Figure - available from: Asian Journal of Criminology
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Map of media coverage frequency by country
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It has been well-established that, in the USA, the news media contributes to the construction of moral panics regarding the use and users of various types of drugs. In this study, we utilize the moral-panic framework to understand how the media depicts drug use in Malaysia. We used content analysis of two widely read English-language Malaysian news...
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We argue that environmental communication within the Malaysian media landscape is influenced by Islamic beliefs and teachings. Although Islam has a great influence on environmental communication in Malaysia, it is an area underexplored by past studies. We conducted a content analysis on two mainstream Malay media outlets, namely Utusan Malaysia and...
Citations
... Specifically, we examined articles about the death penalty in two popular mainstream Malaysian newspapers, The Star and New Straits Times from April 23, 2018 to April 22, 2020. Both newspapers have been frequently used when conducting content analyses of Malaysian media (Singh et al., 2021). ...
... Second, they also provide global coverage of the death penalty that might influence the local readership. The two widely read English media outlets were The Star and New Straits Times (Ibrahim et al., 2012;Kee et al., 2013;Samsudin & Ibrahim, 2010;Singh et al., 2021;Wilson & Ibrahim, 2010). To obtain the media articles, the phrase "death penalty" was entered into the search feature for both media outlets. ...
Malaysia has retained the death penalty for violent crimes and some nonviolent drug offenses. Major news dailies, controlled by political parties in the ruling coalition, have helped justify this stance in the past. This situation changed over 22 months when a new coalition, which campaigned on abolishing capital punishment, took office and sparked renewed public discussion on this issue. Depictions of the death penalty debate were analyzed by conducting a content analysis of two major English-language newspapers, The Star and New Straits Times. Our findings suggest that The Star provided more international coverage and the New Straits Times prioritized domestic coverage. While both outlets provided comprehensive, and sometimes, critical coverage of executions elsewhere, they downplayed the fact that Malaysia engages in the same practice. There was no evidence to indicate that they were pushing an agenda as neither took a formal position on the issue. Content to transmit the differing views on the subject, neither functioned as forums to air nor shaped policy positions. This posture was possibly shaped by preconceived notions of what their readership wants and/or self-censorship—a legacy of past subjugation that will hopefully change when press freedom is perceived as a right, not a privilege.
... Within the federal constitution of Malaysia, media organizations have a guarantee of free speech so long as that speech is not obscene or against public decency, does not incite violence against people and/or property, and does not encourage people to violate the law. Media outlets are often controlled and/or targeted toward particular political parties and/or constituencies (Singh et al. 2021). We examined coverage of drugs in a Malaysia media source and assessed the thematic ways in which drugs were discussed. ...
... When studying media coverage in Malaysia, the English-language newspaper New Straits Times (NST) has been frequently used because it is the oldest English national newspaper currently in circulation. Among the issues that have been studied from this media source are: health and environmental issues (Ibrahim et al. 2012), Malaysian policy with Iraq (Kassed and Mustaffa 2014), terrorism in Indonesia (Samsudin and Ibrahim 2010), crime news (Wilson and Ibrahim 2010), drugs and moral panics (Singh et al. 2021), non-governmental organizations and government response to HIV/AIDS (Sern 2018), H1N1 Influenza (Sualman and Aziz 2012), and the Bersih 3.0 rally (Kee et al. 2013). ...
... The current study began in August of 2020. The researchers elected to study differential coverage of drugs in NST over the previous two years (August 1, 2018 -July 31, 2020). 1 One researcher conducted article searches on the NST website of the 16 most commonly mentioned drug-names mentioned in Singh et al. (2021) (amphetamine, syabu, cocaine, ketum, opiate, fentanyl, heroin, morphine, cannabis, marijuana, ecstasy, MDMA, Eramin, ketamine, Xanax, and yaba). After peer debriefing with another researcher (discussed below), three additional names for drugs were searched (meth, ganja, kratom). 2 To get the most complete coverage, it was important to use different names that described either the same or very similar drugs. ...
Many researchers have noted that media coverage of drugs can be sensationalized and/or have questionable accuracy. Additionally, it has been alleged that the media often treats all drugs as harmful and can fail to differentiate between different types of drugs. Within this context, the researchers sought to deconstruct how media coverage was similar and/or different according to drug type within a national media outlet in Malaysia. Our sample comprised 487 news articles published over a two-year period. Articles were coded to reflect thematic differences in drug framing. We focus on five drugs widely used in Malaysia (amphetamines, opiates, cannabis, cocaine, and kratom) and assess the most frequent themes, crimes, and locations mentioned in reference to each drug. All drugs were primarily covered in a criminal justice context, and articles highlighted concern about the spread of these drugs and their abuse. Drug coverage varied, particularly in association with violent crimes, specific regions, and discussion of legality. We find evidence of both similarities and differences in how drugs were covered. Variation in coverage demonstrated that certain drugs were deemed a heightened threat, as well as reflected broader social/political processes shaping ongoing debates over treatment approaches and legality.
