Essay: MEDIA ANALYSIS IN MALAYSIA (NEWSPAPERS)

INTRODUCTION Newspapers are essential in everyone’s daily life as it is the main source of news since the olden days before the television was invented. Without the newspapers, where does the news come from? Particularly in Malaysia, there are several languages used in the country. The main languages used however are English, Bahasa and Mandarin. Each of these different languages have specially dedicated newspapers to the particular language. For the Malaysian English Newspaper, one of the best known newspapers is Malaysia is The Star. The Star was first published as a regional newspaper in George Town, Penang in 1971. During that time, it is also the first kind of tabloid to be
Utusan Malaysia was published three times weekly in the vernacular Malaya language, malay. It covered cable and local news and also commented on a wide range of public issues that seems appealing to an urban Singapore audience. In addition, newspapers were used as a language teaching medium back then in school. In 1931, after the Lembaga Melayu folded, Warta Malaya, founded by Onn Jaafar became successful. It became an important voice for the Malay readers because it shifted course from Singapore to the Malaya peninsula. It discussed the most controversial topics regarding non-Malay demands for higher education, rights and the development of the Malay economy for the Malays. Moreover, this newspaper is a medium for the press to criticize the British occupation of Malaysian. The founder of Warta Malaya became an outspoken critic of colonial authority and the Malaya relationship with Great Britain. By the mid 1930, there were over 84 periodicals published in Singapore and throughout the Malay Penisula and 25 of them were new Malaysia newspapers published in the Malay language. This is due to the increasing commercialization and professionalism in journalism. Plus, the affordable price caused the number of readers to increase. Hence, newspapers started to flourish. Besides Warta Malaya, prominent newspapers in circulation include Majlis, Lembaga and Utusan Melayu. After World War