This report presents the findings of media analysis of coverage between 6 and 14 October 2011. This period covers the date immediately before the announcement of the Malaysian 2012 Budget (7 October), up until a week after this announcement.

1. 6 – 1 4 O CTO B E R 2 0 11
Malaysia Budget 2012

2. Media analysis series
Issues detailing specific abilities of media analysis while providing insight on major topics of global interest

3. Malaysia Budget 2012
AN EVALUATION OF
NEWS MEDIA
COVERAGE (PRESS,
BROADCAST AND
ONLINE NEWS) AND
SOCIAL MEDIA
CONVERSATIONS OF
MALAYSIA'S BUDGET
PROPOSAL FOR
YEAR 2012.
3

4. Average favourability, net sentiment explained
RATING SCALE COLOUR USED
Highly favourable 76 to 100
Moderately favourable 56 to 75 Favourable
Slightly favourable 51 to 55
NewsMedia
Average Favourability
Rating
Neutral/balanced 50 Neutral
0to 100 scale where 50
is neutral
Slightly unfavourable 45 to 49
Moderately unfavourable 30 to 44 Unfavourable
Highly unfavourable 0 to 30
Very Positive + 51 to +100
Positive
Positive +1 to +50
Social Media
Sentiment Scale
-100 to +100 scale Neutral 0 Neutral
where 0 is neutral
Negative - 1 to -50
Negative
Very Negative -51 to -100
4

5. News media analysis methodology
Best Practice Media Analysis
Media Monitors uses the CARMA® media content analysis methodology, which is internationally recognised as one of the leading
commercial systems available. CARMA® (Computer Aided Research and Media Analysis) uses advanced technology to quantify media
content, and human intelligence to provide qualitative insight and analysis.
An aggregate score is calculated based on these multiple variables and presented on a 0–100 scale where 50 is neutral. This is an overall
rating of the favourability of each media report towards the client organisation (and, if relevant, other organisations or competitors). This
aggregate score is called the CARMA® Favourability Rating.
Average Favourability Explained
News media analysis methodology
5

6. Methodology explained
> Positioning
> Size
> Prominent placement
(headline,image)
> Topics
> Spokespeople/
Commentators
> Messages
> Tone
6

7. The Star, 8 October 2011

9. Social media analysis methodology & glossary of terms
Social Media Metrics Explained Glossary of Terms
Brandtology social media analysis is based on
Engagement Quantifies the content creation and response Category This refers to the highest level referencing a
keywords and channels that have been identified by a
Index level of a particular subject. This takes into logical grouping. A category may contain one
Social Media Consultant (SMCs). SMCs work closely
account the number of conversations started, or more subjects.
with clients to determine what needs to be monitored,
as well as the number of relevant comments
how best to do this and how to ensure the deliverables Channel A source being monitored for posts.
and reports meet the clients‟ objectives. and responses to the subject.
Examples are forums, reviews, blogs, etc.
Using these keywords and channels, relevant data – Influence Reflects the level of influence of a group of
such as author, content, date of content and influence Index online contributors discussing a certain Influence The influence score weights the importance of
of author – is extracted from forums, blogs, news, subject. Influencers are broken down into Score the author/commenter within his/her channel.
reviews, Q&As, microblogs, public pages on social bands of Very High, High, Moderate, Low and The score is within the range of 0 to 100.
networking sites and video sites (comments only) from Very Low Influence. Online contributors who
Keyword A keyword is used as a search term in the
the internet. are active content posters or garner more
matching process to tag posts to the
responses to their content will command a
The extracted data is processed by multilingual natural associated subject.
higher individual influence score. High
language processors to identify sentiments along a
Influencers have a higher weightage in Mentions Number of mentions or posts online.
five-point scale (very negative, negative, neutral,
determining the Influencer Index score. The
positive, and very positive).
higher the total Influence Index score, the Online Public Online public refers to a person or persons
Processed data is stored in databases and accessible more influential the group of online discussing, writing, or posting on social media
via our Digital Conversation Management System contributors discussing the subject are platforms like blogs, forum sites, Q&A sites,
(DCMS). Analysis based on proprietary algorithms is considered to be. review sites or microblogs.
performed on the data to derive statistics, trends,
indexes and charts. Net Sentiment Measures the ratio of positive to negative Sentiment Very Negative, Negative, Neutral, Positive
posts. A sentiment index value greater than 1 Scale and Very Positive.
A priority rating is also calculated based on a indicates a higher proportion of positive posts.
combination of the site and author influence. Voice An author creating the post or a commenter
Reach Measures the width and depth of the subject‟s that made a comment.
Social Media Analysts (SMAs) access the data via our
reach across individual channels and unique
in-house ticketing system to ensure the relevancy and
voices, respectively. Voice Growth The Voice Growth chart shows the number of
accuracy of the data, as well as to train the system to
process data more efficiently on behalf of the clients. unique voices per day that have grown during
the time period. This provides an indication of
Once SMAs have checked the posts for relevancy and a “viral” growth type of view to show how
sentiment, Social Media Research Analysts (SMRAs) many more people are mentioning the
check for trends and gather insights that would be subject.
relevant to the client, and produce a report.
9

10. Story focus
NEWS MEDIA TOPICS CHART 1
600 60
55.2
54.9
53.0
51.8
FAVOURABILITY
339
VOLUME
300 50
171
140
106
0 40
THE RAKYAT OVERALL ECONOMY PUBLIC SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR
UNFAV NEU FAV AVG FAV
10

11. Story focus
SOCIAL MEDIA TOPICS CHART2
300 100
NET SENTIMENT
VOLUME
145
150 141 0
-13.1
-13.8
-37.6 -37.7
84
53
0 -100
THE RAKYAT OVERALL PUBLIC PRIVATE
ECONOMY SECTOR SECTOR
NEG NEU POS NET SENTIMENT
11

12. Leading topics
NEWS MEDIA CHART 3
400 60
56.0 56.5
54.9 55.5
53.5 53.6 53.4
FAVOURABILITY
52.9 52.5
50.8
VOLUME
206
200 175 165 160 160 50
142 128 117 111
94
0 40
INDIVIDUAL CIVIL LIVING BUDGET PUBLIC GROWTH SOCIAL MINISTRY GLOBAL CORPORATE
TAX &… SERVANTS COST IMPLEMENT-…EDUCATION WELFARE ALLOCATION ECONOMY TAX &…
UNFAV NEU FAV AVG FAV
SOCIAL MEDIA (SAMPLED POSTS) CHART 4
200 100
NET SENTIMENT
VOLUME
-36.5 -4.5 -4.9
100 -14.8 -14.3 0
-24.9 -25.0
76 -45.2 -47.0
57 -47.4
47
27 26
25 21 20 19 17
0 -100
BUDGET CIVIL INDIVIDUAL HOUSING GROWTH CORPORATE SOCIAL LIVING GLOBAL EMPLOYMENT
IMPLEMENT- SERVANTS TAX & TAX & WELFARE COST ECONOMY
ATION SUBSIDIES SUBSIDIES
NEG NEU POS NET SENTIMENT
12

13. Leading messages - news
CHART 5
VOLUME
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
IS IN FAVOUR OF THE RAKYAT 240
IS IN FAVOUR OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR 89
OFFERS CLEAR MEASURES TO ENHANCE
69
THE WELL-BEING OF THE RAKYAT
STIMULATES ECONOMIC GROWTH 56
IS INCLUSIVE 55
DOES NOT PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE
37
DEVELOPMENT
IS IN FAVOUR OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR 34
FAV UNFAV
13

14. Leading messages – social media
CHART 6
VOLUME
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
IS IN FAVOUR OF THE RAKYAT 24
IS NOT INCLUSIVE 15
DOES NOT PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 11
IS IN FAVOUR OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR 8
OFFERS CLEAR MEASURES TO ENHANCE WELL-BEING OF THE
8
RAKYAT
IS INCLUSIVE 7
DOES NOT STIMULATE ECONOMIC GROWTH 7
STIMULATES ECONOMIC GROWTH 7
IS NOT TRANSFORMATIVE 6
IS NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE RAKYAT 6
IS NOT IN FAVOUR OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR 6
FAV UNFAV
14

15. Media type
NEWS MEDIA CHART 7 SOCIALMEDIA CHART 8
SOCIAL
TV & RADIO NETWORKING
MICROBLOG SITE
7.9%
1.4% 3.1%
PRESS BLOG
ONLINE 47.1% 44.4%
NEWS FORUM
45.0% 51.1%
15

16. Language breakdown
NEWS MEDIA CHART 9
TAMIL
4.2%
CHINESE
11.5% SOCIAL MEDIA CHART 10
CHINESE
6.4%
ENGLISH
49.5%
MALAY
34.8% MALAY
35.1%
ENGLISH
58.5%
16

17. Trend analysis
This chart shows the volume and favourability of articles analysed over the report period. CHART 11
NEWS MEDIA The media focus shifted to
The rakyat responded to various news The media discussed the government‟s “over- implementation of the
200 articles, expressing their concerns about optimistic” target of 2012‟s Budget deficit, and Budget, specifically the 60
and expectations of the Budget. worrying debt levels in Malaysia. allocations to government
ministries.
FAVOURABILITY
VOLUME
100 50
0 40
THU 6 OCT FRI 7 OCT… SAT 8 OCT SUN 7 OCT MON 8 OCT TUE 9 OCT WED 10 OCT THU 11 OCT FRI 12 OCT
VOL AVG FAV
This chart shows the volume and net sentiment of online posts analysed over the report period. CHART 12
SOCIAL MEDIA (SAMPLED POSTS)
200 Discussions continue about the 60
government‟s handouts, with suggestions
Discussion of opposition party
Discussion related to speculation about that this was undertaken in order to win
reviews of the government‟s
Budget allocation, particularly in terms public votes in the upcoming election.
NET SENTIMENT
Budget allocations.
of a GST.
VOLUME
100 0
0 -60
THU 6 OCT FRI 7 OCT SAT 8 OCT SUN 7 OCT MON 8 OCT TUE 9 OCT WED 10 OCT THU 11 OCT FRI 12 OCT
BUDGET DAY VOL NET SENTIMENT
17

18. Commentators/influencers
TABLE 1 TABLE 2
AVG INFLUENCE SENT-
NEWS COMMENTATORS VOL INFLUENCERS CHANNELS VOL
FAV SCORE IMENT
DATUK SERI NAJIB TUN RAZAK, MALAYSIA PRIME LOWYAT.NET
67 58.0 ROBERTNGO 100 3 0
MINISTER FORUM– KOPITIAM
DATUK DR. AWANG ADEK HUSSEIN, DEPUTY FINANCE LOWYAT.NET
15 55.0 JOE_MAMAK 100 2 -13
MINISTER FORUM– KOPITIAM
TAN SRI MUHYIDDIN YASSIN, MALAYSIA DEPUTY PRIME MIRI COMMUNITY
12 54.2 RYUNARUTO 90 2 0
MINISTER FORUM – LOUNGE
DATUK SERI LIOW TIONG LAI, MINISTER OF HEALTH 12 54.6 LOWYAT.NET
FLAMING_LION 72 1 0
FORUM– KOPITIAM
DATUK MUKHRIZ TUN MAHATHIR, DEPUTY MINISTER
11 54.5 LOWYAT.NET
OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & INDUSTRY POLARIS 70 27 -8
FORUM– KOPITIAM
DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM, OPPOSITION LEADER 9 44.4 MIRI COMMUNITY
RELAXJACK 65 2 -13
FORUM – LOUNGE
TWITTER –
DATUK SERI DR. NG YEN YEN, MINISTER OF TOURISM 8 55.0 READZZAL 56 1 0
MALAYSIA
TWITTER –
CHUA HAK BIN, BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH IDIN77 51 1 0
8 46.9 MALAYSIA
ECONOMIST
THE BORNE TWITTER –
51 1 0
TONY PUA, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR PETALING POST MALAYSIA
8 45.6
JAYA UTARA THE BURSA M‟SIA
FORUM –
DATUK SERI AHMAD HUSNI MOHAMAD HANADZLAH, SALAHDIN 50 3 0
8 58.1 PERSONAL
SECOND MINISTER OF FINANCE FINANCE
18

19. FURTHER ANALYSIS FROM NEWS MEDIA
News media findings

20. Stakeholder satisfaction
PUBLIC SECTOR CHART 13 PRIVATE SECTOR CHART 15
PUBLIC
PRIVATE
SECTOR IS
SECTOR IS
NOT
NOT
SATISFIED
SATISFIED
WITH THE
WITH THE PRIVATE
BUDGET… PUBLIC BUDGET SECTOR IS
SECTOR IS 28.2% SATISFIED
SATISFIED
WITH THE
WITH THE
BUDGET
BUDGET
71.8%
89.3%
RAKYAT CHART 14
RAKYAT IS
NOT
SATISFIED
WITH THE
BUDGET
22.1% RAKYAT IS
SATISFIED
WITH THE
BUDGET
77.9%
20

21. Leading media by language
TABLE 3
AVERAGE
LANGUAGE MEDIA OUTLETS AUDIENCE VOLUME
FAVOURABILITY
THE STAR ONLINE 674,424 89 53.8
YAHOO! MALAYSIA 60,630 58 53.3
ENGLISH
MALAYSIAN INSIDER
456,895 47 48.4
(ALTERNATIVE NEWS)
UTUSAN MALAYSIA 41,413,162 71 54.1
UTUSAN ONLINE 407,925 58 56.1
MALAY
HARAKAH DAILY
349,027 20 42.3
(ALTERNATIVE NEWS)
SIN CHEW JIT POH 36,987,648 47 54.5
CHINESE
CHINA PRESS 18,870,540 38 52.6
MALAYSIA NANBAN 2,760,000 18 53.6
TAMIL
MAKKAI OSAI 52,000 13 54.6
21

22. Social media findings
“ @HORNBILL UNLEASHED.WORDPRESS.COM, 11 OCTOBER 2011
“IN FACT, „ONE-OFF‟ PAYMENTS ARE AKIN TO PLACEBOS THAT GIVE
SHORT-TERM RELIEFS. RELIEFS THAT ARE PLAYS ON THE MIND
RATHER THAN REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO A MEDICAL AILMENT. AND
THIS IS THE ESSENCE OF BUDGET 2012. IT IS A SHORT TERM
PLACEBO, MEANT TO GRANT A „FEEL GOOD‟ EFFECT AMONG A
SELECT FEW OF THE POPULACE. JUST ENOUGH TO AFFECT THE 5%
VOTE SWING BACK TO THE BARISANNASIONAL IN ORDER TO RETAIN
THE TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY IN PARLIAMENT. HOW ELSE CAN YOU
EXPLAIN ITS IRRATIONALITY AND DISREGARD FOR FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY?”

23. Social media metrics
.
STORY FOCUS ENGAGEMENT INFLUENCE REACH NET SENTIMENT
OVERALL ECONOMY
54.4% 57% 66.5% -37.6
PRIVATE SECTOR
51.9% 56% 66.6% -37.7
PUBLIC SECTOR
49.4% 56% 60.8% -13.1
THE RAKYAT
49.9% 54% 64.4% -13.8
23

24. Top 10 channels
.
CHART 16
LOWYAT.NET FORUM - KOPITIAM
FREE MALAYSIA TODAY
LOWYAT.NET MALAYSIAN MIRROR BLOG
FORUM -
KOPITIAM
13.0% LOWYAT.NET FORUM - FINANCE, BUSINESS & INVESTMENT
FREE
MALAYSIA
TODAY HORNBILL UNLEASHED
10.5%
OTHERS CARI CHINESE FORUM - LOCAL POLITICS
42.6%
CARIGOLD FORUM - ISU SEMASA
DETIKDAILY.NET FORUM - POLITIK SEMASA
LIM KIT SIANG BLOG
CARI FORUM - ISU SEMASA (CURRENT ISSUES)
OTHERS
24

25. Story line: 6 – 14 October 2011
.
10 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 417
7 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 952
The volume of mentions increased on this day, after the opposition party reviewed the
The online discussions spiked when the Budget was announced. Discussions related
Budget allocation by the government. Engagement from representatives from the
to Budget allocation, in particularly speculation about the introduction of a GST, and
government and the opposition party was apparent in discussion across forums and
the implementation of the Budget. The online public perceived the 2012 Budget as a
blogs on this day. Conversations suggested that the Budget distribution is inadequate to
ploy by the government to gain electoral votes.
sustain Malaysia‟s global economic growth, with wide coverage of claims that the Budget
should cater to all levels of income groups.
8 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 691
12 OCTOBER 2011 TOTAL MENTION: 325
Conversations continued to suggest that the Budget has failed to address a possible
Discussions continued to relate to the government‟s cash handouts, again with
global recession. Budget 2012 was again described as perceived as tool for the
claims that these handouts were allocated in order to win public votes in the
government to win electoral votes. Middle-class citizens claimed they had received
upcoming election without consideration of the impact of the Budget on
the least benefits from the Budget, and that finance aids were targeted only at lower
recession and low GDP growth.
income groups.
CHART 17
1600 100
1200 50
NET SENTIMENT
VOLUME
800 0
400 -50
0 -100
6/10/2011 7/10/2011 8/10/2011 9/10/2011 10/10/2011 11/10/2011 12/10/2011 13/10/2011 14/10/2011
VOL NET SENTIMENT
25

26. Voice growth & channel growth
VOICE GROWTH CHART 18
600
450
VOLUME
300
150
0
04/10/11 05/10/11 06/10/11 07/10/11 08/10/11 09/10/11 10/10/11 11/10/11 12/10/11 13/10/11 14/10/11
NEW VOICES CUMULATIVE GROWTH
CHANNEL GROWTH CHART 19
100
75
VOLUME
50
25
0
04/10/11 05/10/11 06/10/11 07/10/11 08/10/11 09/10/11 10/10/11 11/10/11 12/10/11 13/10/11 14/10/11
NEW CHANNELS CUMULATIVE GROWTH
26

27. Top influencers
13 OCTOBER 2011 01:11
“
COMPARISONS with other countries indicate that we have too many civil servants for the population. Some 1.3 million civil
servants, together with retirees, accounted for nearly two-fifths of the Federal Government‟s operating expenditure last year
of over RM150bil”. - http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2068415
USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URL
Polaris Lowyat.NET Forum – 70 32 Negative http://forum.lowyat.net/user/Polaris
Kopitiam
“
11 OCTOBER 2011 18:20
But beyond the lofty promises and glossy numbers, the so-called shadow budget, if ever it is implemented, could hurt
rather than benefit ordinary Malaysians.”- http://www.malaysianmirror.com/media-buzz-detail/6-nation/55159-putting-
pakatans-flawed-budget-under-scrutiny
USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URL
Malaysian Mirror Blog 43 24 Negative http://www.malaysianmirror.com/index.html
“
11 OCTOBER 2011 3:38
A government is more than a budget. It is not all money and mega projects and subsidies. The poor will remain poor no
matter what multi-billion ringgit transformation projects are rolled out.”-
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/10/11/battle-of-the-budgets/
USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URL
Free Malaysia Today Blog 43 14 Negative http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/
“
8 OCTOBER 2011 00:00
This Budget 2012 measures to put cash in the pockets of voters ahead of a general election expected soon.” -
http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/24226/.
USER CHANNEL INFLUENCE TOTAL POSTS SENTIMENT URL
Hornbill Unleashed Blog 43 27 Negative http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com
27

28. Conclusions
> Given the wide concerns expressed about the economic > Future news and social media tracking should relate to the
sustainability of the Budget proposals, the government could implementation process and results of high-profile projects, which
consider more proactively communicating specific details about are commonly the focus of media and public interest. This would
the proposals to the public. This could include providing more include financial aid offers for lower-income groups; ministry
information about the development and implementation of the funding of projects such as the new women‟s and children‟s
projects, and addressing queries from the public in a timely hospitals; upgrades of rural clinics; Kedai 1Malaysia; the
manner. This will help to boost public confidence about the Langkawi tourism project; and upgrades for the Royal Malaysian
government‟s accountability in delivering the promises made in Police.
the Budget, especially in the current global economic climate.
> Although the Prime Minister and government ministers have an
undeniably strong presence in news media, opposition leaders
seem to be utilising social media more effectively to communicate
their messages. Government representatives are still lacking a
presence in forums and blogs, whereas opposition leaders and
members of the middle-class were active in these areas. A
greater government engagement in the social media space is
therefore encouraged.
28

29. CO P YRI G HT © 2 0 11 ME DI A MO NI TO RS G RO UP.
A L L RI G HT S RE S E RV E D.