News online and public opinion on Facebook during the Semenyih and Rantau by-elections

Mohamed, Shafizan and Abdul Manan, Kamaruzzaman (2019) News online and public opinion on Facebook during the Semenyih and Rantau by-elections. In: Post-GE14 By-Elections: Implications for GE15, 28th August 2019, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

In response to the importance of social networking sites as sources of information, news media organizations have set up Facebook channels in which they publish news stories or links to articles. This allows for a wider news reach as well as audience participation. When audience members read and subsequently comment on news articles on Facebook, it becomes possible to identify public opinions and public sentiments on the issues being covered. Based upon this assumption, this study investigated whether there is a strong relationship between the news shared on Facebook and the public’s opinion on those news. The study broadly asked do online news set the agenda on Facebook? Content analysis was conducted on selected news and the Facebook comments on those news during the campaign weeks leading up to the Semenyih and Rantau by elections that were held in February 2019 and April 2019 respectively. The study found that while the notion of agenda setting is still strong in which the news still influenced the facebook users’ agenda, the relationship is now very much contested in that the networked environment of social media has created a more complex way to how public formed their opinions. In addition to this discovery, the study also contemplated on whether can online news effect election result?

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Invited Papers)
Additional Information:	5172/74744
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Facebook, Election, Malaysia, Politics, Public opinion, Agenda setting, News
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) > H61.8 Communication of information J Political Science > JQ Political institutions Asia > JQ715 Politics and Government in Malaysia J Political Science > JQ Political institutions Asia > JQ719 Elections in Malaysia
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences > Department of Communication Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
Depositing User:	Dr Shafizan Mohamed
Date Deposited:	29 Oct 2019 09:53
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2019 09:53
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/74744

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