(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
ANALYSIS OF THE OWNERSHIP OF MEDIA IN MALAYSIA – POLITICAL
ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE
The concept of freedom of press was started more than 315 years ago. In line with current
development this concept is a part of freedom of expression as practised by many democratic
nations. In reality this concept often becomes a heated topic amongst the researchers and it is
very complex in nature. It relates closely to the societies with different cultures, religions, beliefs,
values, legal outlooks, procedures and ethics. In fact the proposal made by John Milton, the man
who was responsible for spitballing this concept through his famous discourse entitled
“Areopagitica” only came into reality in 1695 that was 52 years after it was delivered in the
British Parliament in 1643
Looking from the historical point of view the development of the press in this country had
exerted a tremendous influence on this concept which was later being accepted as one of the
machineries of administration (aside from the executive, legislative and judiciary). Research on
media from the perspective of power had received a lot of attentions from the intellectual group.
For example, McQuail himself had expressed his opinion on this through the three theories
namely Mass Society, Marxist and Functional Structure. One thing for sure is that media was one
of the institutions embodied within the purview of the nation alongside with the other institutions.
Huggin clarified as follows:
“The state refers to al the institutions, agencies and agents
that operate within a given territorial space, have legitimate
power and authority over us, and can legitimate utilise
force as an (ultimate)sanctions against us if we fail to
accept its laws and orders, or resist its actions or act
against it”.
(Huggins:330:2002)
It is obvious the government will govern the society according to the stipulation which
embodies every source ranging from the aspects of accumulation of revenue and its distribution.
This is known as political process which eventually resulting in the formation of policy as desired
by the government. From the point of view of the mass society it clearly shows the existence of
the group that dominates and also the one that being dominated. The dominant group will utilise
every effort to perpetuate its power and this will shape up the politic of such nation. Basically
there are two methods of perpetuating its power one is through the element of force (coercion)
and other through legislation. The use of legislation will minimise the implication of force toward
the institution which is under the patronage of the nation. In a dire situation there is such country
which uses the element of force by involving the security force (police and army) in overcoming
the chaos. Nevertheless under most circumstances what really transpired are regarded by some
people as natural and they readily accept enforcement of law by the government. Under this
situation Low state:
“In ‘normal’ situations, ruling groups need not deploy much
(overt) violence, because they successfully ‘criminalize’ those not
‘playing by the rules’. This requires getting most people to agree
that the laws are ‘just’, so when the police-courts-prison system is
used against ‘criminals’, this ‘violence’ is seen as legitimate”.
(Louw:195:2005)
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