The influence of news objectivity of indonesia labours on the image of malaysia in th eyes of the people of south sulawesi [Pengaruh objektivi berita tentang tenaga kerja ndonesia terhadap imej malaysia di mata masyarakat sulawesi selatan]

This study was undertaken to address the validity of news from south sulawesi newspapers in reporting the issues of indonesian labors (tki) in malaysia. the purpose is to ensure the objectivity of news read by the public to prevent the formation of negative perceptions of makassar people towards malaysians. according to westershal theory,the objectivity of the news can be viewed from two perspectives-the factuality and impartiality. the research employed a combination of both quantitative and qualitative method of investigation. the emphasis of the investigation was on quantitative data supported by a qualitative data. the population of the study included subscribers of harian fajar and tribun timur daily newspapers. the sample was determined by means of proportionate stratified random sampling with 377 people. the literature review as well as in depth interview on focus group discussion were used in obtaining qualitative data. the study found out that there is an implication of news objectivity regarding workers in malaysia on the perceptions of makassar people towards malaysians. this is because the reported news was invalid,irrelevant,unreliable,and biased. both newspapers used in this survey had the tendency to be highly in favor of indonesian workers in malaysia. this is becoming evident as more spaces were provided for reporting either workers or the government of indonesia in malaysia than the coverage of news about the employers of indonesian workers in malaysia. in other words,the content of news tended to benefit the workers or indonesian government. the irrelevant news led to the emergence of negative perceptions among the people of south sulawesi towards malaysian government. the present study has confirmed that the news which is not objective (not factuality and impartiality) towards a country can generate negative image which will in turn lead to resentment and adverse conflict between the two neighboring countries. © 2016,universiti kebangsaan malaysia press. all rights reserved.