From both sides of the line: A case study of Singaporean and Malaysian print media during the Pedra Branca territorial dispute
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Honours thesis; presented at the Journalism Education Association of Australia (JEAA) 2013 conference in Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
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From both sides of the line: A case study of Singaporean and Malaysian print media during the Pedra Branca territorial dispute
- 2. From both sides of the line: A case study of Singaporean and Malaysian print media during the Pedra Branca territorial dispute JIAYU QUEEK Faculty of Science and IT School of Design, Communication and IT MR PAUL SCOTT B.A., Grad. Dip. Comm., Grad. Dip. Ed., M.Lit. Lecturer Faculty of Science and IT School of Design, Communication and IT DR JANET FULTON PhD (Media and Communication) Lecturer Faculty of Science and IT School of Design, Communication and IT December 3, 2013
- 3. 3 AGENDA • Background • Research Problem • Theoretical perspectives and methodology • Newspaper profiles • Distribution of articles over time (May ’08 – Nov ’08) • Selection process for newspaper articles • Sampling process and themes • Findings • Conclusions • References December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 4. BACKGROUND 4 Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh: • 24nm E of Singapore, 7.7nm S of Malaysian state of Johor • “White rock” • Ownership of this island + Middle Rocks + South Ledge was disputed since 1979 • Pedra Branca awarded to Singapore in 2008 ("Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge," 2008) December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 5. 5 RESEARCH PROBLEM Context: Bilateral/multilateral disputes between countries. Problem: How these issues are presented in local media. • RQ1: In a territorial dispute between two countries, what perspectives can the local print media adopt? • RQ2: How can these perspectives shift over the course of the dispute? December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 6. 6 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY • Communications theories employed: – Agenda-setting (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) – Framing (Scheufele & Tewksbury 2007) • NB: The bulk of this presentation addresses framing observations; agenda-setting is dealt with in the thesis • Method: Comparison of articles from one Singaporean (The Straits Times) and one Malaysian newspaper (New Straits Times) December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 7. NEWSPAPER PROFILES The Straits Times 7 New Straits Times Readership 1,387,000 236,000 Median age of readers 35-39 years old 35-39 years old Income Median: SGD 7,103 Average: > RM 5,000 (Source: NSTP Group 2012; Publicitas International 2013; Singapore Press Holdings 2012) • Similar role of (mainstream) print media in both countries – nation-building (Nathan 2009) and supporting the establishment (Rajaratnam 2009) December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 8. 8 SELECTION PROCESS FOR NEWSPAPER ARTICLES • Time frame: 6 months before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing and 6 months after ICJ ruling on the dispute (i.e. May 2007 to November 2008) • 130 articles located from The Straits Times, 79 articles located from New Straits Times December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 9. DISTRIBUTION OF ARTICLES OVER TIME (MAY ’07 – NOV ’08) 9 ST NST December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 10. 10 SAMPLING PROCESS AND THEMES • Systematic random sampling was performed and 5 articles chosen for each paper during each time period (total = 20) • The 20 articles were run through CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software) to generate main themes and concept maps • Concepts + immersion in articles enabled three themes to emerge: – Sovereignty, bilateral relations, Johor December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 11. 11 FINDINGS Sovereignty • The legal status of a state, within its territory, that is not subject to the jurisdiction of a foreign state or laws other than that which are applicable internationally (Steinberger 2000) • Concept: Sovereignty = ownership December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 12. FINDINGS 12 Sovereignty Newspaper During the hearing (Nov 2007) The Straits Times Malaysian case untenable due to lack of any (protest) action. During the decision (May 2008) Malaysian case untenable due to lack of any (protest) action. Claim to sovereignty based on actions taken that prove its ownership. Focus on other issues of maritime boundaries, etc. New Straits Times Had sovereignty of Pedra Branca right from the start; Singapore is challenger. Other offshore islands will not be lost in the same way as Pedra Branca. Malaysia got Middle Rocks, access issues to it. Had sovereignty right from the start. December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 13. 13 FINDINGS Bilateral relations • Described as symbiotic and special (Omar 2007; Ting 2009) • Both countries strategically reliant on each other, yet also compete closely (Ting 2009) • Relationship also marked by periods of tension and disputes (Ting 2009) December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 14. FINDINGS 14 Bilateral relations Newspaper The Straits Times During the hearing (Nov 2007) During the decision (May 2008) Diplomacy is key to solve disputes between countries. Maintaining good bilateral relations is important. Maintaining good bilateral relations (between SG & MY) is important. Both countries satisfied with the result; work on improving relations. Going to the ICJ for arbitration was the right thing to do. New Straits Times Negative view of the longstanding dispute; an obstacle in bilateral relations. Malaysians should not feel angry at Singapore if the result doesn’t go their way. Singapore is (sometimes) the aggressor in these disputes. Win-win situation for both countries. Issue of ownership settled, avoid further conflict as best as possible. December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 15. 15 FINDINGS Johor • Refers to the ancient historical empire of the Johor Sultanate and its modern incarnation as the state of Johor within the Federation of Malaysia. • Central to the dispute because of its historical relation to Pedra Branca as well as geographical proximity. (Andaya 2004; National Library Board Singapore 2005) December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 16. FINDINGS 16 Johor Newspaper During the hearing (Nov 2007) During the decision (May 2008) The Straits Times Johor is relevant to the dispute both geographically and historically. More references towards Johor as a political entity (i.e. the Johor Sultanate; state of Johor) and its significance to the case. Malaysia had original title over Pedra Branca VS sovereignty passed to Singapore due to its actions historical claims not as relevant. New Straits Times Malaysia has possessed sovereignty (through the Johor Sultanate) since time immemorial. Malaysia has possessed sovereignty (through the Johor Sultanate) since time immemorial. Focus on impact to Johor community: Muslims accepted the decision Fishermen don’t have access to fishing grounds near Middle Rocks – yet. A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 17. FINDINGS 17 Shifts over time Theme The Straits Times New Straits Times Sovereignty Media frames tended to shift from establishing the legitimacy of the Singapore argument to acknowledging Singapore’s victory Media frames tended to maintain the argument that Malaysia had sovereignty right from the start, although it had acknowledged Singapore’s victory in the ICJ ruling. Also moved on to the practical future issues of delimiting maritime boundaries, etc. Focus shifted to Middle Rocks, which Malaysia was awarded, and the sovereignty of other offshore possessions. December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 18. FINDINGS 18 Shifts over time Theme The Straits Times New Straits Times Bilateral relations Media frames remained largely similar over time; i.e. bilateral relations are highly important and going to the ICJ for arbitration helped to not jeopardise it. Media frames appeared to approach the dispute negatively, regarding it as an obstacle in bilateral relations. Secondary frame: Both countries were pleased with the result and wanted to advance relations to the next level. Transitions to a more positive note in May 2008 – it was a win-win solution, opportunity to repair damaged relations, conflict avoidance. Singapore was observed to be framed as being aggressive with territorial claims. December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 19. FINDINGS 19 Shifts over time Theme The Straits Times New Straits Times Johor Relevance of Johor Sultanate and Johor (state) was mentioned since the ICJ accepted Malaysia’s argument of its salience to the dispute. Media frames initially emphasised on the importance of Johor to the dispute as part of the government’s arguments presented to the ICJ. Possibly downplayed in favour of Singapore’s argument that its activities on Pedra Branca since the 1850s proved that it had sovereignty over the island. After the ICJ ruling, to maintain relevance, attention shifted over to the Johor community. December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 20. 20 CONCLUSIONS RQ1: In a territorial dispute between two countries, what perspectives can the local print media adopt? • Themes tied to sovereignty and diplomacy • Establish historical and communal links to the disputed areas to legitimise ownership • Media agendas and frames are also subject to the influence of national interests (Jang 2013) December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 21. 21 CONCLUSIONS RQ2: How can these perspectives shift over the course of the dispute? • Not all perspectives change over the course of the dispute • With a third-party (such as the ICJ) delivering a binding agreement, the victor may seek to emphasise its argument over other points of view • Loser may ignore all points-of-view rather than its own; likely to shift focus away to other topics e.g. border security • Unchanged perspectives are likely due to their high strategic importance for the country, e.g. maintaining bilateral relations with close neighbours December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 22. 22 CONCLUSIONS Final statements • Articles from both newspapers did not contain overly-inflammatory content against the other party – Concept of ‘face’: A derivative of collectivist East Asian cultural logic. Represents an individuals sense of self-worth in social interactions (Aslani, Ramirez-Marin, Semnani-Azad, Brett & Tinsley 2013) – Critically relevant to interactions between nations on the international stage December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 23. 23 CONCLUSIONS Final statements • This research has uncovered some of the possible media perspectives that may emerge from print media content during a territorial dispute, and how these perspectives may shift over time • Model for media policy in future territorial disputes • Possible further research: Comparisons between two or more countries on subjects such as journalistic treatment of sovereignty and foreign policy issues December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 24. 24 REFERENCES Andaya, LY 2004, 'Johor', in KG Ooi (ed.), Southeast Asia: A historical encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, vol. 1, ABC-CLIO, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA. Blaxter, L., Hughes, C., & Tight, M. (2010). Thinking about methods. How to research (4th ed., pp. 54-80). Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill International. Crotty, M. (2003). Introduction: The research process. The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process (pp. 1 - 17). London: SAGE Publications. Media search | Publicitas International. (2013) Retrieved 12 April 2013, from http://www.publicitas.com/en/home/media-solutions/media-search Nathan, SR 2009, SPH has become an important part of Singapore's nation-building, journalism.sg, viewed 2 October 2013, from http://journalism.sg/2009/03/31/sph-has-become-an-important-part-ofsingapores-nation-building/ National Library Board Singapore 2005, Strait of Johore | Infopedia, viewed 4 October 2013, http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_787_2005-01-24.html NSTP Group 2012, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, viewed 16 May 2013, http://www.nstp.com.my/ December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 25. 25 REFERENCES Omar, R 2007, 'Malaysia-Singapore relations: Issues and strategies', paper presented at the International Conference on Southeast Asia (ICONSEA), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 3 December 2007. Rajaratnam, UD 2009, 'Role of traditional and online media in the 12th general election,Malaysia', The Journal of the South East Asia Research Centre for Communications and Humanities, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 33-58. Scheufele, D. A., & Tewksbury, D. (2007). Framing, agenda-setting, and priming: The evolution of three media effects models. Journal of Communication, 57, 9-20. doi: 10.1111/j.0021-9916.2007.00326.x Singapore Press Holdings 2012, The Straits Times media kit 2012, viewed 17 May 2013, http://www.sph.com.sg/pdf/MediaKit2012/ST%20Media%20Kit%202012%20(Jan%202012).pdf Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, No. 937 12 (International Court of Justice 2008). Steinberger, H 2000, 'Sovereignty', in R Bernhardt (ed.), Encyclopedia of public international law, vol. IV, Elsvier, Amsterdam. Ting, MH 2009, 'Singapore-Malaysia relations revisited: An "English School" IR analysis', New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 172-198. Weerakkody, N. (2009). The research process. Research methods for media and communication (pp. 116). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press December 3, 2013 A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD | www.newcastle.edu.au
- 26. A presentation at the 2013 JEAA Conference, Sunshine Coast, QLD December 3, 2013 CRICOS Provider 00109J | www.newcastle.edu.au
Editor's Notes
- Firstly, as you can see from the map here, the island of Pedra Branca (also known as Pulau Batu Puteh to the Malaysians) is located here (point to symbol). It is approximately 24 nautical miles east of Singapore and 7.7 nautical miles south of the Malaysian state of Johor (ICJ, 2008). The names Pedra Branca and Batu Puteh are, respectively, the translations of “white rock” in Portugese and Malay (ICJ, 2008). Ownership of the island, together with two other nearby island features (Middle Rocks and South Ledge) was jointly disputed between Singapore (marked in yellow) and Malaysia (marked in purple) in 1979 when Malaysia produced a map indicating Pedra Branca as part of its territory. Both countries agreed to have the dispute heard at the Int’l Court of Justice in 2003, and in 2007 the hearings began. Pedra Branca was awarded to Singapore in 2008, with Middle Rocks going to Malaysia and a call for both countries to jointly determine the status of South Ledge.
- This leads us to consider the context of the issue, which clearly is about bilateral disputes between countries. The research problem in this case is therefore how these disputes are presented in local media, specifically print. With that, the two RQs I established were firstly, in a territorial dispute between two countries, what perspectives can the local print media adopt? Secondly, how can these perspectives shift over the course of the dispute?
- The communications theories employed in my research were agenda-setting and framing. Agenda-setting postulates that the emphasis that mass media places on pertinent issues through placement or amount of coverage is strongly correlated to what issues the audience deems as important. Framing, on the other hand, is the use of words and themes in setting frames of reference to characterise the issue at hand and influence audience understanding and reading of the situation. To answer the research questions, I performed a comparison of articles between ST, a SG newspaper and NST, a MY newspaper.
- From this table, their reader demographics appears to be similar… … but another major factor influencing my choice of these papers is that they both belong to the mainstream print media. ST is more or less THE English broadsheet in Singapore, while NST is one of the more well-established ones and owned by companies close to the ruling party. The mainstream print media in both countries function similarly: to facilitate nation-building (Nathan 2009) and supporting the establishment (Rajaratnam 2009)
- I arbitrarily designated a time frame from between May 2007 to November 2008 to look for articles related to the disputes in the abovementioned newspapers, ensuring the scope was just right for the honours research. This has netted me 130 articles for ST and 79 for NST. by searching the ST and NST web archives for the term pedra branca and all other forms of reference/spelling, combined with the university’s World Newspapers database to further refine my search results.
- The distribution of the articles on a weekly basis is shown here. Blue is ST, red is NST. Two peaks correspond to when the ICJ hearing and decision ruling were made in nov 2007 n may 2008 respectively. (omit this) the other red peak is an outlier peak that corresponds to NST articles written in response to an issue raised in ST weeks prior, but not considered for qualitative analysis in this case since it is not directly linked to the ICJ court case. I chose to focus on those two peaks formed from the intense media coverage of the court hearing and decision around these dates as you can see, because there would be a larger content pool available for qualitative analysis.
- From the articles isolated during these two peak periods I firstly ordered them ordered by date. Verbatim reports of speeches were then removed, as well as articles that discussed irrelevant content, such as one that mentioned Pedra Branca once but talked about a Malaysian meeting held in Pakistan throughout. A SRS was then performed to obtain 5 articles from each paper, during each time period, giving a total of 20 for qualitative analysis. The 20 articles were run though CAQDAS software to generate themes and concept maps based on its algorithm. Together with my immersion into the 20 articles, the three themes that formed the basis for my qualitiative analysis emerged. The three themes are sovereignty, bilateral relations, and Johor.
- Moving on, Sovereignty is the legal status of a state within its own territory and not subject to foreign jursidiction other than international laws. In the case of the dispute, sovereignty refers to having ownership (of territories)
- The table represents the media frames identified. For example, during the hearing in Nov 07, the media frames ST had was that the Malaysian argument did not hold any ground because they failed to protest against Singapore’s activities until publishing the map in 1979. This line of thought still remains during the ICJ ruling in May 08, where Singapore was awarded Pedra Branca and Malaysia Middle Rocks. During this period, ST also highlighted more of the Singapore argument that it attained sovereignty over Pedra Branca due to the actions it had taken on the island that prove its ownership. The ST coverage then focused on other issues such as the proper delimitation of maritime boundaries, indicating that it had moved on quickly past the “victory” stage. For the NST, its frames primarily followed the Malaysian legal team’s, i.e. Malaysia had ownership of PB right from the start and that Singapore was the challenger. This did not change May 2008, where the NST still maintained this frame (of prior ownership) with regard to Middle Rocks which was ruled to be theirs. A new frame that Malaysia’s other offshore territorial holdings are secure and will not be “lost” like PB was also adopted.
- The second theme discusses bilat. rlns between SG and MY. This has been described as symbiotic and special, since both countries are strategically reliant on each other for resources and manpower, yet are in constant competition which means that the close relationship also includes periods of tension (name some dispute if asked, like water and land reclamation).*Agenda-setting: 50% of articles discussed this theme either directly or indirectly
- From this table here you can see that the importance of BR doesn’t change from Nov 2007 to May 08 for ST. The other frames it has adopted branch off from this main theme, such as highlighting the importance of diplomacy in Nov 07 and that going for int’l arbitration was the right thing to do. NST, on the other hand, approached this theme differently. It appears that they framed the dispute negatively in terms of BR in the beginning, such as calling it an obstacle or irritant in BR, and also implying the Singapore was sometimes the aggressor in bilateral disputes. This shifted towards a more positive note in May 08, with a reconciliatory article calling on Malaysians to stay calm. The win-win stiuation was also reported upon by NST in this period, and with the islands’ ownership settled, articles from May 08 also stress conflict avoidance
- The final theme to emerge was Johor. This refers to ancient empire (Johor sultanate) and modern state of Johor which is a part of Malaysia. It is relevant to the dispute due to historical links and geographical proximity to PB.
- For ST, the relevance of Johor was maintained during both periods though in May 08 it focused more on Johor as a political entity and its significance since the ICJ accepted Malaysia’s argument that it originally possesed the islands through the Johor Sultanate. This seemed to be downplayed however, because ST also constructed a frame suggesting that it was its actions on the island since 1850 that won it PB. NST again echoes the Malaysian stand that it has posseses sovereignty since time immemorial. This also doesn’t change across the two time periods, but with the loss of PB to Singapore, the dispute seemed to be kept relevant by NST’s focus on its impact on the Johor community – such as the Muslim community there as well as on the Johorean fishermen.
- Tracing the shifts over time for the theme of sovereignty, we can see that ST and NST essentially followed their respective government’s argument very closely although they also presented the opposing country’s point of view. After the case was decided, the direction of the shift in both countries becomes clearer: Singapore moved on after its “victory” to focus on the next pertinent issue, whereas Malaysia appeared to attempt to keep up with positive reporting through championing its accepted arguments and drawing attention to what it had (Middle Rocks) as well as away to other issues.
- Singapore’s stand tended to remain similar throughout with regard to bilateral relations and its importance, whereas while Malaysia saw it as important, the issue was approached negatively at first, painting Singapore as the “aggressor” (land reclamation, and now Pedra Branca). It only turned positive after the ICJ ruling on the matter. +ve note: find examples in articles on the side. Or whatever.
- Lastly, Johor, being a part of Malaysia, has a more important bearing to the case for Malaysia than Singapore due to its physical proximity, as well as a historical one that was argued by Malaysia. While the progression of media framing for Singapore in this case remains fairly unchanged, the one for Malaysia is interesting because while the theme remained the same, the methods of framing evolved, possibly to try and keep the issue newsworthy in the minds of the Malaysian public.
- To reiterate, this is a comparative journalism case study that focuses on media coverage over the course of a territorial dispute. However, each territorial dispute is unique, thus the findings may not be applicable to all current and future disputes. Regarding the first research question, this thesis has found that in a bilateral territorial dispute, the local print media may invoke the themes of sovereignty and diplomacy (through bilateral relations) to construct media frames. The local print media may also attempt use media coverage to legitimise their countries’ claims through displaying historical evidence and communal links. This constructed legitimacy ultimately serves to reinforce the perceptions that the citizenry may have regarding their home countries’ territorial authority over the disputed area. The media agendas and frames are also subject to the influence that national interests may have on the media system (Jang 2013). In the case of Singapore and Malaysia, where it has been acknowledged that the State has utilised the media to facilitate nation-building and cohesion (Lee 2010; Rajaratnam 2009), an obvious national interest is that of maintaining cordial bilateral relations between both countries.
- For the 2nd RQ, - Not all perspectives change over the course of the dispute. in view of a binding agreement as delivered by a third party body such as the ICJ, the victor may seek to emphasise or promote its argument over others even though both may have merit. Concurrently, the loser may simply treat all other arguments (except its own) as non-existent, and local print media coverage is likely to be directed to other topics, such as border security.. The likely reason why certain media perspectives do not vary much with time is that they are of high strategic importance to one or both countries party to the dispute, such as the ever-present need for diplomacy or to direct attention away from internal problems.
- It is also of interest to note that the selected articles from both newspapers were observed to be non-inflammatory in nature. (as e.g., skip this for prsn - For The Straits Times, its article on the collapse of Sir Lauterpacht (see section 5.3.1), while ostensibly negative, also makes amends by highlighting his credentials as an international lawyer. The New Straits Times, on the other hand, was observed to have shifted towards a more conciliatory tone from November 2007 to May 2008) This could be due the concept of ‘face’, which is derivative of collectivist East Asian cultural logic and represents an individual’s sense of self-worth in social interactions. This makes face-giving and face-saving very important in the Asian context (Morrison, Conaway & Borden 1994; Rose, Suppiah, Uli & Othman 2007) Extending it beyond the individual, this concept is also critically relevant to international relations and foreign policy, which dictate how countries interact with each other in the society of states. In the context of the Pedra Branca dispute, The Straits Times may have given some ‘face’ to Malaysia in that particular article on Sir Lauterpacht (Lim 2007d) by not discrediting him fully. On the other hand, Malaysia may have lost some ‘face’ since it did not get the main island of Pedra Branca (or Pulau Batu Puteh, in their term of reference). The concern with saving face, together with the special attention paid to Singapore-Malaysia relations may therefore offer an explanation for this shift in attitude, and hence frames, in the case of the New Straits Times (skip)
- In conclusion, this thesis has uncovered some of the possible media perspectives that may emerge from content produced by local print media during a territorial dispute, and how these perspectives may shift over time. A highly customised case study was conducted on The Straits Times (a Singaporean newspaper) and the New Straits Times (a Malaysian newspaper) with three potential themes of sovereignty, the political entity of Johor, and bilateral relations revealed through a combination of software-assisted, quantitative measures and an immersion in the subject matter under study. From these themes, which feature highly on the media agenda of the above two newspapers, multiple frames were observed to be constructed. These frames were qualitatively analysed to provide an interpretation of their possible meanings and their influences on the audience. As such, this study has implications as a model for media policy in future territorial disputes, where the adoption of carefully negotiated media positions can shape the direction the dispute(s) may take and potentially create the conditions for an amicable resolution (Puddephatt 2006). Further studies that expand on the subject matter covered in this thesis could also be conducted, such as comparisons between two or more countries on journalistic treatment of sovereignty and foreign policy issues, for example the spat between China and Japan over the Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands which has been under the spotlight recently.