Media construction of patriotism in national day news reports

Ting, Su Hie (2017) Media construction of patriotism in national day news reports. In: The 3rd International Conference on Election and Democracy (E & D 2017), 19-20 April 2017, Margherita Hotel, Kuching, Sarawak.

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Abstract

National day celebration is among the means for the government to promote a sense of national identity. What is interesting is how patriotism is displayed in national day celebrations and constructed in newspapers. The study examined newspaper reports of national day celebration in Malaysia to identify symbols of patriotism. The thematic analysis of the newspaper reports on national day celebrations revealed that patriotism must be mentioned and the primary symbols of patriotism are the flag and cultural performance. These represent public displays of patriotism. Less obvious, but not less important, is knowledge about the country and history of how independence is attained. In the event that the younger generation is not aware of the contributions of the nation’s leaders, the newspapers play their role in educating their readers. There also seems to be a competition among organisers to outdo one another in their display of patriotism in national day celebrations, and the media feeds into this frenzy by means of the space given to the reports. “The media’s choice of patriotism has terribly important consequences for democratic life” (Waisbord, 2002) as deeper meanings of love of country give way to a narrow conception of nationalism displayed on national day.

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