LANGUAGE IN INDIA

"Who's that Guy?"
A Discourse Representation of Social Actors in a Death

Mary Varghese, MESL
Lean Mei Li, Ph.D.

Abstract

In rating Malaysia's mainstream media, Reporters without Borders accorded it 132nd position in 2008, a slide from the 124th position in 2007. The latest report by the agency also notes that Malaysia is among the few nations that suppress any sort of negative reporting of those in positions of authority.

One these positions of authority belong to those who maintain law and order in the country. However, disquieting reports of the abuse of this authority have led to calls from various quarters for greater regulation of the police force. The issue of a high number of deaths in police custody has been one of the concerns highlighted. According to reports from the Malaysian news agency, Bernama News, between 2003 and 2007, more than 1500 deaths are said to have taken place in police custody ("1535 deaths in custody between 2003 and last year").

A recent such death of a man, suspected of being a car thief on 20th January 2009, has generated much interest in the media as well as the public. Employing a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework, this study will carry out an examination of the reporting styles of a state-owned mainstream English daily, The Star, to examine the manner in which the newspaper may choose to represent the social actors in the incident.

1.1 Introduction

News relating to the incident first emerged in online news portals such as Malaysiakini. A 22-year-old man, A. Kugan, was picked up for questioning over car thefts on 15 January 2009. On 20 January 2009, it was reported, in Malaysiakini, that he had died while being questioned. The mainstream media, the Star began reporting on the news item on 22 January 2009. Unfortunately, the event did not die down with a report or two; instead it was played out at great length with more than 35 articles on this issue in The Star.

The death in question has to be viewed against the background of facts emerging of police brutality in the country. The 2007 annual report by a local non-governmental organisation, SUARAM, documents the 108 deaths officially cited deaths in custody between the period of 2000 and 2006 (Malaysian Human Rights Report 2007). A Bernama report on the issue in Aug 2008 places the total number of deaths in custody including in prisons, rehabilitation centres as well as detention centres between 2003 and 2007 at 1535.

The few investigations that are initiated into the deaths are often bogged down by long delays in conducting inquests. A related issue is the matter of the Royal Police Commission that was created in 2004 to review the work of the police in the country and to recommend changes.

The Suaram report notes that the government has refused to ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment (CAT). Possibly as a result of this, the reports of police abuse and deaths in custody are many. Public confidence in the police has been greatly eroded as a result and this led to the appointment of the commission to make recommendations on the changes. Needless to say, the recommendations that were submitted in 2005 have yet to be fully implemented (Malaysian Human Rights Report 2007).

Adding to the general climate of reluctance and apathy is the position of the mainstream media. Aside from the fact that much of the mainstream media is state-owned (Anuar, 2005), the SUARAM report 2007 also highlights the various legal constraints in the form of acts such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984, the Sedition Act 1948 and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 that muzzle the media. In addition to this, the Report notes the a number of occasions in 2007, when figures from the ruling governments have cautioned newspapers against the reporting of negative news that might put institutions and individuals in a bad light.

Teo's (2001) study of two news articles in the Australian media underlines the role of "social psychology and socio-political forces" (p.40) in influencing the representations of the various actors in a news event. According to him, "the ideas and values communicated through the media (media ideology) are 'commodified' and exchanged for financial and material support by the owners and controllers of the media industry…"(p.40).

Pietkainen's (2003) study on news representations of the minority group, the Sami in Finnish news shows the varying representation as created by the newspapers. According to Hall, news representations often play a crucial role in identity constructions (cited in Pietikainen, 2003). The dichotomous social perceptions resulting in an us-versus-them syndrome could be the result of such constructions by the media. The representation of the Sami was carried through the use of naming or labelling as well as through references to the specific actions ascribed to the various actors in the stories highlighted.

Thus in this study on the death of Kugan, the aim is to examine the manner in which the death of a detainee is reported and represented in a mainstream newspaper through reference to some of the significant actors identified in the first two articles in the Star and to highlight the actions attributed to them.

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