Backgrounding of LGBT in Newspaper Coverage in Malaysia
Abstract
In Malaysia, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual dan Transgender (LGBT) face moral sanctions and legal challenges because it is prohibited by Islam and not condoned by major religions. A search using Google Trends show that there was a spike of interest on “LGBT in Malaysia” in 2009 and 2019, but there has been sustained interest since 2014. The present study examined framing of LGBT in four online newspapers in Malaysia. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the percentage of episodic and thematic framing in the newspapers, and to compare the topics that are reported in LGBT news. LGBT seems to be backgrounded in newspaper coverage by Astro Awani, Free Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini and The Star Online because only 60 articles published in 2019 were related to LGBT. The analysis showed that 81.67% of the articles were episodic frames and 18.33% were thematic frames. Malaysiakini had relatively more thematic articles while Astro Awani had the lowest percentage of thematic articles on LGBT. Over half (61.67%) of the articles were on LGBT news stories in Malaysia while other articles reported LGBT-linked persons or events in other countries. The local topics reported on LGBT were specific events which generated views on LGBT from politicians, religious leaders, and activists. The coverage of LGBT topics in other countries included criminalisation and societal discrimination of LGBT, and support for LGBT. The findings suggest caution in news on LBGT, with newspapers treading a thin line between affirming human rights and taking the official position of the country on LGBT.
References
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Watch, Human Rights. (2016). “Permainan politik ini menghancurkan hidup kami” Komunitas LGBT Indonesia dalam ancaman. New York: HRW.
Yoursay: Unions are supposed to fight for the rights of all members, no? (2019, June 29). MalaysiaKini. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/481650
Zuhra, W. U. N. (2013). Citra homoseksual dalam media massa online nasional: Analisis framing tentang citra homoseksual dalam Tempo. co dan Republika Online). FLOW, 1(3). https://jurnal.usu.ac.id/index.php/flow/article/view/1598
Alias, D. N. H. (2019, April 9). Lelaki gay tawar aktiviti seks ditahan Jabatan Imigresen Pulau Pinang. https://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/lelaki-gay-tawar-aktiviti-seks-ditahan-jabatan-imigresen-pulau-pinang-203807
All you can read. (2019). Top 30 malaysian newspaper and news media. https://www.allyoucanread.com/malaysian-newspapers/
American Psychological Association. (2021a). Understanding bisexuality. https://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/bisexual
American Psychological Association. (2021b). What does transgender mean? https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbt/transgender
Arif, M. I. A. M., Shafie, M. S., Hanapi, H., & Mohd, F. (2018). Salah laku LGBT dalam perundangan Malaysia: Undang-undang sebagai mekanisme pembanterasan dan kawalan. Misconduct of LGBT in the Malaysian law: Law as the Mechanism of Obliteration and Control. Journal of Advanced Research in Social and Behavioural Sciences 13(1), 19-34.
Busana pro LGBT: Fathul Bari personal gedung fesyen H&M (2019, June 1). MalaysiaKini. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/478255
Dorall, A. (2020, June 1). The current state of LGBT rights in Malaysia. https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/the-current-state-of-lgbt-rights-in-malaysia/ar-BB14S1as
Evans, N. J. (2002). The impact of an LGBT safe zone project on campus climate. Journal of College Student Development, 43(4), 522-539.
Free Malaysia Today. (2019, September 21). LGBTQ characters and shows in focus at Emmys. https://news.yahoo.com/lgbtq-characters-shows-focus-emmys-014733673.html
Gerbner, G. (2007). Cultivation analysis dalam West and Turner. Introducing Communication Theory. New York: McGraw Hill.
Gross, K. (2008). Framing persuasive appeals: Episodic and thematic framing, emotional response, and policy opinion. Political Psychology, 29(2), 169-192.
Haridi, N. H. B. M. (2016). Kumpulan lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transgander (LGBT) ancaman terhadap keamanan dan keharmonian beragama di Malaysia. Islam Realitas: Journal of Islamic & Social Studies, 2(2), 211-218.
Human Rights Day: Kudos to the Rakyat. (2019, December 9). MalaysiaKini. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/502937
Indari, A. A., & Novianti, W. (2018). Analisis praktik wacana mengenai kelompok LGBT dalam publikasi daring feminis. Jurnal Acta Diurna, 14(2), 156-167. http://jos.unsoed.ac.id/index.php/acta_diurna/article/view/1359
International lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. (2019). Sexual orientation law in the world. https://ilga.org/maps-sexual-orientation-laws
Iyengar, S. (1990). Framing responsibility for political issues: The case of poverty. Political Behavior, 12(1), 19-40.
Iyengar, S. (1991). Is anyone responsible? How television frames political issues. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Kamal, S. M. (2018, August 30). DPM says haram as a Muslim to support LGBT. https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/08/30/dpm-says-haram-as-a-muslim-to-support-lgbt/1667541
Kaos, J. J. (2018, August 11). Muhajid: Stop picking on transgenders. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/08/11/mujahid-stop-picking-on-transgenders/.
Lee, S., Kim, S., & Love, A. (2014). Coverage of the Gay Games from 1980–2012 in US newspapers: An analysis of newspaper article framing. Journal of Sport Management, 28(2), 176-188.
Mohamad, M. (2015). Lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transgender: Perspektif undang-undang jenayah syariah. Jurnal Undang-undang dan Masyarakat, 19, 29-36.
Mok, O. (2018,August 9). LGBT lifestyle not for 'public space', says Penang Amanah Youth. https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2018/08/09/lgbt-lifestyle-not-for-public-space-says-penang-amanah-youth/1660751
Morrison, M. A., Parker, K. M., Sadika, B., Sameen, D. E., & Morrison, T. G. (2020). ‘Newsworthy enough?’: Media framing of Canadian LGBTQ persons’ sexual violence experiences. Psychology & Sexuality, 1-19.
Neo, R. (2020). How does Europeanisation influence domestic LGBT discourses? Evidence from the Turkish press, 2005–2010. European Politics and Society, 21(5), 535-553.
Operation Iraqi freedom: How the media portrays the war in Iraq. (n.d.). Department of Communication, University of Oklahoma. https://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/04D1/lit.html
Reuters. (2018, September 21). Malaysia cannot accept same-sex marriage, says Mahathir. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-lgbt/malaysia-cannot-accept-same-sex- marriage-says-mahathir-idUSKCN1M10VA?il=0
Russia probes “destructive” videos of kids talking to LGBT members. (2019, November 3). https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2019/11/03/russia-probes-destructive-videos-of-kids-talking-to-lgbt-members/
Sinkhorn, S. J. (2011). Newspaper use of fear appeal in coverage of LGBT issues. (Masters thesis, Ball State University) http://liblink.bsu.edu/catkey/1659821
The Star. (2019, June 11). Germany may ban ‘conversion therapies’ for gays. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/2019/06/11/germany-may-ban-conversion-therapies-for-gays
United Nations Human Rights. Criminalization of same-sex relations. (n.d.). https://www.unfe.org/system/unfe-43-UN_Fact_Sheets_-_FINAL_-_Criminalization_(1).pdf
United Nations Human Rights Council. (2014). Human rights council resolution: Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity (adopted 26 September 2014) A/HRC/RES/27/32
Utaminingtyas, E. C. (2017). Kekerasan simbolik media online(Analisis framing berita fenomena LGBT dalam portal berita Republika Online). Interaksi Online, 19(3), 1-15.
Van Dijk, T. A. (Ed.). (2011). Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction. SAGE.
Vanderbilt University. (2021). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex life. https://www.vanderbilt.edu/lgbtqi/
Wahid, U., & Yakut, S. A. (2018). The framing analysis of news construction on issues lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender in online media ‘Detik.com and Republika. co.id’. Advanced Science Letters, 24(4), 211-215.
Watch, Human Rights. (2016). “Permainan politik ini menghancurkan hidup kami” Komunitas LGBT Indonesia dalam ancaman. New York: HRW.
Yoursay: Unions are supposed to fight for the rights of all members, no? (2019, June 29). MalaysiaKini. https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/481650
Zuhra, W. U. N. (2013). Citra homoseksual dalam media massa online nasional: Analisis framing tentang citra homoseksual dalam Tempo. co dan Republika Online). FLOW, 1(3). https://jurnal.usu.ac.id/index.php/flow/article/view/1598
Published
2021-06-01
How to Cite
TING, Su-Hie; JOHNSON, Audrea; JEROME, Collin.
Backgrounding of LGBT in Newspaper Coverage in Malaysia.
Asian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, [S.l.], v. 3, n. 2, p. 1-13, june 2021.
ISSN 2710-5865.
Available at: <https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ajbs/article/view/13452>. Date accessed: 14 sep. 2024.
Section
Articles
