Siti Suriani Othman

Islam in Malaysian News: The Case of Utusan Malaysia and Sinar Harian

Islam is always assumed as an integral part of news construction in countries like Malaysia. However, as a multicultural country, Malaysia offers more complex elements to be considered in its news making. Thus, this study seeks to examine whether Islam is really connected with news construction in Malaysia, and if not, what actually does constitute as news in Malaysia and the factors that affect such decisions. In examining this, the study samples two newspapers: Utusan Malaysia (UM) and Sinar Harian (SH). Both newspapers are generally considered to construct news distinctly. The study found that Islam is not the main set of values considered in either newspaper in their construction of news. An aspect which is considered more important is multiculturalism in the country. Based on the findings, the news is constructed as such in order to ensure the harmony of the country.

Journalists in Malaysia

The typical journalist in Malaysia is a female, in her early thirties and holds a university degree in a field of journalism or communication. Of the 368 interviewed journalists, 184 were women, making for a proportion of 52.6 percent of the overall sample. On average, Malaysian journalists were 35.46 years old (s=10.84); half of the journalists were younger than 32 years. Journalists tend to be well educated: 82.8 percent of the respondents held a degree from a graduate program and 74.2 percent held a Bachelor’s degree. However, there were no journalists with a doctoral degree among the respondents, while 3.6 percent had undertaken some university studies but did not complete their studies. Of those respondents who held a university degree, a slight majority (34.0%) had not specialized in communication or journalism. Across the whole sample of Malaysian journalists, 32.8 percent had specialized in journalism, 21.3 percent had studied in another communication field, and 11.9 percent had specialized in both journalism and another communication field.