Citation

Ghani Y, Jawi ZM, Osman MR, Kassim KAA. Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research. Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia: Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, 2020.

Copyright

(Copyright 2020, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research)

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Abstract

As 7,000 road crash fatalities are recorded in Malaysia annually, the story of horrific accidents appears on Malaysian newspapers almost every day without fail. The rule of thumb is the more people killed, the bigger the news coverage. While the news about the road crash is common, little is known about the contribution of news in generating awareness for behaviour change among road users. Therefore, this study investigates the constructive journalism approach to news reporting through one of its constructs, which is the presence of 'solutions information'. The solutions information comes in the form of 'the 6th W' which actually questions 'what's next?', besides the already well- known news elements of '5Ws and 1H'. The study was carried out using a content analysis approach on 100 pieces of road crash news articles from the selected Malay language newspapers over three-month period. This qualitative analysis identifies the demographic distribution of crash victims; such as age, sex, race, time of crash, and the reasons of crash. The analysis primarily seeks the presence or absence of solutions information, which normally in the form of advice from subject matter experts or authorities. Then, a comparison is made among newspapers with regards to the presence of solutions information in their respective news reports. The results indicate that solutions information is non-existence among the Malay newspapers when reporting road crash. The study is hoped to improve the way news on road crash are reported; adding prescription to road safety issues rather than simply describing the events that lead to crash.