General election 15: the star's news articles' framing and how it influences first-time Malaysian voters

• Main Author: Ng, Kah Kei
• Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: H Social Sciences (General); QA76 Computer software
• Online Access: http://eprints.utar.edu.my/6402/1/Ng_Kah_Kei_FYP.pdf; http://eprints.utar.edu.my/6402/
• Institution: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman

General Election-15 (GE-15) has brought about a significant change for Malaysia. First-time Malaysian voters have emerged as a major influence in this political shift. Simultaneously, social media, particularly Facebook, has played a pivotal role in shaping the news frame and enabling every citizen to access the latest information, issues, and crises. Additionally, the voting behaviour of first-time Malaysian voters has become a significant area of research during GE-15. The objective of this study is to identify the news frame set by The Star’s Facebook during GE-15 and to examine how Facebook news influences the voting behaviour of first-time Malaysian voters. This research employs two quantitative approaches: content analysis to investigate how The Star’s Facebook Page set the news frame, and the distribution of a survey questionnaire to 100 first-time Malaysian voters from the Klang Valley region who participated in GE-15. The findings of the research indicate that The Star’s Facebook Page featured 12 categories among 237 news articles during the GE-15 campaign period. Furthermore, the study concludes that The Star’s Facebook news has indeed influenced the voting behaviour of first-time Malaysian voters, and the main reason is the news from The Star’s Facebook is informative. Keywords: General Election-15, Facebook, The Star, first-time Malaysian voters, voting behaviour, influence, news frame