A Quantitative Content Analysis of Utusan Malaysia and The Star’s Reporting on A Controversial Thanksgiving Dinner in Damansara Utama Methodist Churh

Abstract

Recently, religious conflicts that happened in Malaysia are gaining attention from the mass media. Issues related to the threat of Muslims’ faith are increasingly becoming a hot topic in Malaysia even more so after the last 12th General Election. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine and compare between two mainstream newspapers in Malaysia with different languages Utusan Malaysia and The Star on their reports concerning a controversial religious issue relating to the matter of faith and beliefs among Muslims, which was triggered during a multiracial Thanksgiving dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC), organised by Harapan Komuniti on 3rd August, 2011. The objectives of this study are to determine the (a) visibility/prominence given by both newspapers; (b) type of news used by both newspapers; (c) news sources used by both newspapers and (d) inclination of the newspapers articles towards the parties involved in the conflict. The results had shown that Utusan Malaysia had given more prominence and visibility on the issue than The Star newspaper.