Isu Bioteknologi dalam Akhbar Arus Perdana

Biotechnology has been earmarked as an engine for economic growth to transform Malaysia into a developed nation by 2020. Based on this scenario, the study examines the coverage of biotechnological issues in four mainstream newspapers. The four newspapers are Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, New Straits Times and The Star. The objectives of this research are: (1) to identify the newspaper which has the highest coverage of biotechnology issues; (2) to ascertain which type of biotechnological methods received the highest coverage; (3) to determine the prevailing biotechnology themes covered; (4) to identify the most common type of sources used in the coverage of biotechnology issues; and (5) to discover which genre of writing is most commonly used in the coverage of biotechnology issues. Content analysis was used to study the phenomena. The findings indicate that Berita Harian has the highest coverage of biotechnology issues followed by Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times and The Star. The modern mode of biotechnology production received the highest coverage. Government policies regarding biotechnology also received the highest coverage. Ministers and chief executive officers of companies are the most sought after sources of news about biotechnology. News is the prevalent genre used in the writing of biotechnological issues. In conlusion, although the government has announced that biotechnology is one of the engine of growth, it has not received sufficient coverage by the local media