The vast development in information technology nowadays has brought a shift to change politics in Malaysia. Blogs have then become an influential medium in reporting various news as our community begins to reject mainstream media due to the fact that this reported news were bias. In countries that do not practice freedom of media, blogs will serve as an important medium in the dissemination of information to the public which was often deemed as lacking of new information and was not presented by the mainstream media. Thus, this research paper is looking into how blogs have unfolded a pathway towards the democratization of information in Malaysia. This study has used a qualitative approach by conducting in-depth interviews on two blogger groups comprising of different political ideologies. A total of eight well-known bloggers in Malaysia were selected as participants. The results show that blogs have opened a new platform in delivering information to the community. Besides that, laws or acts that can be imposed to bloggers do not stop the bloggers from expressing their opinions freely. Additionally, an exposure to the identity of a blogger has led to an increase in the credibility of a blog. Blogs are also seen to have a strong influence on the public's mind. Exposing to disclose news or events by bloggers is seen as an effort to provide important information for the public to view the truth from the disseminated information. It also turns out that freedom of speech through cyberspace especially blogs has taken place in Malaysia. However, the stated freedom is not absolute.
Abdullah, M. H. T., Khamis, M. H. & Azni, Z. M. (2018). Pendemokrasian maklumat blog: Isu akauntabiliti dalam kalangan blogger di Malaysia. Jurnal Komunikasi, Malaysian Journal of Communication. Vol. 34(3), 361-378.
Abdullah, M. H. T., Ahmad, A. L. & Jing, H. F. (2017). The disclosure of media framing between bloggers in Malaysia. Journal of Media and Information Warfare. Vol. 9, 1-22.
Abdullah, M. H. T., Ahmad, A. L. & Kee, C. P. (2016). The exposure of media frames among Malaysian bloggers pre and post 13th general election. Jurnal Komunikasi, Malaysian Journal of Communication. Vol. 32(2): 425-452.
Akmal, F. & Salman, A. (2015). Partisipasi politik belia secara ‘online’melalui ruang demokrasi maklumat media baru. Jurnal Komunikasi, Malaysian Journal of Communication. Vol 31(1): 81-100.
Amini Amir (2010). Nilai integriti dan akauntabiliti. Retrieved from http://aminiamir.blogspot.com/2010/01/nilai-integriti-dan-akauntabiliti.html
Baharuddin Aziz, Abdul Rasid Abdul Rahman & Rahmat Ghazali. (2008). Kajian Mengenai Peranan dan Pengaruh Internet dan Kewartawanan Bloggers Terhadap Para Pengundi Semasa Pilihan Raya Umum Malaysia 2008. Universiti Teknologi MARA, RMI.
Inch, A. (2015). Ordinary citizens and the political cultures of planning: In search of the subject of a new democratic ethos. Planning Theory 14(4): 404-424.
Koop, R. (2006). Canadian political blog: online soapboxes or forums for democratic dialogue? Retrieved from http://www.cpsa-acsp.ca/papers-2006/Koop-Jansen.pdf.
Roth, M. M. (2004). How journalist see the blogshere. Retrieved from http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/mmccoy/blogs.pdf
Meyer, P. (2004). The varnishing newspaper: Saving journalism in the information age. Columbia University of Missouri Press.
Ohanian, R. (1990). Construction and validation of a scale to measure celebrity endorsers’ perceived expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness. Journal of Advertising, 19 (3), 39-52.
Tang, H. W. (2006). Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom: Digital Speech in Malaysia. Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 1(1). Retrieved from http://www.bepress.com/asjcl/vol1/iss1/art12
Zain, Z. M, Yusoff, M. A. & Othman, Z. (2015). Internet dan kebangkitan demokrasi siber di Malaysia: Analisis Pilihan Raya Umum 1999 dan 2008. Malaysian Journal of Society and Space 11(5): 56-66.
In-Text Citation: (Abdullah, Jing, Ridzuan, & Zainodin, 2019)
To Cite this Article: Abdullah, M. H. T., Jing, H. F., Ridzuan, A. R., & Zainodin, W. H. W. (2019). Blog: A Platform towards Democratization of Information in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(3), 626–640.
Copyright: © 2019 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
