How relevant is Anwar Ibrahim in the media landscape today?
Looking at Anwar Ibrahim’s media exposure, it can be observed that the PKR President suffers a decrease in exposure after February.
This was the time when the political crisis in 2020 erupted. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as the Prime Minister of Malaysia on February 24, at once dissolving the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
The political crisis then saw the rise of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia on March 1. This, directly nullifies the promise made in GE-14, which is to make Anwar as the eighth Prime Minister.
So, where is the PKR President today?
Based on the data, the PKR President barely hit 400 news in April.
If we look at the ‘Media Share’ list in this month, it can be observed that sensational portal/blog are the ones providing coverage for the PKR President.
Sensational portal, Malaysia Chronicle and Raja Petra’s blog Malaysia today has the same amount of news on the PKR President – 35 news.
There is a lack of participation from the mainstream media on Anwar in April 2020.
Despite the lack of involvement from the mainstream press, Anwar appears to ‘steer’ the narration of Perikatan Nasional.
In April 2020, he gave out 313 statements while Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, appears second with 227.
Anwar remains as the sole representation of the opposition under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Additionally, on April 14, it can be observed that Anwar Ibrahim experienced a peak in exposure.
Since then, the gap between Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Anwar is seen to narrow up until before TS Muhyiddin’s Ramadan phase 4 of MCO extension on April 24.
On this day, the mainstream media headlined on Anwar Ibrahim’s meet with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Anwar had said that the meeting with Muhyiddin was to discuss on the Covid-19 crisis and not about politics.
He also said that the issue of a no-confidence vote will not arise if a special parliamentary session is convened to debate on the Covid-19 crisis.
Meanwhile, in the past week, news revolving Anwar looks at the PKR president defending his ties with DAP following talks that PKR and AMANAH are subservient to the Chinese-dominated party.
This issue was later picked up by various sensational portals such as Malaysia Today and Ibnu Hasyim.
Anwar also claimed that that the Dewan Rakyat session which was set to take place on May 18 as a one-day affair was because the government does not have the support of a simple majority in the House.
Overall, Anwar’s voice still matters in the media. His steps are observed by media practitioners, and whenever he speaks, if not the mainstream media, the alternative, sensational portals would pick up his voice.
Analysis also reveals that Anwar is the only representation from the opposition side to have a voice in the Government. In April, he appears as the main leader in controlling the perception of the public towards Perikatan Nasional (PN).