Editorial and Commentary Coverage of Foreign News Issues in Malaysian Newspapers: Variation and Consistency

Abstract

This is a comparative framing analysis of editorial and commentary pieces on foreign news issues in three major Malaysian newspapers—in Malay, Chinese and English languages. The multicultural and multiethnic mix of Malaysian society and its media as well as the long-standing connection between the mainstream media and the ruling coalition government in Malaysia provides a valuable context for such a study. The results reveal significant variation in the framing of foreign news issues across the three newspapers, corresponding to their respective target audiences, while a consistency in alignment with the government policy is also evident in all three. The study challenges the idea of a ‘national’ media and identity in international and foreign news studies (i.e. the idea that there is such a thing as a single, e.g. ‘Malaysian’ media or associated world view). It demonstrates how an analysis of foreign news coverage in a country such as Malaysia needs to account for the multifaceted ethnic, linguistic, political and cultural demographic influences on its newspapers.