Role of Media in Politics in Malaysia
Autor: Adnan • November 12, 2018 • 3,469 Words (14 Pages) • 727 Views
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The bad publicity of the parties also made headlines for the troublemakers. Reports of 387 incidents with 15 people being arrested covered pages over the campaigns in all newspapers and news channels. News of bombings disrupting rallies of the reigning Barisa Nasional Party were etched in all the front pages of the newspapers and made headlines. It was the case when bikers mobbed down and disrupted meetings and rallies of the opposition parties and while framing the campaigns in the camera for news the press photographer was assaulted by one of the bikers in the DPA rally on April 23, 2013 (Pollock 2013).
There were also reports of Arson in the home of the daughter of a PKR candidate, which resulted in the vandalisation of two cars. Apart from all these the net was used as a media to portray the leader of the opposition as vulgar by posting sexually implicit videos of the leaders though they were denied later and were said to have been edited (Chen 2016).
Role of the media in the American polls
Being the epitome of democracy, American media and its area of coverage has also changed. The radio was the foremost in the initial years that created mass ripples with its coverage of news. Even when Kennedy assassinated, this radio was the prime reporter (Sabato 2013. ). American radio now revives only during the chat hours of election with a show by the name Chat Radio that comes on air during the elections. The television, which overwhelmed the radio, too has taken a backseat, but remained a pro in political advertisement (Witcover 2014). The chat shows that follow the suit in all the channels give a clear-cut image as to what the important features are in the present polls (Witcover 2014). The ace competitors of the television are the social networking sites of Facebook and Twitter. Therefore, the American Poll contest involves the masses at a very impersonal level to make the people aware of the people whom they are voting (Sabato 2013.). The chat shows are mainly focused and to the point (Müller 2014). The various aspects of each politician is taken into consideration and making a havoc in the campaign is not what the Americans like. Over there also the political and sophisticated urbane nature of the politicians are always under the paparazzi glare. Slight mistake on the senator’s part can cause a huge mayhem to his professional life (Rothkopf 2014). The pros and cons of the presidential candidates who run the elections are presented in a sophisticated urbane stature.
Role of media in Indian polls
Indian media tend to project the ruling party as a villain during the polls of the country. A certain sets of rules and regulations guide the Indian media whose primary focus is increasing the TRP of the channel. Politicians who play by these rules find themselves in a better position than the others (Sardesai 2015) . Narendra Modi got to the better side of media even though he was highlighted for the wrong cases after the 2002 Gujarat Riots. He played according to the rules of the media and soon managed to win the hearts of majority of the people. Rahul Gandhi with just one wrong appearance at a media conference failed to leave an impression on his fellow fellow citizens (Sardesai 2015).
Comparison among the three countries regarding the roll of media in the polls of different countries
A detailed study among the three media components of the three countries has shown how the media affects the polls of different countries in the general elections that are being run in those countries.
India as we can see has a much-commercialized form of media operating throughout the country. The only concern of media in India is increased TRP counts of the channels. The people who they project as messiahs during the elections, suddenly turn into Satan when they make mistake (Rothkopf 2014). The media controls the cycle of rags to riches to rags in this country and the cycle continue more in the present context. Bribery and much hype for a particular politician, which in other words can be termed, as partiality is a general trend amongst the media in Indian politics. People get confounded as to who might be the better candidate for them to represent them in the lower house or lok sabha and the upper house or the rajya sabha of the parliament (Rothkopf 2014). The main reason due to the negative nature of the media in India are the increased rate of illiteracy and growing concern for one’s own self only (Potter 2013).
America on the other hand controls the politics and the media with an iron hand. The media is governed by some sort of laws and so are the politicians. The politicians use the media to create hype among the masses but they do remain under the constant glare of the lenses. People believe the media and so a small mistake on the senator’s past can bring down the whole castle that he has build to mere dust. The same thing happened to the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski’s case. Clinton got off all the charges only because of the service that he had lent to his people over his tenure as the President (Suskind, R., 2013) . Americans trust the press and the media but not blindly. Unlike the Indian media, the informations provided by the American Media are more or less accurate and any channel that is caught taking bribes and portraying a forged image of any senator is liable to punishment (Chadwick 2017).
Malayan media can be viewed as a moderator between the two extremes of American and Indian media. The Malayan media is an admixture of the two media categories. It is partially controlled by the Government and it too is attacked by the vagabonds of the different parties who run in an election. The Malayan media is translucent in their facts about the candidates and the parties contending in a poll (Potter 2013). The assaults that are made on them are not reprimanded but they do their work with utmost care and sincerity. People do not have faith on all the media channels that run or are broadcasted but yes, they rely heavily on some of them. The chat shows that are broadcasted throughout the radio channels or televisions provide an insight to the characters of the politicians who are running the polls or the general assembly (Potter 2013).
Reasons for a translucent media in Malaysia
Malaysian media is a translucent media; a midway from being too opaque as in the case of the media system prevalent in India and too transparent as regards the media in America. The main difference that it has from Indian media is the fact that it is completely free from political influences. Even the Government owned channels are unbiased. While in this regard of unbiasness,
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