Impak sumber maklumat terhadap sokongan kepada parti politik: Kajian empirikal PRU di Malaysia (Impact of information resources on voter support of political parties: An empirical study of Malaysian general elections)

Abstract

Akses dan perolehan sumber maklumat melalui pembacaan dan respon terhadap sesuatu maklumat akan mempengaruhi pendirian seseorang pengundi sama ada bersikap menerima atau percaya sepenuhnya ataupun melawan atau menafikan maklumat yang diperoleh tersebut. Kajian ini melihat sejauhmanakah faktur sumber maklumat media cetak dan elektronik media cetak dan elektronik telah memperngaruhi pola pengundian di Malaysia. Berdasarkan soal selidik di kawasan Parlimen Batu Pahat yang melibatkan 300 orang responden, dapatan kajian menunjukkan responden yang merujuk dan membaca media cetak dan elektronik lebih cenderung menyokong BN manakala responden yang mengakses sumber alternatif seperti blog dan media sosial lebih cenderung menyokong parti-parti dalam Pakatan Pembangkang atau Pakatan Rakyat. Hal ini kerana kedua-dua media cetak dan elektronik dikuasai parti pemerintah iaitu BN manakala kebanyakan blog dan media sosial majoritinya dikendalikan oleh blogger atau netizen yang pro-Pakatan Rakyat. Keadaan ini berlarutan sejak PRU 1999 hinggalah PRU 2013. Justeru, media baru atau internet ini telah mengubah landskap pilihanraya negara ini dan mencetuskan pendemokrasian maklumat yang luas dan lebih cepat berbanding media tradisional.

Katakunci: media alternatif, media tradisional, parti politik, pendemokrasian maklumat, pengundi, pilihan rayaumum

Access and acquisition of information through reading and interacting to such information may influence a voter's stance to either accept or reject the information obtained. This study examines the extent to which traditional and new information resources had influenced voting pattern in Malaysia’s general elections. Based on a questionnaire survey of 300 respondents in the parliamentary constituency of Batu Pahat, the findings found that respondents who referred to and read both print and electronic media were more likely to support the ruling BN while respondents accessing alternative sources such as blogs and social media were more likely to support the parties in opposition (PR) . This was because both the print and electronic media in the country were controlled by the ruling party BN whereas most blogs and social media were controlled by the pro-netizen PR. This situation prevailed from the 1999 to the 2013 general elections. Thus, new media or the internet had changed the electoral landscape of the country and triggered a more far-reaching and faster democratization of information than traditional media.

Keywords: alternative media, democratization of information, elections, general elections, political parties, voters