone survey conducted among the Dutch population,
aged 18 years and older, funded by The Netherlands Press Fund
(Bedrijfsfonds voor de Pers). The fieldwork was conducted in December
2002 by TNS NIPO Amsterdam, a market research institute. In total,
986 respondents were randomly selected for that purpose1. We oversampled

the readers of online papers 2.22 times, to achieve a proportion of

40% of the sample instead of the actual 18% of the Dutch adult population.
Therefore, 6,725 people were first screened by a daily representative
telephone omnibus survey. The criterion for their inclusion into the online
newspaper part of the sample was that they had to have visited the
website of a Dutch national or local newspaper at least once in the two
weeks prior to the interview. The telephone interviews took 16 minutes
on average. The minimum response rate2 was 41%.
To find out about the use of online and print newspapers, as well as
other information channels, the survey contained questions about the
frequency and/or the duration of using the following media: Printed
newspapers, online newspapers, other news sites on the Internet, television,
teletext, radio, free local papers, and magazines. The frequency
questions read:

On average, how many days a week do you read Dutch national or

local printed newspapers?

This question was also asked for visiting 60 Ester de Waal, Klaus
Schnbach and Edmund Lauf websites of Dutch national or local daily
newspapers on the Internet and for other news sites on the Internet.
For websites of newspapers and other news sites, questions about the
frequency of their use were even more extensive. Respondents were
also asked:

On average, how many times a day do you read Dutch national or

local newspapers websites on the Internet?
Again the same question was asked for other news sites on the

Internet.
The average amount of time spent on specific channels was measured by
the following questions:

On average, how long do you spend reading Dutch national or local

printed newspapers at a time?

The same question was asked for reading websites of Dutch national or
local newspapers on the Internet and for other news sites.

On average, how much time do you spend watching television per

day?

The same question was asked for reading teletext on television or the
Internet and listening to the radio.

On average, how much time do you spend reading free local papers
a week?

The same question was asked for magazines.

For our analysis we constructed two different kinds of variables from
the answers to all these questions3: A dichotomous one stating the mere
fact whether or not somebody uses a specific medium, and the duration
of the use, which indicates the time in minutes per day or week. For this
purpose, time (in minutes) was multiplied by the number of times the
channel is used per day or per week in the case of newspapers and
news websites.
In this analysis we are interested in how reading online newspapers
specifically relates to the use of all other media. But of course, the use
of those other channels may not or only partly depend on whether one
reads an online newspaper, but (also) on socio-demographic characteristics
of the users and on their information interests. A number of those
interests were measured by the following question:

In general, how much are you interested in politics; sports; theatre,

films, and literature; finances and economy; reports on celebrities;
reports on accidents and crime; and local news?
Three socio-demographic variables were gauged in our survey: Age,

gender and education and age by the year of birth and education by the
highest school or university degree. To show these characteristics clearly,
we divided age into three more or less equally large groups: 18_37 years,
38_50, and 51 years and older. A relevant study by Schulz (2001) shows
that changes in newspaper and Internet use by age follow a more or less
gradual pattern, and does not call for specific cutting points. The study
of Stempel III et al. (2000) shows different patterns for the age groups
18_34, 35_54, and 55 and over. These age groups are fairly close to the
equally large age groups we used in our study. Both gender groups are
also of similar size, and so are the two groups of education. Higher
education is then defined by a higher general secondary or vocational
education or a university degree.
Finally, to find out for what types of information online and print
newspapers as well as other information channels are considered to be

useful, the survey contained the following questions:

How important are printed newspapers for you personally if you

want to be informed about politics; sports; theater, films and literature;
finances and economy; celebrities; accidents and crime; local
news? Are they very, somewhat or not important?

This question was also asked for online newspapers, other news sites,
television, teletext, radio, free local papers, and magazines.
To answer our research questions, there is no need to reverse the
oversampling of online newspaper readers. Since the purpose of this
study is to provide insight into the mutual relations between media use
behaviors, our results always deal with specific user groups within the
sample.Thus internal validity is the type of validity we want to achieve.

Findings
Online newspaper readers in 2002 are mainly younger, highly educated
and male. They are also more interested in finances and economy, politics,
and in theater, films and literature than those who do not visit an
online newspaper .

Thus the composition of this group may contribute to their media

behavior pattern. And indeed, their media-use-diet is different: Online
newspaper readers use other news sites on the Internet and teletext
considerably more than those who do not visit newspapers online. Both are
typical research media. Nonetheless, radio, magazines, and television
are also used by relatively more online newspaper readers (Table 1).
Moreover, our data show an overlap between print and online
newspaper reading. Of those visiting an online newspaper, 88% read a printed
edition as well, and 42% of those reading printed newspapers also visit
the online edition.
So, the question now is: Is it really reading online newspapers that
relates to the use of other media, or is it other media behavior that
possibly goes with it, or is it, for instance, the youth of online newspaper
readers that furthers a specific media behavior? This is why we now use
partial correlations between online newspaper use, on the one hand, and
the use of other channels, on the other to control for the three demographic
variables and all the information interests measured. In addition,
the other media use variables, respectively, will be used to control for

each other.
Our first, and still fairly rough, analysis is based on mere use (a
dichotomy of either reading/watching/listening or not doing so) and shows
a substitute or complement for print newspapers which other media the
readers
of online newspapers are also in touch with, compared to those who do not
read
online newspapers. On the one hand, print newspaper reading is slightly
negatively related to the use of online newspapers. On the other hand, and not
surprisingly, online newspaper readers often visit other news websites. But
there are also more radio listeners among them. As far as all the other media
behaviors are concerned, this group does not differ significantly from people
who do not read online newspapers (see Table 2).
Once we split our respondents into the three equally large age groups,
the partial correlation (using the same model) between online newspaper
reading and visiting other news sites becomes stronger with age. The
negative relationship between reading online and printed newspapers is
no longer significant for the two oldest age categories, but becomes
stronger in the youngest category, among the 18-37 year - olds. The positive

link with radio listening shows the same pattern: It becomes stronger
among the younger online newspaper readers and is no longer significant
for the two older groups. Moreover, a positive relationship also appears
between reading online newspapers and watching television among the
18-37 year - olds.
Splitting the same model into men and women reveals stronger
significant correlations between online newspaper reading and visiting other
news sites for the latter. The negative relationship between reading online
and printed newspapers is no longer significant for either group, nor is
the positive

link with radio listening. Again,

a significant

positive

relationship
appears between reading online newspapers and watching television,
this time among the female respondents only (cf. Table 2).
Finally, separating those who have a higher vocational education or a
university degree from those who do not, reveals significant and positive
correlations between online newspaper reading and whether people from
both groups visit other news sites. For those lower educated these
correlations

are definitely stronger though. The positive link with radio listening
which we found in the total population now seems to be restricted
to those online newspaper readers with a higher educational level. In
addition, this division reveals a positive significant relationship between
online newspaper reading and using teletext exclusively for those with a
higher level of education (see Table 2).
In the next step, we investigated the relations between the time spent
on reading online newspapers and the duration of use of the other information
channels. In this analysis only those who read an online newspaper
at all are further analyzed. The reason is that the majority of our
sample never visits an online paper at all, and thus would enter the
analysis with a huge number of zero-minute cases, dominating all the
results. Does the reading of online newspapers reduce time spent another
media
behaviours? The answer is simple: On average, no. On the contrary, the time
spent on reading online newspapers does not significantly relate to the time
spent on any of the other information channels, except for other news sites,
but this is a positive correlation (cf. Table 3).

Once we separated the three age groups, the positive relation between
the time spent on reading online newspapers on the one hand, and other
news sites on the other, seems to be especially true for the youngest and
oldest age groups. The longer these groups visit online papers, the longer
they visit other news sites on the Internet as well. Interestingly, the time
for print newspaper reading does not show any special relationship with
the time spent on online newspaper reading in any of the three age
groups. Thus, the negative impact of online newspaper reading on reading
the printed edition is limited to reading them at all among the
young, but does not affect the time actually spent on reading them.
Similarly restricted, the positive effect on listening to the radio and
watching television in the youngest age group (see Table 2) does not
persist in this time use model (Table 3).
The separation between men and women shows similar results as
earlier
ones. The correlations between the time spent on online newspapers
and the time spent on other news sites are significant and positive, but
stronger for females. As for the correlation between the time spent on

online newspapers on the one hand and television on the other, males
and females again show distinctive results, but this time the significant
correlation is negative and applies to males (Table 3).
Finally, education also seems to further different relationships between
media behaviors in the time use model. However, findings reveal new
patterns compared to the mere use model (see table 2); i. e., the more
time those with a higher educational level spend on online newspapers,
the more time they spend on other news sites on the Web as well. For
those with a lower educational level, the time spent on online newspapers
seems to take away time from watching television, or more precisely:
The more time they spend on online newspapers, the less time they spend
on television. The significant relations with teletext and radio completely
disappear once time spend on media is inserted into the model (Table 3).
Do online newspapers substitute other channels if not generally, then
for a specific area of information? To answer this question we investigated
what type of information online newspaper readers find online
papers and other information channels useful for: Politics; sports; theater,

films and literature; finances and economy; celebrities; reports on

accidents and crime; and/or local news. There is, of course, the possibility
that people may not find a specific medium important for learning
about, for instance, politics because they are simply not interested in
politics. This is why we have looked at the perceived usefulness of a
specific media channel only among those respondents who are at least
somewhat interested in the respective area of information.
What catches the eye is that online newspaper readers believe that a
printed newspaper always fulfils the need for information better than
the online version, in all domains. Neither can online newspapers compete
with television. For information on theatre, films and literature, and
on finances and economy we have found the smallest distance between
the usefulness of online newspapers and television and print papers _
but even there, printed newspapers and television are perceived as
considerably
more useful. Sometimes other channels are also regarded as
more useful than online newspapers, or at least equally valuable. Magazines
are judged to be as good as online newspapers for information on

theater, films and literature. For the local news, online newspaper readers
rather use free local papers too. For information on celebrities, magazines
are considered a better source as well. And when it comes to sports,
teletext is regarded as equally suitable as online newspapers.

3.3 Literature review (3)

Title of research: Online Newspaper in Malaysia: A Preliminary Study
Author(s): Mohd Yahya Mohamed Ariffin and Noor Ismawati Jaafar
Journal of publication: Malaysian Journal of Media Studies; Vol. 11, No. 1
(2009)
Problem statement: How have the newspapers in Malaysia evolved and to what
extent?
Purpose of study: To identify the changing state and future of the Malaysian
newspaper as a media distribution channel.
Research questions:
a) What is the readership trend of online newspaper in Malaysia?
b) Does online newspaper substitute the services and information provided
by print newspaper?
Significance of study:

To understand the trends and outlook of selected

traditional and online newspapers using data from various secondary resources
from the years 2001-2007 and to find possible solutions to overcome some of the
problems facing online newspaper in Malaysia today.
Research methodology:
The study was conducted using a case study method where data were collected from

various secondary resources. This includes data available and printed in the Media Guide
book from researches done by AC Nielsen Media Index from the years 2001-2007. Data
were also collected from the Utusan Online from the years of 2005-2007 provided the
company itself. In addition, we also conducted an in-depth interview with the Online
Services Editor of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd which the first newspaper company that
established its online version in Malaysia.
The Internet offers many publishing capabilities which include delivering up-todate information, offering interactivity features and reaching more readers. As such, many
newspaper companies in Malaysia have taken a step ahead in publishing their news on
the Internet to healthily compete with not only local competitors but foreign newspapers.
Kumpulan Utusan was established in 1983 to publish the nations first local newspaper.
The groups two (2) key newspapers, Utusan Malaysia and Mingguan Malaysia have
consistently achieved and maintained the highest circulations ad readerships.
Utusan Online (www.utusan.com.my), is Kumpulan Utusans and Malaysias first
electronic newspaper. Since its inception, the public has shown great interest and support
to this new endeavor of Kumpulan Utusan. The current database of the website recorded
an average of 15-20 million hits with over four million pages viewed every month.
Utusan Online is now available in both Bahasa Melayu and English. In line with the
Utusan Groups step into ICT is the launch of the Utusan Education portal
(www.tutor.com.my) in July 2001. The portal, at present is one of the most visited
education sites in Malaysia with over 140,000 visitors per month. The portal providing
information on schools curriculum and syllabus for students, teachers and as well as
parents and; Creating learning modules covering notes, exercises, references,

examination tips and a question bank for students sitting for the Ujian Pencapaian
Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia
(SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examinations.
While the number of Internet dial-up and broadband subscribers has increased
tremendously for the last 3 years (Table 1), not many Malaysians are using the Internet to
read news. This is supported by a study done by Nielsen Media Research (2004) where
Malaysian were found to use the Internet for communication more than reading the online
newspaper. In the study where 8000 Internet users participated, reading news from the
Internet scored much lower compared to other activities such as e-mail, information
gathering and general surfing. Majority of Malaysians surveyed, use the Internet at home
as compared to other locations such as office, Internet Cafes and schools or universities.
In terms of time, majority spend 3 hours or more daily surfing the Internet (Media Guide,
2005).

Table 1: Selected Information and Communication

Technology Indicators 2002-2006
Indicator
Population

2002
24.5

2003
25.3

2004
25.7

2005
26.4

2006
26.9

(mil)
Household

5.3

5.5

5.6

5.7

5.8

(mil)
Fixed lines

4.7

4.6

4.4

4.4

4.3

(mil)
Cellular

9.1

11.1

14.6

19.5

19.5

Phone (mil)
Interne

2.6

2.9

3.3

3.7

3.8

19.3

110.4

118

114

tDial-u
p (mil)
Broadb
a

252.5

490.6

897.2

Subscriptio
n (000)
Payphone

105

95

87

(000)

Findings
From the study, it has been found that there is a change in the landscape of
newspaper as media distribution channel. The readership of the Utusan Malaysia and
Mingguan Malaysia had been decreasing since 2004. According to the Editor, Online
Services of Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, it could be due to readers switching from the print
newspaper to the online version. This can be shown from the statistics in Table 3 and
Table 4 which had been increasing from year to year.
The decrease of readership of Utusan Malaysia newspaper can further be
contributed by the upward trends of Internet dial-up and broadband subscriptions from
years 2002-2006 in Table 1. For example in 2002, there were 2.6mil users of Internet dial
up and 193,000 of broadband subscribers. However, the figures surged to 3.8mil for

Internet dial-up and 8,972,000 for broadband in 2006.

From the findings of the study, there were declining trends of readership as far as
the print Utusan Malaysia newspaper is concerned. The authors are in the opinion that
some of the readers are switching to Utusan Online to read daily news. This could be due
to the fact that more and more Malaysians are having access to the Internet in offices and
homes. In Table 1, there are increasing trends in terms of Internet dial-up and broadband
subscriptions from 2002-2006. Thus, we can consider there is a growing increase in the
general public interest and awareness of reading online newspaper in Malaysia. In
addition, the cost of printing newspaper is increasing which result in increase in the
selling price newspaper. As a result, more readers may switch to the online version.
It further can be discussed that the total readership of the Utusan Malaysia
newspapers was not affected by the emergence of the online versions. In fact, the
downward trends of the print newspaper were complimented by the upward trends of the
online versions. The Editor had confirmed that it was part of the company strategy to
attract the Internet users to read online versions of their newspapers. Thus, the company
is promoting their online version to readers by putting up advertisements in the print
newspaper. At the same, the online version has included latest news to ensure its more
advance than other competitors.
This initial study also provides some valuable information to newspaper
companies. While the role of online newspaper has been recognized as a compliment
rather than substitution, there is a need for these companies to work on their strategies of
making their Internet presence more significant and noticeable. This is especially
important for them to attract more Internet users to visit their websites and read the news

contents thus increasing the widespread of newspaper as media distribution channel.

Nevertheless, the move will narrow the information-rich and information-poor gap as a
result of ICT development. With online newspaper, more people from the ICT
disadvantaged groups can have equal access to information.
For Utusan Online to remain competitive in the future, it has to establish
interactive element such as blog and myspace. It will provide news as well as an
interactive experience for visitors to interact with the news provider. Therefore, Utusan
Online is planning towards providing interactive space for their loyal visitors. It hopes to
become the pioneer of online newspaper.92 Jurnal Pengajian Media Malaysia/ Malaysian
Journal of Media Studies
With the prevailing influence of the Internet, more newspaper companies are
putting their presence noticeable on the Internet so that they can reach wider readers.
Online newspaper does not replace the role of the traditional newspaper. In fact, the
online version provides an added value of services to readers that may not be able to read
the newspaper during daytime or at predetermined physical locations such as offices. The
online newspapers also provide readers with an avenue of keeping in touch with local
development when they are away such as on overseas business trips. Similarly, the online
newspaper is taking the lead role of providing access to information in the Internet age.
Readers are able to access information on the online versions with interactivity and
quicker responses that can encourage readers to read online.
Also, online newspapers provide new services that could not be a part of
traditional newspapers. The searchable archive and classified ads can help each
newspaper become an information databank in addition to its role as a deliverer of news.

The hyperlinks have changed the newspaper from a single source of information into a
hub of information networks without a clear ending point. And, as a leader as well as a
servant of a community, the newspaper plays an important role in crystallizing public
opinion. The forums, chat facilities and e-mail contacts allow greater interactivity among
the community members and between the readers and editors than the traditional print
newspaper.
The success of online newspaper thus, depends on a few factors such as strong
compliance with the information requirements and services needs of the readers. In
addition, high actuality of the news provided on the Internet will influence Internet users
to read form online versions of newspaper. If the online versions are easy-to-use and
easy-to-handle especially for non-experienced readers, they will be more motivated to
read from the Internet. Not forgetting the clear overview and comprehensive layout,
logical and documented navigation and link structure of the newspaper itself. High
performance and good compliance with transfer of information would definitely become
another success factor of online newspaper.

4.0 Findings and Discussion

Discourse Representation in Media

Firstly, as we realized all media regardless printed media or online media which exist
in this world could not be 100% transparent or original when producing the news to the
public. Most of the news seemed to be screened or filtered by certain authorities for their

own benefits. Moreover, they tend to be bias and at the same time they insert or include
their ideologies and agenda. Not only that, they try to be as noble as they can when
describing the issue in order to gain the support and sympathy from the citizens. This
phenomenon can be known as discourse representation in media discourse.
Discourse representation is a term usually used in media discourse rather than a
familiar speech reporting. According to Fairclough (1995), this is due to the some reasons
which are, first, the writing or speech in media discourse might be represented by certain
authorities in order to maintain their political power or maybe to hide some issues and
there is always a decision to interpret and represent certain issues before it is reported to
the public rather than the transparent report of what was said or written.

4.1 Media Censoring Divergent Views in the Issue

From the observation of recent scenario, it can be said that the position of Dato
Seri Najib Razak as respected Prime Minister has been threatened by this scandal. It is
undeniable that many Malaysians started to have different opinions regarding his integrity
as a PM after the leakage of the issue but most obviously, criticizing and mocking
leaders openly, especially in media socials is no longer an alien scenario after the
breakage of the news. However, the influence and dominion of governmental power are
undeniably playing a major role in controlling media coverage over the issue.
Media in Malaysia definitely have played their role in representing this polemic,

regardless if they are pro or anti-government. Most of the mainstream media, especially
primary printed and electronic media, for examples from our selected media, New Straits
Times and The Straits Times, have reported the issue in rather very pro-governmental
way and those media always censor divergent views regarding the issue. Most of the
time, such media published only selective reports which are, of course, progovernmental-sided. Apparently, such representation of the issue no longer gives great
impact on most of the citizens nowadays as, with the advancement of and access to
technology, they can find news from other source of media. Public readers nowadays
have the privilege to access news to certain issues which might have been 'hidden' or
'diverted' by mainstream or 'pro-governmental' newspapers. Numerous articles found
from other two newspapers online use in the discussion of this paper, which have totally
different style of new coverage from the previous two, show the reality of the issue of socalled 'media transparency', which obviously is not foreign almost all across the globe,
and not only in our country.
The obviousness of media censoring on divergent views of the issue can be
detected through the frequency of the issue by those particular media. Our group's early
predication that pro-governmental media would have less coverage of issue can be
regarded as proven right through our final collection of the data sources and references.
(Referring to the Table 1 in Appendices), our inference is that pro-governmental media
(NST

Online

and

The

Straits

Times)

might have less coverage of the issue to avoid public's attention of the issue, which
undeniably can be regarded as extremely controversial, as it is closely-related with the
image of the Prime Minister personally and Barisan Nasional publicly as the leading

component party. The issue has been popularly published and covered by the Malaysian
media, but also has catch foreign medias attention.
Meanwhile, based on our findings of the occurrences on news regarding the issue
from the two other media (Malaysiakini and Free Malaysiakini), we have observed that
their frequencies are quite higher compared to the other two. Our inference on this
observation is, as the two medias are underground and probably independent media, so
the limitation of coverage is not an issue. However, there are certain invisible
boundaries that should not be transgressed by the media in Malaysia when covering such
controversial issue, or else they might be banned or closed (such as what happened to
The Malaysian Insider site). Moving on to the relations between the news from all the
selected media, the pro-governmental media do not seem to responding and answering
most of questions and provocations made by anti-governmental individuals or
organizations it some media. This might strengthen the claim that pro-governmental
media are censoring divergent views in the issue, while the anti-governmental media have
some leniencies in representing the discourse.
To sum up, acknowledging the pattern of media coverage in Malaysia on certain
issue, which is based on the which political parties and authorities that they sided to
(either pro- or anti-government), we try to avoid from being biased on determining which
newspapers site is more transparent compared to the others, because as almost all of our
group members had taken the Discourse Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis
Discourse courses, we realize that no medium is totally transparent and neutral even if
some media claim they are. Their ideology and standing on certain issue and sentiment
have been inserted in their publication of news (which will be discussed further), thus

they are not totally blameable on the less or excessive coverage of the issue.

4.2 Selective Reports on the Media

Be selective in serving the best news for the public is part of requirement in media
agency. For them, this is the matter of showing their credibility and ability to serve and
produce the best news which can trigger peoples attention. On the other hand, there are
other reasons why they be selective in reporting the news which people did not realized
about it. Based on Fairclough (1995), he mentioned that the writing or speech in media
discourse might be represented by certain authorities in order to maintain their political
power. Hence, here what can be said is media not only providing the news but then they
also work as a medium for certain party or authorities to spread the ideologies or
propaganda. For example, in a case of RM2.6 billion or 1MDB in Malaysia, many media
try their best to provide the info either to reveal the truth of the scandal or try to hide the
real issue and give support to the government.
In The Strait Times online news, it is clearly can be seen that majority of their
news or reports are actually heave the tendency in giving supports to the government
instead of be more natural and moderate. Besides, based on the article studied, The Strait
Times usually selects and presents the news by using subtle words in order to create a
good image for the government. In one article reported by The Strait Times entitled
Malaysian PM Najib says his conscience is clear as 1MDB scandal festers they wrote
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he had done nothing wrong in receiving
hundreds of millions of dollars into his personal bank accounts, as his party opened its

annual meeting on Tuesday (Dec 8) amid tensions over a festering funding scandal.
While, in another article, Malaysia's anti-corruption agency says RM2.6 billion
channelled into Najib's account is from donations it is reported that Funds deposited
into Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razaks bank accounts were from a donation, not
from debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the anti-corruption
commission said on Monday (Aug 3). Acknowledging that RM2.6 billion (S$963 million)
in funds were transferred into Najibs private accounts, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) said results of the investigations found that it was a donors
contribution. To sum up, based on these two articles we can say that The Strait Times
more likely have the tendency to be side of government and almost articles written by
them make people believe the scandal is just a created games in political situation.
While, in MalaysiaKini news portal, they give different view on this issue in
which clearly opposed the government side and at the same time provide other
perspective regarding this issue. Moreover, MalaysiaKini try to open the peoples eye not
to easily accept the issue that had being manipulated by the certain media. For example,
Zam confirms Utusan editor pushed out over 1MDB, RM2.6b stance and The curious
case of Bank Negara Malaysia vs 1MDB are the headline from MalaysiaKini which can
make people think again before deciding to trust the scandal of RM 2.6 bilillions and also
trigger communities attention to look further on this issue.
As the conclusion, what can be related to all articles from different news portal, all
of them are actually shown that they are selective in publishing certain issues which
means they published the issues according to their own benefits and others benefits either
they support the government of opposed them. Not only that, they be more selective in

providing the news because their might have their own objectives. Communities might
not realize the real situation happened unless they have an open-minded and have deep
thinking on the issue. No one can be 100% transparent or natural especially the media.

4.3 Implicit Ideologies in the Discourse Representation of the Media

Mass media especially newspaper or online newspaper carries a vital and

prominent task in providing information on events or issues that have been happening in
Malaysia. Mass media can be bias in giving out certain information especially regarding a
very sensitive matter which is politics. There is no neutrality in covering issues regarding
politics. There would always be certain ideology or implicit meaning that wants to be
injected to societys mind. To be exact, certain newspapers do have an agreement with the
government to give support in whatever situation they are in. Rm2.6 billion issue that has
made Malaysians in chaos can be seen as an example in which certain newspapers try to
hide or at least make this issue a bit subtle.

The words such as donors contribution has been used in The Straits Times in
order to emphasize an idea that this issue is an accusation. New Straits Times for
instance, in its news they are focusing on how this current issue is regarded as a storm to
their political party. The newspaper does not focus on the issues itself, as to discussing on
RM2.6 billion itself, rather they want to diverge our focus so that readers would feel
overwhelmed by the situation, by feeling sympathized towards him. On top of that, they
have put some implicit meanings in which it is stated that our Prime Minister will carry

out the amanah as a leader. It is also mentioned about the attack that the Prime Minister
has received from Dr. Mahathir and Dato Muhyiddin. The news also mentions about our
Prime Minister who does not understand why former Deputy Prime Minister did not get
additional information on the strategic development company. The newspaper has
implicitly induce an idea which Malaysians will ponder upon and their mind would not
be focusing on the issue itself.
Whereas as for certain media who are not followers of the government, they are usually
from the opposition parties. Malaysia Kini for example, provides quite some information
on the issue itself such as on the amount money that the Prime Minister had given to his
brother who is a chairperson of CIMB. This opens Malaysians eyes and mind on the
issue by receiving new information that they would not receive from other newspaper
such as New Strait Times. On the other hand, while providing they also induce some
implicit meanings from certain statements such as but as well the entire nation to be
beleaguered, in the eyes of the world, This implicitly tells their stand and they are
trying to induce little doubt in Malaysians mind towards the government. That is to say
almost all media in Malaysia would subtly try to influence peoples mind regarding
politic.

When it was no longer possible to deny the existence of the RM2.6 billion, said the
analyst, the story emerged that it was a political donation and that Najib had the right to
accept donations from anywhere to help fight terrorism. (Shahbudin: AGs statement on
RM2.6b has fallen apart, Free Malaysia Today)

As stated in this newspaper, the denial of the existence was not possible as it is clear that
the money is there. There is an implicit idea that Free Malaysia Today wants to propose
as to the excerpt above regarding the denial that has taken place and they want to propose
the idea in a subtle way.
Media has their own way in conveying their news and reports. It is to say that
media has their own stand and ideology that they implicitly implant through their choices
of words and structure of sentences, so on so forth in their message. The meaning rather
be conveyed as implicit one as to it would eventually get into the readers mind.

4.4 Differences in the Discourse Used in Both the Opposition and GovernmentBased Newspapers When Reporting the Discourses of Those in Power

The discourse used in reporting news between pro-government newspapers and

opposition seems to have striking difference. To find out more regarding this matter, we
have collected quite a number of news articles to see the tendencies in order to finally
come to a conclusion.
In order to analyze this matter, we begin with the titles used when reporting, these are
all the titles used by the opposition reporters when reporting this controversial issue:
a) RM2.6b issue: An open-and-shut case? in Free Malaysia Today (FMT Reporters,
2015)
b) Zam: Najib compromised by accepting RM2.6b in Free Malaysia Today (FMT
Reporters, 2015)

c) BBC: RM2.6b was to combat Muslim Brotherhood in Free Malaysia Today

(FMT Reporters, 2016)
d) DPM answers for Najib on RM2.6b, no debate allowed in Free Malaysia Today
(Yunus, 2015)
e) Source claims RM2.6b from late king, but Saudi ministries clueless in
MalaysiaKini (2016)
f) Late Saudi king's son is RM2.6b donor, says Apandi in MalaysiaKini (2016)
g) RM2.6b is god sent to Najib in MalaysiaKini (2015)
It can be said that majority of the titles are sarcastic and even when no sarcastic words are
used, there is a tendency of using single quotation marks on parts of a phrase. For
example in (b) and (c), both titles containing the quotation marks, which is usually used
by speakers or reporters in order to associate with or set a certain boundary from the
reported news. In this case, being on the opposition side, the reporters are distancing
themselves from the report, the words that are placed in the marks are considered as
something unacceptable or not trusted by the reporters themselves. This is rhetoric for
readers to understand the reason of the words being placed in the marks.
Then, sarcasm, can be seen in the choice of words or vocabulary used when
choosing the titles, in (a), the title RM2.6b issue: An open-and-shut case?, the phrase An
open-and-shut case can be seen as a way used by the reporter to show his or her
disappointment on the failure of Malaysian judicial system. Even though this issue is an
obviously controversial not just for Malaysians but also internationally, the transparency
of the investigation on this case is questionable.

The sarcasm in (e), Source claims RM2.6b from late king, but Saudi ministries
clueless, the term clueless is used by reporter to show how this issue is being treated, the
fact that it is not being taken seriously by the government. From this title, it shows how
government has been trying to conceal the truth from the masses. It is impossible for such
a huge amount of money being transferred and not known to the authority in Arab Saudi.
As clueless being the focus on the title, it can attract readers attention and sparks their
curiosity.
In (g), RM2.6b is god sent to Najib, the term god-sent is an obvious example of
sarcasm, this is used by the reporter in order to show his or her disappointment with the
case. Seeing this issue as being too fishy to trust the government and having been told
many different versions of how the money can be transferred to the Prime Minister and
why, it causes confusion for a lot of people and thus the title has shown it all.
In the aspect of the content of the news articles, the opposition seems to be more
critical and analytical in reporting. The discourse used is also more convincing than the
pro-government newspapers. The intertextuality of the reports made can be linked to
many credible contributors. The opposition gather information from a former Information
Minister and once Editor-in-Chief of Utusan Malaysia, Zainuddin Maidin, British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and a senior political
analyst with JTG, Inc., Fahad Nazer.
As for the newspapers that are government-leaning such as New Straits Times and
The Sun, these are the titles that we managed to collect:
a) Najib on RM2.6 billion: My conscience is clear in New Straits Times (Hamid &
Ariff, 2015)

b) Debating RM2.6b donation and SRC International issue in lower house sub
judice: Pandikar in New Straits Times (Daim & Lai, 2016)
c) RM2.6bil donation to PM meant to help moderate Muslim leaders in The Star
(Yunus, 2016)
Referring to a news reported by New Straits Times entitled Najib on RM2.6 billion: My
conscience is clear, it can be seen here that the reporter is using a word having good
connotation which is conscience, referring to Cambridge Dictionaries Online, conscience
means the part of you that judges how moral your own actions are and makes you feel
guilty about bad things that you have done or things you feel responsible for. This word
is used to evoke readers empathy towards Prime Minister.
For title (c), RM2.6bil donation to PM meant to help moderate Muslim leaders as
reported by The Star, the choice of words in this title is clearly intentional which is to
shape peoples perspective on the issue. As a pro-governments newspaper, the term
donation is used instead of corruption. From this title we can understand that choice of
words is really important as it can be utilized in shaping society, media is in fact a
powerful tool that can shape peoples belief.
As for the content of these newspapers, we have found that reporters tend to show
their empathy or sympathy towards Prime Minister, such as when the reporter of New
Straits Times reporting that Najib said that Yes, (my conscience is) absolutely clear. I
have done what I feel with full responsibility and I am confident that after the
investigation is completed, the truth will prevail. InsyaAllah. The newspaper published a
news article containing this statement in order to gain peoples trust and understanding on
this issue. Other than that, also from the same newspaper company, New Straits Times, in

the news article entitled Debating RM2.6b donation and SRC International issue in lower
house sub judice: Pandikar, it is reported that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar
Amin Mulia said that I am of the opinion that interest of the parties involved in the court
proceedings will be affected, in accordance to Standing Order 36(2), (and after) taking
into consideration the media statement by the Attorney-general (Tan Sri Mohamed
Apandi Ali) on Jan 26 that the Prime Minister had not committed any crime. In this
quote, support towards the Prime Minister is shown by using strong and indisputable
evidence which is the law. The news article is obviously attempting to clear Najibs name
in order to push his credibility back into spotlight as a Prime Minister. It can be seen here,
despite being a controversial issue with questionable evidence, pro-government
newspapers have the tendency to accept and publish reports that show support towards
government even when this issue is not fully solved.
In conclusion, opposition newspapers MalaysiaKini and Free Malaysia Today tend to
use sarcastic tones or terms as well as single quotation marks when reporting discourses
used by people in power. Besides, the content of news articles are analytical and critical
mainly to criticize those in power. On the other hand, New Straits Times and The Sun are
focusing on choice of words used in order to shape peoples perspective about the issue.
Other than that, the content of news articles in government-based newspapers are
inclining towards clearing the name of Prime Minister by publishing statements that can
evoke readers empathy and understanding.

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