*Wong Fei Mun & Lean Mei Li
Abstract:
The political tsunami that occurred on 8 March 2008 sent shock waves throughout Malaysia. It was an unexpected turn of events that many thought of as a dream or nightmare, depending on who was having the dream. Thus, this study looks into how the politicians from all parties used the media to convey messages across to the media consumers in order to influence the public to vote for them. Specifically, this study considers the issues that were raised by the politicians and picked up by the media. The investigation of the present study is undertaken using the theoretical framework of Agenda Setting. A quantitative analysis using Content Analysis is proposed to examine the issues that were brought up by the politicians and picked up by the Malaysian daily, The Star, as reflected in the news reports on the days leading to the general election.
Keywords: Agenda setting, elections, issues, Malaysia, media