1919thth Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) Annual Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) Annual Conference 2010Conference 2010

The Role of blogs in an emerging The Role of blogs in an emerging society: A study of a Malaysian society: A study of a Malaysian

by-electionby-election

Dr. Syed Arabi IdidKhaizuran Abdul Jalil

Communication Department

Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human SciencesInternational Islamic University Malaysia

21 – 23 June 2010

OutlineOutline Introduction Research Question Democratization of Information Blogs and elections Elections in Malaysia By-election Methodology Findings & Conclusion

IntroductionIntroduction

Exponential growth of blogsphere worldwide – Technocrati

Medium of political participation – shape the democratic process in the country

Lack of empirical studies

Research QuestionsResearch Questions

What is the role of bloggers during the by-election?

What issues are raised in the blogsphere during the by-election?

Do blogs play the same role or a different role from the conventional media during elections?

Democratization of Democratization of InformationInformation

Pangloss, Pandora or Jefferson? (Benjamin R. Barber, 2006)

Blogging in Malaysia – leveling the political field

Democratic participation

Blogs and electionsBlogs and elections

• 2004 • Political blogsphere in Malaysia is

expanding• Strengthened by prominent figures

(bloggers) such as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, A.Kadir Jasin, Jeff Ooi, Lim Kit Siang, Anwar Ibrahim

Elections in Malaysia: Elections in Malaysia: General electionGeneral election

Parliamentary form Democracy with Constitutional monarchy.

General Election every 5 years to elect:– House of Representatives (Parliament)

222 seats– State Legislative Assemblies (each

state except federal territories) 576 state seats

Elections in Malaysia: Elections in Malaysia: General electionGeneral election

27 political parties in Malaysia15 in Peninsular, 7 in Sabah & 5 in SarawakNational Front (BN) is a coalition of 14

political parties headed by United Malay National Organization (UMNO)

BN had won every single general election since Malaysia’s independence

Elections in Malaysia: Elections in Malaysia: by-electionby-election

By-election – vacancy in state / parliamentary constituency due to death, resignation , disqualification or other causes if it occurred before the Parliament or all State Legislatures are due to dissolve.

This study focused on the Pengkalan Pasir, Kelantan by-election on 6 December 2005

N12 Pengkalan Pasir, KelantanN12 Pengkalan Pasir, Kelantan

Stronghold of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)

Poor district, voters mainly farmers and small traders

Majority of voters are Malay (94.8%)Chinese voters (5.09%) Indian voters

(0.3%) other races (0.1%)Half of the voters are women (50.18%)

MethodologyMethodology Quantitative Content Analysis Keyword sampling method 75 active blogs 5 categories:

– Nationality of bloggers (2 categories)– Blogger’s support (4 categories)– Issue discussed (8 categories)– Field of blogs (5 categories)– Language (3 categories)

Findings:Findings:

1 November 2005 to 11 December 2005Bloggers’ nationality and support. Malaysians or Local (97%, n=75)Nearly half support PAS (44%)Non-partisants:

– Professionals (16%)– Neutral (27%)

Figure 1: Bloggers political support During the Pengkalan Pasir by-election Campaign

13%

44%

16%

27%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

BN Opposition Non-partisanProfessional

Neutral

Findings:Findings:Issues discussed

– 42.7% on election issues e.g. state of Pengkalan Pasir.

– 18.7% on information on the election. – 14% BN issues– 10.7% opposition issues– 4% issues related to

democracyIslamdissatisfaction with election result

– 1.3% on corruption

FindingsFindings

Field of blogs– 80% commentaries– 9.3% referral to political party websites.– 6.7% chatting.– 2.7% reference to mainstream media.– 1.2% broadcasting.

FindingsFindings

Languages used by the bloggers were divided into three categories namely unilingual, bilingual and multilingual

FindingsFindings

LanguageUnilingual

– 45% Malay– 41% English– 1% Arabic

Bilingual – 9% English & MalayMultilingual 3%

Figure 2: Language used.

Multilingual3%

Bilingual9%

Arabic 1%

English41%

Malay46%

ConclusionConclusion BN won the by-election despite stronger

support for the opposition in the blogsphere – Hanafi Mamat (BN) won with a majority of 134 votes– Hanafi Mamat won 7,422 votes defeating Hanifa Mat

Yatim 7,288 votes. Independent candidate, Ibrahim Ali polled 415 votes.

Malaysian bloggers dominated the discussion.

Malay and English languages were equally used.

ConclusionConclusion

50% of the bloggers remained neutral in their political comments.

The other half are mainly supporters of PAS.

Generally the opposition parties and their supporters seem to utilise the blogsphere more than the ruling party

ConclusionConclusion

Election issues such as those on election campaigns, election process and political party (BN and opposition) are among the top issues in the blogsphere.

Issues discussed were not directly on the voters’ concern rather covered a wider public perspective.

ConclusionConclusion

It was found that the political blogsphere opens up an avenue for public discourse that do not directly involve the voters.

Blogs cannot operate in isolation.Stronger support for the opposition online do

not translate into votes in the by-election.

Thank YouThank You