Bridging the Gap: Exploring Police-Media Relations in Malaysia

Authors

  • Sharon Wilson Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Creative Industries, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Sungai Long campus
  • Tham Jen Sern Department of Communication, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5360-2959

Abstract

The Malaysian police and media have had a very volatile relationship. Both are similar, that is responsible to address community issues, crime and crime prevention, yet different as in their perceptions on each other. Through qualitative interviews with Polis Diraja Malaysia (The Royal Malaysian Police) and reporters, this study explored the dynamics of the police-media relations. In particular, the researchers were able to unveil perceptions of both police and the media on each other, the strategies used by the police in dealing and building the relationship with the media and also factors influencing the relationships. In general, the findings collected from this study suggest that there was no explicit difference in media relations practised by the police from the conventional media relations practice in the corporate world. Findings from our study illustrate that, from the crime reporters’ points of views, the police (also played a role as public relations practitioner/media relations specialist) essentially did not understand the needs and demands of journalism. We found that the police had a good relationship with the media at all times; this was rather different from the viewpoint of the media on the police. Our findings of this study attested to the fact that PDRM acted as a media agenda builder. Keywords: Media relations, police-media relations, dynamics, police, PDRM.

Author Biographies

Sharon Wilson, Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Creative Industries, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Sungai Long campus

Dr. Sharon Jacqueline Albert Wilson is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Creative Industries, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR).

Tham Jen Sern, Department of Communication, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia

Tham Jen Sern is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang Malaysia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Media Studies and a Doctor of Philosophy (Public Relations) from the University of Malaya.Prior to joining UPM, he was a language teacher at Tsun Jin High School, where he taught SPM Bahasa Malaysia (the National Language of Malaysia). After completing his Ph.D. studies, he then joined New Era UniversityCollege in Kajang as a full-time lecturer from Feb 2014 – Feb 2015. After servicing at the College for a year, he moved to Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) Sungai Long Campus as an assistant professor and head of programmes (Master’s degrees) from March 2015 – October 2018.Before completing his Bachelor degree, he was offered a Bright Sparks Scholarship by the University of Malaya to pursue postgraduate studies in the field of public relations. Due to the nature and quality of his research, he managed to convert his Master's degree to Ph.D degree in 2012. His Ph.D research examined the way of the media circulate social marketing messages and programmes on HIV/AIDS to the public, gauged the public’s perception of the concept of social marketing and the disease as well as explored the role of the government, non-government organisations and media institutions in responding to the issue of HIV/AIDS in Malaysia.He has presented a number of research papers at various international and national conferences and has also published the results in several refereed journals, conference proceedings and chapters-in-books locally and internationally. He also actively shared his knowledge with his peers and juniors by attending the classes such as Introduction to Public Relations, Introduction to Media Studies and Media Research Methods for Bachelor students and Research Methodology for Master's students during his Ph.D candidature.Prior to joining UTAR, Tham was a language teacher at Tsun Jin High School, where he taught SPM Bahasa Malaysia. After completing his Ph.D studies, he then joined New Era College in Kajang as a full-time lecturer from Feb 2014 - Feb 2015. He taught various courses related to Public Relations and Communication such as Introduction to Public Relations, Public Relations Media Application, Public Relations Campaign Planning and Theories in Mass Communication. Tham is currently a member of the Institution Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM).  He has been invited to be a manuscript reviewer for international and local journals such as Journal of the Southeast Asia Research Centre for Communication and Humanities (SERACH), Malaysian Journal of Communication (JK-MJC), Jurnal Personalia Pelajar and IUKL Research Journal. 

References

Altheide, D. L. (1985). Media power. Beverly Hills: Sage.

Amnesty International. (2011). Malaysia: Police use brutal tactics against peaceful protesters. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2011/07/malaysia-police-use-brutal-tactics-against-peaceful-protesters/

Becker, H. (1967). Whose side are we on?. Social Problems, 14, 239-247.

Bloustien, G., & Israel, M. (2006) Crime and the media. In Goldsmith, A., Israel, M., & Daly, K. (Eds.), Crime and justice: A guide to criminology (pp. 45-63). Sydney: Lawbook Company.

Boyle, R. (1999). Spotlighting the police: Changing UK police-media relations in the 1990s. International Journal of Sociology of Law, 27, 229-250.

Carpenter, J. P., Daniere, A. G., & Takahashi, L. M. (2004). Cooperation, trust and social capital in Southeast Asian urban slums. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organisation, 55(4), 533-551.

Carlson, M. (2009). Dueling, dancing or dominating? Journalists and their sources. Sociology Compass, 3, 526–542.

Chandler, R. C. (2008). Media relations: Concepts and principles for effective public relations. Denver, Colorado: Outskirts Press.

Chermak, S. (1995) Image control: How police affect the presentation of crime news. American Journal of Police, 14(2), 21-43.

Chermak, S., & Weiss, A. (2005). Maintaining legitimacy using external communication strategies: An analysis of police-media relations. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33, 501-512.

Chibnall, S. (1977). Law and order news. The British Journal of Criminology, 18(3), 311-312.

Crandon, G. L., & Dunne, S. (1997). Symbiosis or vassalage? The media and the law enforcers - The case of Avon and Somerset police. Policing and Society, 8, 77-91.

Crank, J. P. (2015). Understanding police culture (2nd ed.). Oxon, Routledge.

Chrismas, R. (2012). An arranged marriage: Police-media conflict & collaboration. Canadian Graduate Journal of Sociology and Criminology, 1(1), 43-55.

Colistra, R. (2012). Shaping and cutting the media agenda: Television reporters perceptions of agenda-and frame-building and agenda-cutting influences. Journalism & Communication Monographs, 14(2), 85-146. doi: 10.1177/1522637912444106

Cooke, L., & Sturges, P. (2009). Police and media relations in an era of freedom of information. Policing & Society, 19(4), 406-424.

Ericson, R., Baranek, P., & Chan, J. (1987). Visualizing deviance: A study of news organization. Canada: University of Toronto Press/ Open University Press.

Ericson, R., Baranek, P., & Chan, J. (1989). Negotiating control: A study of news sources. Canada: University of Toronto Press/ Open University Press.

Ericson, R., Baranek, P., & Chan, J. (1991). Representing order: Crime, law and justice in the news media. Canada: University of Toronto Press / Open University Press.

Grabosky, P., & Wilson, P. (1989). Journalism and justice: How crime is reported. Australia: Pluto Press.

Hall, S., Critcher, C., Jefferson, T., Clarke, J., & Roberts, B. (1978). Policing the crisis mugging, the state, and law and order. Hong Kong: The Macmillan Press.

HK police bids for consultant training on press relations and Gen Y. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.marketing-interactive.com/hk-police-bids-for-consultant-training-on-press-relations-and-gen-y/

Johnston, J. (2013). Media relations: Issues & strategies. Australia: Allen & Unwin.

Kvalve, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. CA: Sage.

Kasinsky, R. G. (1994). Patrolling the facts; Media, cops and crime. In G. Barak (Ed.), Media, process, and the social construction of crime. New York: Garland.

Kešetović, Ž. (2007). Improving police and media relations in Serbia. Kriminologijia, 2(20), 92-108.

Kingshott, B. F. (2011). Effective police management of the media. Criminal Justice Studies, 24(3), 241-253.

Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion. New York, NY, US: MacMillan Co.

Lovell, J. S. (2002). Media power and information control: A study of police organizations and media relations. Retrieved from National Criminal Justice Reference Service website: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/197060.pdf

Manning, P. K. (1995). The police occupational culture in Anglo-American societies. In W. Bailey (Ed.), The encyclopaedia of police science (pp. 472–475). NY: Garland Publishing.

Meyrowitz, J. (1986). No sense of place: The impact of electronic media on social behaviour. New York: Oxford.

Mohamed Ariffin, M. Y. (2016). Perhubungan media daripada perspektif editor Melayu Islam pertubuhan media di Malaysia. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 32(2), 259-276.

Mohamed Ariffin, M. Y., & Ahmad Ishak, M. I. (2010). Amalan penyediaan dan penulisan bahan siaran media di Malaysia: Kajian analisis kandungan. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 26(1), 1-16.

Murray, L., & Alyce, M. (2014) Policing and media: Public relations, simulations and communications. New York: Routledge.

Paoline III, E. A. (2003). Taking stock: Toward a richer understanding of police culture. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31, 199-214.

Price, V. (1992). Public opinion. London: Sage Publications.

Reiner, R. (2008). Policing and the media. In Newburn, T. (Ed.), Handbook of policing (2nd ed.) (pp. 313-335). Cullompton: Willan.

Schlesinger, P., & Tumber, H. (1994). Reporting crime: The media politics of criminal justice. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Sherwood, M., Nicholson, M., & Marjoribanks, T. (2016). Access, agenda building and information subsidies: Media relations in professional sport. International Review for Sociology of Sport. doi: 10.1177/1012690216637631

Shin, J.-H., & Cameron, G. T. (2002). Informal relations: A look at personal influence in media relations. Journal of Communication Management, 7(3), 239-253.

Supa, D. W. (2008). Maximizing media relations through a better understanding of the public relations-journalist relationships (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/comtalk/files/2012/11/Maximizing-Media-Relations.pdf

Supa, D. W. (2014). The academic inquiry of media relations as both a tactical and strategic function of public relations. Research Journal of the Institute for Public Relations, 1(1), 1-15.

Wilson, S., & Ibrahim, F. (2018). Diplomacy in reporting: The Sulu conflict in East Borneo. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 34(3), 245-257.

Zafra, N., & Maydell, E. (2018). Facing the information void: A case study of Malaysia Airlines’ media relations and crisis communication during the MH370 disaster. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, 19, 41-65.

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2019-09-30

Issue

Vol. 35 No. 3 (2019)

Section

Articles

License

If the article is accepted for publication, copyright of this article will be vested to UKM Press, National University of Malaysia (UKM).

All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, unless otherwise stated.