SIMILAR BUT NOT ALIKE: THE FRAMING OF COVID-19 IN INDONESIAN AND MALAYSIAN NEWSPAPERS

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly caused havoc all over the world. Governments, healthcare personnel, and the general public are all struggling to survive the health crisis. In such calamity, the media plays an important role as it is able to impact public attitude and response towards the pandemic. Malaysia and Indonesia are two neighbouring countries that are equally affected by the pandemic. These countries share the same language and geographic location, but they have distinct populations, government systems, and ethnic identities. This study compares the news framing of Covid-19 in Malaysian and Indonesian newspapers to understand how socio-political and cultural similarities and differences affect how the health crisis is framed and presented. The Star (Malaysia) and Detik (Indonesia) were chosen to be studied in this paper, with a total of 369 news pieces obtained between 60 days after the first local COVID-19 case was discovered in the respective country. The findings suggest that the framing of Malaysian online newspapers was action-oriented, whereas the framing of Indonesian online newspapers was uncertainty-oriented. In addition, Malaysian and Indonesian internet newspapers were quick to report on the Covid-19 news. Both cited the government as their primary source and addressed risk bearers as their primary focus. This shows that despite their geographical proximities, the two countries had distinct ways of covering the pandemic.


INTRODUCTION
The novel coronavirus  pandemic has certainly caused havoc all over the world. The social, economic and political implications of this health crisis appears to be gloomy. Governments and the people alike are trying different ways to survive. In times such as this, information plays an important role to maintain order and stability. The media plays a pivotal role in delegating the right information that are factual yet comforting so that the public can stay focused and not be driven by panic and anxiety.
The media can help the public deal with health crisis by framing and carefully shaping reality through its news stories (Tham & Zanuddin, 2015;Adekunle & Adnan, 2016;Sell et al., 2018;Mutua & Ong'ong'a, 2020).
People's knowledge and response to the situation will be influenced by the news they believe accurately reflects reality (Adekunle & Adnan, 2016). Some research attempted to investigate the extent to which the media frames health crises such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), Zika, and the most recent COVID-19 using different framing to their specific audience and gathered from their specific sources, which at the end of the day will shape public discourse indirectly (Adekunle & Adnan, 2016;Sell et al., 2018;Mutua & Ong'ong'a, 2020). As such, the media bears a significant deal of responsibility in reporting on health-related news items (Thomas et al., 2020).
Malaysia and Indonesia are two neighbouring countries that are equally affected by the pandemic. In the attempt to contain the crisis, the media in both countries have in their own terms, tried to provide the public with news and information that can help the public manoeuvre through the uncertainties that comes with the crisis.
Because Malaysia and Indonesia are culturally and geographically close, they have many similarities in language, culture, and values. These similarities are evident in their media where the national language is dominantly used and media control is rather autocratic (Moi, 2011;Ambardi, 2014). Media ownership in Malaysia could be defined as an oligopoly that few companies offer standardized products to support the government in maintaining the status quo.
Most media in Malaysia are ruled or owned by the ruling government directly or indirectly.
Only a few are free from the government, such as mandarin newspaper Kwong Huang daily and Oriental daily (Moi, 2011 (Ghani & Haidzir, 2014). Despite the fact that Indonesia is a multi-ethnic country, language does not have a significant role in shaping media preferences. The third factor is ethnic consciousness. Malaysian identity was substantially influenced by ethnic identities (Wok & Mohamed, 2017), whereas Indonesian identity cards do not specify ethnic affiliation, indicating that Indonesia has less ethnic consciousness (Chong, 2012). The fourth factor is people's perceptions of democracy. Although both countries believe in democracy, people in Malaysia and Indonesia experience it differently because Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy and Indonesia is a republic (Sani & Hara, 2014 (Govender, 2017). As a result, those findings emphasized the importance of preventing the recurrence of narratives that may stigmatize and discriminate against specific populations affected by the outbreak (Mutua & Ong'ong'a, 2020).
Because news framing can have a substantial impact on public image, it is critical that it be constantly examined (Yakim, Mohamed, Manan, 2019). According to the framing analysis tradition, news on health crises are often measured through three major areas of news coverage: 1) the frames used to define the news context; 2) the news sources that inform the news coverage; and 3) the target audiences of the news (Adekunle & Adnan, 2016). During a health crisis, these three areas can influence how newspapers generate a specific effect and public perception.

Media Frames in Reporting Health Crisis
In assessing public health crisis coverage, some researchers used various design or framing elements. Chyi and McCombs (2004) used four framing elements: news topic, presentation, cognitive and emotional attribution, and cognitive and emotional attribution. The most recent one could also be considered as tone, which was further elaborated as pessimistic, neutral, and optimistic (Mutua & Ong'ong'a, 2020), while Berry and colleagues (2007)  In short, the media used multiple framing components to establish the reality of the health crisis issues. The following question was inspired by the literature:

Source of News
To increase the credibility of the news, the news source must be relevant to the news itself. Journalist would need to contact information reputable sources that are the authority when it comes to covering facts a health crisis situation (Ghazali, Mohamed, Nasir, & Yusoh, 2020). News sources could be categorised according to how society actors provide societal efficacy by responding to the challenge through policy, warning, action, and study (Jerit et al., 2019). Similarly, Ghazali and colleagues (2020) argued that sources could be individuals or institutions who provide information to shape news articles.
Sources for further elaboration could include the government, lawmakers, journalists' initiatives, scientists, ordinary citizens, international authorities, health officials, and non-governmental organizations (Smith & Tietaah, 2017). Berry and colleagues (2007) classified sources as "human interest", "public", "medical health officer", "researcher", "opinion article", or "health professional". In brief, the source of news could be taken from a number of experts who are qualified to speak on a specific problem.

RQ1: Framing
This study adopted several frames that included consequence, uncertainty or warning, action, reassurance or support, conflict, and new evidence (Shih et al., 2008). The frames rumours and misinformation were adapted from Mutua and Ong'ong'a (2020). has an impact on national economic stability.

Uncertainty
The story focused on the unknown, such as the likely spread, the origin, the cure or remedy, and the outbreak's presentation as something that had not before been uncovered, demonstrating the need for further study and examination by the government or professionals.

Action
The story depicted any efforts undertaken in response to the pandemic, such as tactics, solutions, prevention, and so on. Malaysia, for example, used a Movement Restriction Order to flatten the curve.

Reassurance
The narrative emphasized the readiness or authority's success in coping with the pandemic. As a result, the outbreak's impact should not cause concern. One example of reassurance is the discovery of a reliable vaccination.

Conflict
The Source: Researcher's operational definitions.

RQ2: Sources
The source refers to where the information came from or who informed about the news content. Adapted from Smith and Tietaah (2017), this study categorized the news sources as follows: Source: Researcher's operational definitions.

RQ3: Target
The target news is the person to whom the news will be addressed. The intended targets are classified as risk informer, risk researcher, risk advocate, risk bearer, risk generator, and risk arbiter (Heath & O'Hair, 2010).

Table 4. Operational Definitions of Target News Target
Operational Definition

Risk bearers
When information in the news is directed at communities or individuals who are affected by and bear the risk of the crisis, such as persons with terminal illnesses, the elderly, or the general public.

Risk advocates
When a news piece is addressed to persons who will speak out on behalf of the risk bearer, such as group leaders, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), ministers, and medical associations. It could be a call to action or a report on a specific situation.

Risk generators
The information in the story is aimed at people who created the risk or issue, such as travelers and social distance violators. The data could provide them with advice, a warning, or a danger.

Risk researchers and informer
When news content is directed at those who conduct study and analyze hazards, particularly those that are disputed as being caused by the risk in any way. Information could be advise to undertake further investigation or the discovery of specific critical variables relating to the outbreak itself or an occurrence induced by the danger.

Risk arbiters
The content is aimed at people who make major decisions on risk bearers in order to gradually reduce their burden, or who attempt to build a proper policy to cope with COVID-19, such as the government or employers. It could be a suggestion from professionals or the general population to the government.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The data demonstrate the disparities in the reporting of pandemic news by Malaysian and Indonesian newspapers. The frames utilized by both publications for covering COVID-19 are described in Table 5 below.