Mohammed is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Journalism and Communication Studies, Southern University College, Malaysia. His areas of interest include public relations, crisis communication, digital media, digital learning, political communication and media framing. He is an author and peer-reviewer of several journal articles in reputed journals and has worked on various research projects. Mohammed received several academic honours and awards. He is affiliated with several professional organisations. Also, he is a certified trainer by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (PhD), (M.HSc), (BA), (MIPR). Address: Southern University College, PTD 64888, Jalan Selatan Utama km 15, Taman Perusahaan Ringan Pulai, 81300 Skudai, Johor
Capstone International Research Colloquium 2022 (CIRCO 3.0), 2022
Peace journalism replaced the dominant war journalism due to the prevalence of propaganda in the ... more Peace journalism replaced the dominant war journalism due to the prevalence of propaganda in the era of World Wars and the Cold War. The need has emerged to replace, refine, reconstruct, and improve the role and reputation of journalism after serving as a part of the propaganda apparatus and being complicit in propaganda and war chaos. A transition of the role of Journalists was required to be shifted from propagandists and pro-war to peacemakers. The media coverage of peace and war influences the public on their way of thinking, thus contributing to fuelling or resolving tension and conflicts. This study explores the news stories of the New Straits Times (NST) on peace and war journalism on the two Palestinian Presidents. Framing theory is used in this study. To achieve the research objectives of this study, a content analysis was employed on the newspaper's coverage for a total of 21 years from 1996, since the first Palestinian General Election was held until coverage declined in 2016. A total of 335 news stories were found in NST about the two Palestinian Presidents regarding peace and war journalism. The peace stories figured 97.9% compared to 2.1% for war stories. The results revealed that President Arafat used both peace and war approaches compared to President Abbas who only used the peace approach. The coverage of NST reflected its support for peace and solution initiatives rather than war and conflict.
Online distance learning policies were formulated and implemented among some Malaysian universiti... more Online distance learning policies were formulated and implemented among some Malaysian universities long ago, but their value emerged since COVID-19. Emanating from the diffusion of innovation theory, this study examined the perception of higher education students on the influence and relationship between six independent variables (compatibility, observability, relative advantage, complexity, trialability, and digital skills) and one dependent variable (digital literacy). A total of 524 respondents were sampled, comprising students from six public and private Malaysian universities. The findings from the correlation analysis show a significant positive relationship between the six independent variables and the dependent variable. Meanwhile, in the regression analysis, three of the independent variables (observability, trialability, and digital skill) have a significant and positive effect on digital literacy. This study placed the diffusion of innovation in a specific context that supports designing online distance learning and digital literacy policies.
Malaysian Media Coverage of Palestinian Presidents’ Image during Crises 1996-2016, 2019
Maintaining a good image of political leaders is significant to ensure their political life. The ... more Maintaining a good image of political leaders is significant to ensure their political life. The image of political leaders, including presidents of any country, is threatened when they are facing critical situations. There is a necessity to repair the image of presidents when threatened with crises. This effort of image repair by presidents is mostly covered by local or foreign media, and this coverage might be positive or negative. This study examines the coverage by the Malaysian media, specifically New Straits Times (NST), on the Palestinian Presidents, Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas and their portrayal towards several crises. Both image repair theory and framing perspective were used to guide the study. A total of 2715 news stories have been found about Palestinian issues in the 21 year period covered from 1996-2016. A total of 531 stories were related to Palestinian Presidents, 456 stories were on crises. This study employing content analysis has revealed three main crises faced by the Palestinian Presidents, namely political, social, and economic crisis. The political crises included: peace process, internal conflict, foreign pressure, Israeli attacks, Israeli blockade, Palestinian attacks, Israeli threats, clashes, demonstrations, Israeli spying, kidnapping, and relations breakdown. The social crises included: corruption, information leakage, cheating, false information, Israeli rumours, and Israeli slanders. The economic crises included only financial crisis. Palestinian Presidents have used all the main image repair strategies, namely denial, evasion of responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification. These strategies have been included in the 50 news stories. The number of used sub-image repair strategies was 61. The employed sub-strategies were simple denial, shifting the blame, provocation, defeasibility, attack accuser, correct/solve problem, confess/admit, and apology. Neutral slant of news stories was the most prevalent slant by NST, followed by positive, negative, and balanced slants respectively. But President Arafat received more coverage than President Abbas. The contribution of study came through matching the types of crisis with image repair strategies since understanding the crisis and determining its type is important for choosing the most suitable response strategy for it. Observing the framing of crises by certain media provides crisis managers and their organisations the most fitted crisis response through using image repair strategies which reduce the damaged image. Another contribution is by combining image repair as public relations theory with framing as journalism theory in this study.
Crises are unavoidable which makes response an imperative matter. Thus, the proactive style becom... more Crises are unavoidable which makes response an imperative matter. Thus, the proactive style becomes an indispensable part of the readiness and preparedness in any potential crisis and can help prevent it. Besides, the reactive style is still important to deal effectively with a crisis especially regarding its recovery. Proactive and reactive styles were needed by Palestinian Presidents due to the occurrence of various crises faced by them. This study examines both proactive and reactive styles used by the Palestinian Presidents leadership during crisis. Besides, it examines how the Palestinian Presidents used these styles to deal with different crises at different times. This study used content analysis on the news stories from the New Straits Times. A total of 313 stories from1996 to 2016 pertaining to proactive and reactive styles used by Palestinian Presidents were found. The stories that included reactive style figured 67.7%, while the stories that included proactive style totaled 32.3%. For President Arafat, a total of 63% of the stories included reactive style compared to 37% of the stories that included proactive style. For President Abbas, a total of 78.4% of the stories contained reactive style compared to 21.6% that contained proactive style. Proactive style has been used only in political crises, while reactive style has been used in all crises. Providing various scenarios in dealing with crises allows other organizations and individuals to be initiative in dealing with any similar future crises. This study serves as a guideline for choosing proper prospective measures and responses to crises.
International Online Journal of Language, Communication, and Humanities, 2021
During Movement Control Order (MCO) of COVID-19, many information has been disseminated through b... more During Movement Control Order (MCO) of COVID-19, many information has been disseminated through both traditional and social media. Some of that information was credible and came from reliable sources while other information was fake and included misinformation, disinformation, and infodemic. The people needed credible information rather than fake one in this critical time. This study aimed to explore the credibility of media, information sources, the main issues, and preferred communication patterns and method of works perceived by Malaysians during MCO. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed, and 210 were returned. The results of this study showed that the majority of respondents 69% relied on new media as their main source of information compared to 30.9% who relied on traditional media. However, a total of 64.8% of respondents considered traditional media as more credible and accurate compared to 35.2% for new media. Additionally, the main concerns and issues followed by respondents on media were health, economic, social, education and others. Finally, a total of 55.7% preferred face to face communication compared to 44.3% who preferred online communication. A total of 51% of respondents preferred to work from the workplace or office compared to 49% who preferred to work from home. Television played a significant role during the pandemic period due to its high credibility as perceived by Malaysians. The main intriguing implication of this study is considering the traditional media as more credible than social media by the Malaysians although the social media was their main source of information.
The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioural Sciences, Jun 10, 2021
Effective crisis communication response through using the proper strategies is critical to cope w... more Effective crisis communication response through using the proper strategies is critical to cope with crises and to protect the reputation and existence of the involved parties. Usually, aviation accidents receive great attention from the media and the public. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) which was shot down over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014 during its scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur received global attention. This attention was due to the involvement of several countries either at the level of the countries of victims or the countries accused of the attack. Image repair theory proposed by William Benoit, the widely used in crisis communication response was implemented in this study. The Russian response to the international accusation, especially from the Western world on supporting the attackers of MH17 has been examined in this study. This study implemented both quantitative and qualitative content analysis to achieve its aims. A total of 306 news stories from the online New Straits Times newspaper Website from the years 2014 to 2019 were analysed. A total of 191 strategies were included in 123 news stories since some stories combined more than a strategy. Out of 191 strategies, 43.5% were simple denial, followed by shift the blame and attack accuser with 35.1% and 21.5% respectively. The results revealed that the image repair effort by Russia was effective and successful.
Keywords: Crisis communication, image repair, MH17, response strategies, Russia
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2020
The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in t... more The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in their slash-and-burn forests to clear lands for lucrative palm oil plantations and its caused transboundary haze became a hot issue for discussion. These fires have a negative influence on Indonesia and its neighbourhood countries, especially on their financial and human resources such as environment, economy, properties, and people. Using the right strategies in responding to any crisis determines the success of its management and coping with that crisis with minimal losses. This study aimed to examine the communication crisis response by Indonesia to this crisis by using image repair theory. Also, this study examined how image repair strategies were used by Indonesia. This study analysed the content of news stories from the website of the New Straits Times newspaper. The time frame of this study was from 2015 to 2019. A total of 87 news stories have pertained to Indonesian response, and 37 stories included image repair strategies. Among the strategies of image repair theory, corrective action strategy was the most dominant with 70%, followed by 10.8% for each shift the blame and attack accuser. The least used strategies were mortification and simple denial with 5.4% and 2.7% respectively.
This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by in... more This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by international students and their needs and expectations toward the University. The study also shows the obstacles faced by those students and their satisfaction towards UKM. A total of 108 questionnaires were distributed in the main campus to the respondents who came from ten diffident countries. The main reasons for choosing UKM were its high ranking, reasonable tuition fees, faculty, programmes, and lecturers respectively. The results revealed that the main obstacles faced international students were tough visa procedures, improper hostels, social isolation and discrimination, and bureaucracy. Both the facilities and services of UKM and the studying approach have met the expectations satisfaction of international students. Yet, both social relationship and participation in activities and living conditions in UKM hostels have disappointed international students and did not meet their satisfaction. This study suggested that UKM should establish counselling unit and organise regular meetings to listen to the problems and suggestions of those students. Volunteer and pre-enrolment activities should be organised to introduce the Malaysian culture and gather international students with their local peer. Moreover, international students should be provided upon their arrival to UKM by hostels that combine proper conditions of living at a reasonable price. ABSTRAK Kajian ini memperlihatkan faktor utama pelajar antarabangsa memilih Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) untuk menyambung pembelajaran mereka. Pada masa yang sama, kajian ini juga memfokuskan kepada jangkaan mereka terhadap Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Selain itu, kajian ini juga melihat kepada halangan-halangan yang di dihadapi oleh pelajar antarabangsa dan tahap kepuasan mereka terhadap UKM. Sebanyak 108 soal selidik telah diedarkan di kampus utama kepada responden yang berasal dari sepuluh negara yang berbeza. Hasil kajian mendapati pelajar antarabangsa memilih UKM disebabkan oleh kedudukan tertinggi (high ranking) universiti, yuran pengajian yang berpatutan, fakulti, program pengajian dan pensyarah masing-masing. Halangan-halangan yang di hadapi oleh pelajar-pelajar antarabangsa pula adalah seperti prosedur mendapatkan visa yang sukar, masalah asrama, pengasingan sosial dan diskriminasi serta birokrasi. Namun, pengkaji mendapati kemudahan dan perkhidmatan UKM di samping pendekatan pembelajaran memenuhi tahap kepuasan dan jangkaan pelajar antarabangsa. Walau bagaimanapun, hubungan sosial dan penyertaan dalam aktiviti dan keadaan hidup di asrama mengecewakan segelintir pelajar antarabangsa dan tidak memenuhi tahap kepuasan mereka. Kajian ini turut mendapati UKM perlu menubuhkan unit kaunseling dan mengadakan mesyuarat tetap untuk mendengar masalah dan cadangan para pelajar ini. Aktiviti sukarela dan pra-pendaftaran juga perlu dianjurkan untuk memperkenalkan budaya Malaysia. Pada masa yang sama, aktiviti sebegini dapat mengumpul pelajar antarabangsa dengan rakan sebaya dalam kalangan warga tempatan. Lebih-lebih lagi acara-acara ini perlu diadakan seawal ketibaan mereka di hostel masing-masing di samping harga yang berpatutan.
IUKL INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE COLLOQUIA (IIPC 2016) , 2016
This is a study on the growth of public relations in Malaysia based on the advertisements placed ... more This is a study on the growth of public relations in Malaysia based on the advertisements placed in the newspapers during the colonial period. Tracing the historical development serves to make a better understanding about the nature of public relations practice. This paper therefore aims at exploring the development of the public relations profession by studying the advertisements placed in the nationwide newspapers, the Straits Times and the Singapore Free Press & Mercantile Advertiser from 1939 which included the early advertisement that contained the phrase “public relations” to 1956 a year before the independence of the Federation of Malaysia. An analysis of the advertisements was made to fully understand the historical development of public relations in Malaya or then Malaysia.
Keywords: Public relations, public relations officer, recruiting, independence, Malaysia
International Conference on Media and Communication (MENTION 2019), 2019
This study discusses credibility of both the traditional and social media from the audience persp... more This study discusses credibility of both the traditional and social media from the audience perspective. Numerous definitions and conceptualisations of media credibilityare either source or medium based but there are also numerous measurements made on the concept that gave rise to varied findings. An attempt was made to associate the concept of credibility with media exposure, postulating that the greater use of media would mean greater credibility. Two studies were made involving a total of 4095respondents with 1544 questionnaires distributed in April 2019, and 2551questionnaires in January 2018 to investigate the concept of credibility and its correlate with media use. The first period was before the General Elections but the April 2019 study was made after the May General Election giving an idea how credibility could have changed under a new government. The results of this study revealed that Malaysians perceived the traditional media, including TV, radio, and newspapers, were more credible than the new media (internet, online news portals, Facebook, andTwitter). TV was perceived to have the highest credibility, while Twitter, the lowest credibility. The social media suffered low credibility due to the surrounding discussionson fake news, false information, and post-truth issues. The sources of content in the traditional media are mostly known or verified, unlike that of the new media, thus paving for the poor evaluation of credibility of the new media.
Keywords: Media credibility, traditional media, new media, media exposure, Malaysia
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2019
The main focus of this study is the coverage of New Straits Times (NST) of the first Palestinian ... more The main focus of this study is the coverage of New Straits Times (NST) of the first Palestinian General Elections for two presidential candidates namely, Yasser Arafat and Samiha Khalil. This study aimed to explore if any of Entman’s 1993 framing functions was used in the coverage of this issue and to explore whether the tone of NST coverage was negative, positive, balanced or neutral. Toachieve the aims of this study, qualitative content analysis of elections stories from NST has been adopted. The number of news stories was eight, and the time frame started from 19th January to 13th February 1996, where three of these stories were published on the same day of 22nd January, two days after holding the elections on 20th January. Defining problems and diagnosing causes werethe most prominent of Entman’s four framing functions presented in all the articles. The moral judgment function was included in four news stories, and suggesting remedies was included in two news stories out of eight. The findings revealed that Yasser Arafat received 50% balanced coverage, followed by 37.5% positive coverage, and only 12.5% negative coverage, while Samiha Khalilreceived 67% balanced coverage, compared to 33% positive coverage.
Keywords: Arafat, framing, media coverage, Palestine, presidential elections
The study has examined the similarities and differences in the coverage of two Palestinian news a... more The study has examined the similarities and differences in the coverage of two Palestinian news agencies Ma’an and Palestinian Information Center (PIC) on the reactions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s regarding relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The study has also aimed to explore the use of four function of framing by Entman 1993 in the news stories of both agencies. Qualitative content analysis has been adopted to achieve the aim of this study. The total sampling number was 9 news stories; 3 stories have been retrieved from Ma’an, and the other 6 have been retrieved from PIC. The time frame has started from December 5, 2017 which marked the day of informing Abbas by Trump’s decision to move the Embassy until December 22 2017 which was a day after gaining a sweeping victory in UN by president Abbas through a resolution that rejected the decision. Both of the news agencies were supportive to President Abbas in their coverage and none of them has any negative coverage about him. From the sampling number it can be seen that PIC has paid more attention for the coverage of this issue than Ma’an. However, PIC has ignored the success of President Abbasfor achieving UN resolution against Trump’s decision. Moreover, all the news stories has included “define the problem” while excluded “diagnose causes” functions. However both“make moral judgment” and “suggest remedies” have been included in all news stories of Ma’an, and only half of news stories of PIC.
Keywords: Abbas, Trump, US embassy, Jerusalem, Palestine
The very first recruitment for a public relations practitioner in Malaysia was encountered in 194... more The very first recruitment for a public relations practitioner in Malaysia was encountered in 1948 and was advertised by the federal government of the British Colony in Malaya. This paper examines the subsequent advertisements after Malaya sought independence from the British colonial government. A total of eleven recruitment advertisements were found before the formation of Malaysia on the 16th September 1963. This paper outlines the advertisers, the titles of positions, as well as their qualifications and duties. The results show that the job requirement mainly came from the federal and local governments. Generally, the duties were related to information services and some specific responsibilities.
Keywords: public relations; advertising; Straits Times; Malaya
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2020
The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in t... more The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in their slash-and-burn forests to clear lands for lucrative palm oil plantations and its caused transboundary haze became a hot issue for discussion. These fires have a negative influence on Indonesia and its neighbourhood countries, especially on their financial and human resources such as environment, economy, properties, and people. Using the right strategies in responding to any crisis determines the success of its management and coping with that crisis with minimal losses. This study aimed to examine the communication crisis response by Indonesia to this crisis by using image repair theory. Also, this study examined how image repair strategies were used by Indonesia. This study analysed the content of news stories from the website of the New Straits Times newspaper. The time frame of this study was from 2015 to 2019. A total of 87 news stories have pertained to Indonesian response, and 37 stories included image repair strategies. Among the strategies of image repair theory, corrective action strategy was the most dominant with 70%, followed by 10.8% for each shift the blame and attack accuser. The least used strategies were mortification and simple denial with 5.4% and 2.7% respectively.
Keywords: Indonesia, crisis communication, image repair, transboundary haze, deliberate fires
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2016
This study explores the influence of education, length of service, professionalism, and ethics on... more This study explores the influence of education, length of service, professionalism, and ethics on the professional values of public relations practitioners in Malaysia. A total of 427 questionnaires were distributed to public relations practitioners in Malaysia, and 322 questionnaires were returned. The study included 61% female respondents, and 39% male respondents. The study analyzed and identified the influence of professionalism and ethics on professional values of public relations practitioners. Additionally, the study examined whether education and experience influence professional values through professionalism, and code of ethics. Six hypotheses were tested to answer the research questions. The results from this study fully supported the hypotheses indicating that professionalism and ethics had an influence on professional values of public relations practitioners. The results also showed that education influenced both professionalism and ethics, and length of service influenced both professionalism and ethical practice.
Keywords: Professional values, public relations, practitioners, professionalism, code of ethics
This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by in... more This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by international students and their needs and expectations toward the University. The study also shows the obstacles faced by those students and their satisfaction towards UKM. A total of 108 questionnaires were distributed in the main campus to the respondents who came from ten diffident countries. The main reasons for choosing UKM were its high ranking, reasonable tuition fees, faculty, programmes, and lecturers respectively. The results revealed that the main obstacles faced international students were tough visa procedures, improper hostels, social isolation and discrimination, and bureaucracy. Both the facilities and services of UKM and the studying approach have met the expectations satisfaction of international students. Yet, both social relationship and participation in activities and living conditions in UKM hostels have disappointed international students and did not meet their satisfaction. This study suggested that UKM should establish counselling unit and organise regular meetings to listen to the problems and suggestions of those students. Volunteer and pre-enrolment activities should be organised to introduce the Malaysian culture and gather international students with their local peer. Moreover, international students should be provided upon their arrival to UKM by hostels that combine proper conditions of living at a reasonable price.
Keywords: international students, expectations, needs, satisfaction, internationalisation
Capstone International Research Colloquium 2022 (CIRCO 3.0), 2022
Peace journalism replaced the dominant war journalism due to the prevalence of propaganda in the ... more Peace journalism replaced the dominant war journalism due to the prevalence of propaganda in the era of World Wars and the Cold War. The need has emerged to replace, refine, reconstruct, and improve the role and reputation of journalism after serving as a part of the propaganda apparatus and being complicit in propaganda and war chaos. A transition of the role of Journalists was required to be shifted from propagandists and pro-war to peacemakers. The media coverage of peace and war influences the public on their way of thinking, thus contributing to fuelling or resolving tension and conflicts. This study explores the news stories of the New Straits Times (NST) on peace and war journalism on the two Palestinian Presidents. Framing theory is used in this study. To achieve the research objectives of this study, a content analysis was employed on the newspaper's coverage for a total of 21 years from 1996, since the first Palestinian General Election was held until coverage declined in 2016. A total of 335 news stories were found in NST about the two Palestinian Presidents regarding peace and war journalism. The peace stories figured 97.9% compared to 2.1% for war stories. The results revealed that President Arafat used both peace and war approaches compared to President Abbas who only used the peace approach. The coverage of NST reflected its support for peace and solution initiatives rather than war and conflict.
Online distance learning policies were formulated and implemented among some Malaysian universiti... more Online distance learning policies were formulated and implemented among some Malaysian universities long ago, but their value emerged since COVID-19. Emanating from the diffusion of innovation theory, this study examined the perception of higher education students on the influence and relationship between six independent variables (compatibility, observability, relative advantage, complexity, trialability, and digital skills) and one dependent variable (digital literacy). A total of 524 respondents were sampled, comprising students from six public and private Malaysian universities. The findings from the correlation analysis show a significant positive relationship between the six independent variables and the dependent variable. Meanwhile, in the regression analysis, three of the independent variables (observability, trialability, and digital skill) have a significant and positive effect on digital literacy. This study placed the diffusion of innovation in a specific context that supports designing online distance learning and digital literacy policies.
Malaysian Media Coverage of Palestinian Presidents’ Image during Crises 1996-2016, 2019
Maintaining a good image of political leaders is significant to ensure their political life. The ... more Maintaining a good image of political leaders is significant to ensure their political life. The image of political leaders, including presidents of any country, is threatened when they are facing critical situations. There is a necessity to repair the image of presidents when threatened with crises. This effort of image repair by presidents is mostly covered by local or foreign media, and this coverage might be positive or negative. This study examines the coverage by the Malaysian media, specifically New Straits Times (NST), on the Palestinian Presidents, Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas and their portrayal towards several crises. Both image repair theory and framing perspective were used to guide the study. A total of 2715 news stories have been found about Palestinian issues in the 21 year period covered from 1996-2016. A total of 531 stories were related to Palestinian Presidents, 456 stories were on crises. This study employing content analysis has revealed three main crises faced by the Palestinian Presidents, namely political, social, and economic crisis. The political crises included: peace process, internal conflict, foreign pressure, Israeli attacks, Israeli blockade, Palestinian attacks, Israeli threats, clashes, demonstrations, Israeli spying, kidnapping, and relations breakdown. The social crises included: corruption, information leakage, cheating, false information, Israeli rumours, and Israeli slanders. The economic crises included only financial crisis. Palestinian Presidents have used all the main image repair strategies, namely denial, evasion of responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification. These strategies have been included in the 50 news stories. The number of used sub-image repair strategies was 61. The employed sub-strategies were simple denial, shifting the blame, provocation, defeasibility, attack accuser, correct/solve problem, confess/admit, and apology. Neutral slant of news stories was the most prevalent slant by NST, followed by positive, negative, and balanced slants respectively. But President Arafat received more coverage than President Abbas. The contribution of study came through matching the types of crisis with image repair strategies since understanding the crisis and determining its type is important for choosing the most suitable response strategy for it. Observing the framing of crises by certain media provides crisis managers and their organisations the most fitted crisis response through using image repair strategies which reduce the damaged image. Another contribution is by combining image repair as public relations theory with framing as journalism theory in this study.
Crises are unavoidable which makes response an imperative matter. Thus, the proactive style becom... more Crises are unavoidable which makes response an imperative matter. Thus, the proactive style becomes an indispensable part of the readiness and preparedness in any potential crisis and can help prevent it. Besides, the reactive style is still important to deal effectively with a crisis especially regarding its recovery. Proactive and reactive styles were needed by Palestinian Presidents due to the occurrence of various crises faced by them. This study examines both proactive and reactive styles used by the Palestinian Presidents leadership during crisis. Besides, it examines how the Palestinian Presidents used these styles to deal with different crises at different times. This study used content analysis on the news stories from the New Straits Times. A total of 313 stories from1996 to 2016 pertaining to proactive and reactive styles used by Palestinian Presidents were found. The stories that included reactive style figured 67.7%, while the stories that included proactive style totaled 32.3%. For President Arafat, a total of 63% of the stories included reactive style compared to 37% of the stories that included proactive style. For President Abbas, a total of 78.4% of the stories contained reactive style compared to 21.6% that contained proactive style. Proactive style has been used only in political crises, while reactive style has been used in all crises. Providing various scenarios in dealing with crises allows other organizations and individuals to be initiative in dealing with any similar future crises. This study serves as a guideline for choosing proper prospective measures and responses to crises.
International Online Journal of Language, Communication, and Humanities, 2021
During Movement Control Order (MCO) of COVID-19, many information has been disseminated through b... more During Movement Control Order (MCO) of COVID-19, many information has been disseminated through both traditional and social media. Some of that information was credible and came from reliable sources while other information was fake and included misinformation, disinformation, and infodemic. The people needed credible information rather than fake one in this critical time. This study aimed to explore the credibility of media, information sources, the main issues, and preferred communication patterns and method of works perceived by Malaysians during MCO. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed, and 210 were returned. The results of this study showed that the majority of respondents 69% relied on new media as their main source of information compared to 30.9% who relied on traditional media. However, a total of 64.8% of respondents considered traditional media as more credible and accurate compared to 35.2% for new media. Additionally, the main concerns and issues followed by respondents on media were health, economic, social, education and others. Finally, a total of 55.7% preferred face to face communication compared to 44.3% who preferred online communication. A total of 51% of respondents preferred to work from the workplace or office compared to 49% who preferred to work from home. Television played a significant role during the pandemic period due to its high credibility as perceived by Malaysians. The main intriguing implication of this study is considering the traditional media as more credible than social media by the Malaysians although the social media was their main source of information.
The European Proceedings of Social & Behavioural Sciences, Jun 10, 2021
Effective crisis communication response through using the proper strategies is critical to cope w... more Effective crisis communication response through using the proper strategies is critical to cope with crises and to protect the reputation and existence of the involved parties. Usually, aviation accidents receive great attention from the media and the public. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) which was shot down over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014 during its scheduled flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur received global attention. This attention was due to the involvement of several countries either at the level of the countries of victims or the countries accused of the attack. Image repair theory proposed by William Benoit, the widely used in crisis communication response was implemented in this study. The Russian response to the international accusation, especially from the Western world on supporting the attackers of MH17 has been examined in this study. This study implemented both quantitative and qualitative content analysis to achieve its aims. A total of 306 news stories from the online New Straits Times newspaper Website from the years 2014 to 2019 were analysed. A total of 191 strategies were included in 123 news stories since some stories combined more than a strategy. Out of 191 strategies, 43.5% were simple denial, followed by shift the blame and attack accuser with 35.1% and 21.5% respectively. The results revealed that the image repair effort by Russia was effective and successful.
Keywords: Crisis communication, image repair, MH17, response strategies, Russia
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2020
The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in t... more The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in their slash-and-burn forests to clear lands for lucrative palm oil plantations and its caused transboundary haze became a hot issue for discussion. These fires have a negative influence on Indonesia and its neighbourhood countries, especially on their financial and human resources such as environment, economy, properties, and people. Using the right strategies in responding to any crisis determines the success of its management and coping with that crisis with minimal losses. This study aimed to examine the communication crisis response by Indonesia to this crisis by using image repair theory. Also, this study examined how image repair strategies were used by Indonesia. This study analysed the content of news stories from the website of the New Straits Times newspaper. The time frame of this study was from 2015 to 2019. A total of 87 news stories have pertained to Indonesian response, and 37 stories included image repair strategies. Among the strategies of image repair theory, corrective action strategy was the most dominant with 70%, followed by 10.8% for each shift the blame and attack accuser. The least used strategies were mortification and simple denial with 5.4% and 2.7% respectively.
This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by in... more This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by international students and their needs and expectations toward the University. The study also shows the obstacles faced by those students and their satisfaction towards UKM. A total of 108 questionnaires were distributed in the main campus to the respondents who came from ten diffident countries. The main reasons for choosing UKM were its high ranking, reasonable tuition fees, faculty, programmes, and lecturers respectively. The results revealed that the main obstacles faced international students were tough visa procedures, improper hostels, social isolation and discrimination, and bureaucracy. Both the facilities and services of UKM and the studying approach have met the expectations satisfaction of international students. Yet, both social relationship and participation in activities and living conditions in UKM hostels have disappointed international students and did not meet their satisfaction. This study suggested that UKM should establish counselling unit and organise regular meetings to listen to the problems and suggestions of those students. Volunteer and pre-enrolment activities should be organised to introduce the Malaysian culture and gather international students with their local peer. Moreover, international students should be provided upon their arrival to UKM by hostels that combine proper conditions of living at a reasonable price. ABSTRAK Kajian ini memperlihatkan faktor utama pelajar antarabangsa memilih Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) untuk menyambung pembelajaran mereka. Pada masa yang sama, kajian ini juga memfokuskan kepada jangkaan mereka terhadap Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Selain itu, kajian ini juga melihat kepada halangan-halangan yang di dihadapi oleh pelajar antarabangsa dan tahap kepuasan mereka terhadap UKM. Sebanyak 108 soal selidik telah diedarkan di kampus utama kepada responden yang berasal dari sepuluh negara yang berbeza. Hasil kajian mendapati pelajar antarabangsa memilih UKM disebabkan oleh kedudukan tertinggi (high ranking) universiti, yuran pengajian yang berpatutan, fakulti, program pengajian dan pensyarah masing-masing. Halangan-halangan yang di hadapi oleh pelajar-pelajar antarabangsa pula adalah seperti prosedur mendapatkan visa yang sukar, masalah asrama, pengasingan sosial dan diskriminasi serta birokrasi. Namun, pengkaji mendapati kemudahan dan perkhidmatan UKM di samping pendekatan pembelajaran memenuhi tahap kepuasan dan jangkaan pelajar antarabangsa. Walau bagaimanapun, hubungan sosial dan penyertaan dalam aktiviti dan keadaan hidup di asrama mengecewakan segelintir pelajar antarabangsa dan tidak memenuhi tahap kepuasan mereka. Kajian ini turut mendapati UKM perlu menubuhkan unit kaunseling dan mengadakan mesyuarat tetap untuk mendengar masalah dan cadangan para pelajar ini. Aktiviti sukarela dan pra-pendaftaran juga perlu dianjurkan untuk memperkenalkan budaya Malaysia. Pada masa yang sama, aktiviti sebegini dapat mengumpul pelajar antarabangsa dengan rakan sebaya dalam kalangan warga tempatan. Lebih-lebih lagi acara-acara ini perlu diadakan seawal ketibaan mereka di hostel masing-masing di samping harga yang berpatutan.
IUKL INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE COLLOQUIA (IIPC 2016) , 2016
This is a study on the growth of public relations in Malaysia based on the advertisements placed ... more This is a study on the growth of public relations in Malaysia based on the advertisements placed in the newspapers during the colonial period. Tracing the historical development serves to make a better understanding about the nature of public relations practice. This paper therefore aims at exploring the development of the public relations profession by studying the advertisements placed in the nationwide newspapers, the Straits Times and the Singapore Free Press & Mercantile Advertiser from 1939 which included the early advertisement that contained the phrase “public relations” to 1956 a year before the independence of the Federation of Malaysia. An analysis of the advertisements was made to fully understand the historical development of public relations in Malaya or then Malaysia.
Keywords: Public relations, public relations officer, recruiting, independence, Malaysia
International Conference on Media and Communication (MENTION 2019), 2019
This study discusses credibility of both the traditional and social media from the audience persp... more This study discusses credibility of both the traditional and social media from the audience perspective. Numerous definitions and conceptualisations of media credibilityare either source or medium based but there are also numerous measurements made on the concept that gave rise to varied findings. An attempt was made to associate the concept of credibility with media exposure, postulating that the greater use of media would mean greater credibility. Two studies were made involving a total of 4095respondents with 1544 questionnaires distributed in April 2019, and 2551questionnaires in January 2018 to investigate the concept of credibility and its correlate with media use. The first period was before the General Elections but the April 2019 study was made after the May General Election giving an idea how credibility could have changed under a new government. The results of this study revealed that Malaysians perceived the traditional media, including TV, radio, and newspapers, were more credible than the new media (internet, online news portals, Facebook, andTwitter). TV was perceived to have the highest credibility, while Twitter, the lowest credibility. The social media suffered low credibility due to the surrounding discussionson fake news, false information, and post-truth issues. The sources of content in the traditional media are mostly known or verified, unlike that of the new media, thus paving for the poor evaluation of credibility of the new media.
Keywords: Media credibility, traditional media, new media, media exposure, Malaysia
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2019
The main focus of this study is the coverage of New Straits Times (NST) of the first Palestinian ... more The main focus of this study is the coverage of New Straits Times (NST) of the first Palestinian General Elections for two presidential candidates namely, Yasser Arafat and Samiha Khalil. This study aimed to explore if any of Entman’s 1993 framing functions was used in the coverage of this issue and to explore whether the tone of NST coverage was negative, positive, balanced or neutral. Toachieve the aims of this study, qualitative content analysis of elections stories from NST has been adopted. The number of news stories was eight, and the time frame started from 19th January to 13th February 1996, where three of these stories were published on the same day of 22nd January, two days after holding the elections on 20th January. Defining problems and diagnosing causes werethe most prominent of Entman’s four framing functions presented in all the articles. The moral judgment function was included in four news stories, and suggesting remedies was included in two news stories out of eight. The findings revealed that Yasser Arafat received 50% balanced coverage, followed by 37.5% positive coverage, and only 12.5% negative coverage, while Samiha Khalilreceived 67% balanced coverage, compared to 33% positive coverage.
Keywords: Arafat, framing, media coverage, Palestine, presidential elections
The study has examined the similarities and differences in the coverage of two Palestinian news a... more The study has examined the similarities and differences in the coverage of two Palestinian news agencies Ma’an and Palestinian Information Center (PIC) on the reactions of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s regarding relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The study has also aimed to explore the use of four function of framing by Entman 1993 in the news stories of both agencies. Qualitative content analysis has been adopted to achieve the aim of this study. The total sampling number was 9 news stories; 3 stories have been retrieved from Ma’an, and the other 6 have been retrieved from PIC. The time frame has started from December 5, 2017 which marked the day of informing Abbas by Trump’s decision to move the Embassy until December 22 2017 which was a day after gaining a sweeping victory in UN by president Abbas through a resolution that rejected the decision. Both of the news agencies were supportive to President Abbas in their coverage and none of them has any negative coverage about him. From the sampling number it can be seen that PIC has paid more attention for the coverage of this issue than Ma’an. However, PIC has ignored the success of President Abbasfor achieving UN resolution against Trump’s decision. Moreover, all the news stories has included “define the problem” while excluded “diagnose causes” functions. However both“make moral judgment” and “suggest remedies” have been included in all news stories of Ma’an, and only half of news stories of PIC.
Keywords: Abbas, Trump, US embassy, Jerusalem, Palestine
The very first recruitment for a public relations practitioner in Malaysia was encountered in 194... more The very first recruitment for a public relations practitioner in Malaysia was encountered in 1948 and was advertised by the federal government of the British Colony in Malaya. This paper examines the subsequent advertisements after Malaya sought independence from the British colonial government. A total of eleven recruitment advertisements were found before the formation of Malaysia on the 16th September 1963. This paper outlines the advertisers, the titles of positions, as well as their qualifications and duties. The results show that the job requirement mainly came from the federal and local governments. Generally, the duties were related to information services and some specific responsibilities.
Keywords: public relations; advertising; Straits Times; Malaya
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2020
The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in t... more The issue of deliberate forest fires that set illegally in Indonesia by plantation companies in their slash-and-burn forests to clear lands for lucrative palm oil plantations and its caused transboundary haze became a hot issue for discussion. These fires have a negative influence on Indonesia and its neighbourhood countries, especially on their financial and human resources such as environment, economy, properties, and people. Using the right strategies in responding to any crisis determines the success of its management and coping with that crisis with minimal losses. This study aimed to examine the communication crisis response by Indonesia to this crisis by using image repair theory. Also, this study examined how image repair strategies were used by Indonesia. This study analysed the content of news stories from the website of the New Straits Times newspaper. The time frame of this study was from 2015 to 2019. A total of 87 news stories have pertained to Indonesian response, and 37 stories included image repair strategies. Among the strategies of image repair theory, corrective action strategy was the most dominant with 70%, followed by 10.8% for each shift the blame and attack accuser. The least used strategies were mortification and simple denial with 5.4% and 2.7% respectively.
Keywords: Indonesia, crisis communication, image repair, transboundary haze, deliberate fires
Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 2016
This study explores the influence of education, length of service, professionalism, and ethics on... more This study explores the influence of education, length of service, professionalism, and ethics on the professional values of public relations practitioners in Malaysia. A total of 427 questionnaires were distributed to public relations practitioners in Malaysia, and 322 questionnaires were returned. The study included 61% female respondents, and 39% male respondents. The study analyzed and identified the influence of professionalism and ethics on professional values of public relations practitioners. Additionally, the study examined whether education and experience influence professional values through professionalism, and code of ethics. Six hypotheses were tested to answer the research questions. The results from this study fully supported the hypotheses indicating that professionalism and ethics had an influence on professional values of public relations practitioners. The results also showed that education influenced both professionalism and ethics, and length of service influenced both professionalism and ethical practice.
Keywords: Professional values, public relations, practitioners, professionalism, code of ethics
This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by in... more This study demonstrates main reasons for choosing The National University of Malaysia (UKM) by international students and their needs and expectations toward the University. The study also shows the obstacles faced by those students and their satisfaction towards UKM. A total of 108 questionnaires were distributed in the main campus to the respondents who came from ten diffident countries. The main reasons for choosing UKM were its high ranking, reasonable tuition fees, faculty, programmes, and lecturers respectively. The results revealed that the main obstacles faced international students were tough visa procedures, improper hostels, social isolation and discrimination, and bureaucracy. Both the facilities and services of UKM and the studying approach have met the expectations satisfaction of international students. Yet, both social relationship and participation in activities and living conditions in UKM hostels have disappointed international students and did not meet their satisfaction. This study suggested that UKM should establish counselling unit and organise regular meetings to listen to the problems and suggestions of those students. Volunteer and pre-enrolment activities should be organised to introduce the Malaysian culture and gather international students with their local peer. Moreover, international students should be provided upon their arrival to UKM by hostels that combine proper conditions of living at a reasonable price.
Keywords: international students, expectations, needs, satisfaction, internationalisation
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Papers by Mohammed Fadel Arandas
Keywords: Crisis communication, image repair, MH17, response strategies, Russia
Keywords: Public relations, public relations officer, recruiting, independence, Malaysia
Keywords: Media credibility, traditional media, new media, media exposure, Malaysia
Keywords: Arafat, framing, media coverage, Palestine, presidential elections
Keywords: Abbas, Trump, US embassy, Jerusalem, Palestine
Keywords: public relations; advertising; Straits Times; Malaya
Keywords: Indonesia, crisis communication, image repair, transboundary haze, deliberate fires
Keywords: Professional values, public relations, practitioners, professionalism, code of ethics
Keywords: international students, expectations, needs, satisfaction, internationalisation
Keywords: Crisis communication, image repair, MH17, response strategies, Russia
Keywords: Public relations, public relations officer, recruiting, independence, Malaysia
Keywords: Media credibility, traditional media, new media, media exposure, Malaysia
Keywords: Arafat, framing, media coverage, Palestine, presidential elections
Keywords: Abbas, Trump, US embassy, Jerusalem, Palestine
Keywords: public relations; advertising; Straits Times; Malaya
Keywords: Indonesia, crisis communication, image repair, transboundary haze, deliberate fires
Keywords: Professional values, public relations, practitioners, professionalism, code of ethics
Keywords: international students, expectations, needs, satisfaction, internationalisation