Another article HERE said:
If the mainstream media coverage of the Hulu Selangor by-election can be summarised, it would come across as 'BN good, Pakatan Rakyat bad'.These two articles have prompted me to write this evening's post on agenda-setting. Agenda setting is a process whereby news media, through the various editorial selection process, can transmit to the public the importance of political topics, which affects the relative importance of how these are perceived by the public. Of course, the news media may not tell the public what to think or which side to take on a political issue or what candidate to support in an election, but they set the agenda for the public to think about what issues are important or what candidates are viable.
Two media monitors say little has changed in this respect, as they reviewed media reports of the campaign that pitted BN's P Kamalanathan against PKR's Zaid Ibrahim in the polls last Sunday.
Mustafa K Annuar, secretary of Penang-based social reform group Aliran, said the mainstream media was largely supportive of BN and Kamalanathan, while running down Pakatan and Zaid.
Ideally, professional norms i.e. news values, such as proximity, timeliness, conflict, celebrity and human interest, determines what is newsworthy. The MSM then prioritizes the news, such as giving a banner headline or lead news in tv. This ordering of political objects by the news media is the “media agenda.” With this, it helps readers decide where to place their attention.
Put simply, the MSM tell the public what is important. Agenda-setting theory conceptualizes this ordering of political objects by the public as the “public agenda.” Obviously, any news coverage is limited by time and space, important topics overshadow other issues. The problem is this. If there is NO FREE PRESS, it could mean that the MSM may be controlled by unseen hands. Perhaps you might have read about ntv7's 'Editor's Time' programme producer Joshua Wong's resignation last Thursday.
We can see clearly that the MSM agenda is essentially ubiquitous in a two-level flow from opinion leaders to opinion followers. In this way, the news media agenda permeates society. In the past, it used to be a powerful medium because more people were exposed to the MSM but not any more because we have the new media in cyberspace. Nevertheless, research has shown that agenda setting is stronger for newspapers than for television news.
Sometimes, the rakyat may need some orientation as to what should be the agenda and this depends on the relevance of the political sub ject and its uncertainty - a good example is the recent HN by-election. With low relevance, the need for orientation is low. If both relevancy and uncertainty are high, then need for orientation is high. When need for orientation is high among many in the population, agenda setting is more likely to be strong. Therefore, during a social crisis, it is natural that people turn to the media for guidance.
The bottom line is this. When reading any article, ask yourself what is the objective or agenda of the article. The truth is, the frame of reference (sum of prejudices, feelings, experience etc) of a person can influence his perception of the article as well as one tends to believe what supports his existing or pre-existing beliefs.
For instance, there is ONE commenter who always claims that I am racist against Indians. I am not. He/She did not say anything positive when I wished Kamalanathan well but finds fault with my posts. I am thankful that NONE of my readers have expressed anti-Indian sentiments. I believe unity is more important than going on a fault-finding mission. If he/she does not like my articles, why come and read? I am deeply flattered that there is something here that appeals to him/her. If he or she or they feel so strongly, I suggest he/she/they join a political party, stand for elections and make a difference in the way this country is run by offering your expertise, time and manpower instead of hiding behind an anonymous persona. If you cannot even have the courage to reveal your identity, go bark in another blog. Don't waste your time commenting in my blog because I will not entertain your unfair comments or publish them. I cannot publish your comment as i deem it offensive and inappropriate. Please take your hatred somewhere else.
You keep throwing the race card at me to bait me into a dispute or whatever is on your agenda. Sorry. I am not interested in such frivolous pursuits. My conscience is very clear. If writing the truth is being racist then I am guilty. But get this straight - I have never been racist nor do I condone racism. I have written about my best friends who are Indians and how I celebrated Deepavali with them, how I grew up with them and how I even know how to speak Tamil!!! I will not publish comments that attempt to smear my good image nor provide racists in disguise of being upright persons to use this blog aas their platform to warp the truth.
So whoever you are, I pray that God will bless you and make you see that I pray for a better Malaysia and it has to begin with you and me. We have to see each other beyond color. We are Malaysians, sharing and co-existing in this country and we have to work together for the greater good of this nation. I have no time to respond to negative comments and do not want to partake in any verbal war because that is not me and not my style.
I wish you well and farewell. This is the one and only time I will respond to the many comments which you have left here. Thanks to all my readers who have been wonderful commenters and I have never ever NOT published any comments from anyone except for this person.
Thanks so much dear reader for reading. Do leave a comment to share your thoughts and views and I am sure you all will, as always, leave beautiful comments. I have an agenda in this blog - to spread goodwill, harmony, hope and to inspire others to work towards a better Malaysia. I hope we can share the same agenda. Have a lovely evening.
Anonymous "There is ONE commenter who always claims that I am racist against Indians."
He/she/they is the real racist who only ONE objective in mind - get you confused and mad to point of jumping out of your window and die.
You did right. Don't EVER, allow such evil spirits into your blog. They are not humans, just some displaced evil spirits looking for a place to squat. They are not really interested in freedom of expression. All they want is the freedom to slander and spew hate.
To this unseen evil spirit I wish to it - F**k off!!! and don't come back!!!
StraightTalking