Obama Analysis report

Media Analysis SeriesVOL 4 – MARCH 2009

THE OBAMA REPORTANALYSING THE MEDIA RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

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Contents:INTRODUCTION 2

METHODOLOGY 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

KEY FINDINGS 5

CONCLUSIONS 14

MARKET ANALYSIS

AUSTRALIA 15

CHINA 20

HONG KONG 24

INDONESIA 28

MALAYSIA 32

NEW ZEALAND 36

SINGAPORE 40

PAN-ASIA 44

APPENDIX A. METHODOLOGY 47

APPENDIX B. MEDIA LIST 48

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Media Monitors

2

Media Monitors conducted a Media Analysis report to

examine the response to President Obama’s inauguration

across eight media markets in the Asia Pacifi c region.

The Obama Report analyses the key messages in media

coverage, providing insight on whether the media believes

President Obama can deliver on his messages of hope

and change. The report examines the discourse regarding

President Obama’s inauguration in traditional and new

media in order to understand the discrepancies between

different media types and their interdependencies.

The four media types analysed across the region are:

Blogs; >News websites; >Print (newspapers and magazines); and >Television. >

The Asia Pacifi c markets analysed for this report are:

Australia; >China; >Hong Kong; >Indonesia; >Malaysia; >New Zealand; >Singapore; and >Pan-Asia. >

This report also provides a baseline for measurement of

future media coverage of President Obama.

Barack Obama was elected President of the United States on 4 November 2008 with the twin messages of hope and change. Obama’s presidency was eagerly anticipated by the media around the world and the expectations for his presidency are signifi cant.

Introduction MethodologyMedia Monitors analysed all coverage containing

the key words “Obama” and “inauguration” from 213

media outlets across the region during the month

of January 2009. The coverage was monitored and

collated through Media Monitors’ group operations and

analysed by a team of experienced media analysts.

The overarching methodology used to analyse the

media content was the CARMA® methodology, outlined

in Appendix A. The list of media outlets analysed for

this report is in Appendix B.


Media Analysis Series: The Obama Report

3

Approximately a third of the media coverage in the >eight Asia Pacifi c markets conveyed the message that

President Obama offers hope for the future. However,

the ratio differed signifi cantly across markets.

Of the 3,417 media reports that were analysed for >The Obama Report, three out of four focused on

President Obama’s inauguration as an event or a

spectacle, without detailed policy discussion (Chart 1).

The Middle East was the most widely reported >challenge faced by President Obama. However, there

were quite distinct differences between how the media

in the eight markets discussed this topic.

Reports in Malaysian, Singaporean and Pan-Asian >media were critical of President Obama’s silence on

the Israeli confl ict in Gaza before his inauguration.

Following his inauguration, the media in Malaysia and

Singapore were more supportive of President Obama

on this issue. However, some Pan-Asian media were

still critical of President Obama’s silence on the issue

even after he appointed George Mitchell as U.S. Envoy

to the Middle East.

Executive Summary

OF THE 3,417 MEDIA REPORTS THAT WERE ANALYSED FOR THE OBAMA REPORT, THREE OUT OF FOUR FOCUSED ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S INAUGURATION AS AN EVENT OR A SPECTACLE, WITHOUT DETAILED POLICY DISCUSSION.

Media Focus Chart 1


Media Monitors

4

Media in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and New >Zealand focused more on U.S. foreign relations rather

than America’s domestic economic troubles. Media in

Australia, China and Hong Kong provided a relatively

equal amount of discussion about these two topics,

while Pan-Asian media was the only market where

there was greater focus on internal U.S. issues.

This suggests that media in the Asia Pacifi c region

believed President Obama’s response to international

confl icts, particularly in the Middle East, will be a key

determining factor of the success of his presidency.

More than 50% of all coverage about President >Obama’s inauguration occurred in news websites

across the region. This highlights the growing

importance of this medium. However, newspapers were

still infl uential, often discussing the more important

issues in greater depth. These results might point

towards the future media environment for these

complementary media types. News websites provided

immediate information about current events,

while newspapers and magazines analysed issues

in more depth.

There was scant discussion about President Obama’s >inauguration in the analysed blog coverage. Nor did

blogs infl uence the other types of media coverage.

These two results suggest that bloggers in the region

seldom add to conversations to which they cannot

contribute new or contentious information.

While the economy was still widely discussed, it was >not the leading topic of discussion in seven of the

eight analysed markets. In addition, there were very

few mentions of trade protectionism. These are both

surprising results given the current state of the U.S.

economy and the export focus of Asian economies.

The key fi ndings section of the report provides an analysis of the major themes apparent in the media coverage across the eight Asia Pacifi c markets. The report then provides insight into the media discussion of President Obama’s inauguration in each market.

Key Challenges Chart 2



5

Rise of News Websites >Infl uence of Newspapers and Magazines >Lack of Infl uence of Blog Coverage >Obama and Hope >Inauguration as an Event >World Focus >Israeli Confl ict in Gaza >Economy >Protectionism >

Rise of News Websites

As highlighted by Chart 3, there was more discussion on news

websites about President Obama’s inauguration than there

was in any of the other three media, including newspapers.

This was a trend across fi ve markets (Australia, China,

Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore) and highlights the

growing importance of this media in these markets.

Key Findings

THERE WAS MORE DISCUSSION ON NEWS WEBSITES ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA’S INAUGURATION THAN BLOGS, PRINT OR TELEVISION.

Media Type Comparison Chart 3

Nine key themes were apparent in the analysis of the media response to President Obama’s inauguration on 20 January 2009 across eight Asia Pacifi c markets:


Media Monitors

6

Infl uence of Newspapers and Magazines

While there was more media coverage on news websites,

print media in most markets analysed the topic in more

detail, providing less coverage about the inauguration as

an event, and a higher level of unfavourable coverage, as

highlighted by Table 1.

This suggests print media would still be more infl uential

on this topic than news websites in most markets because

they are evaluating the issues in greater depth.

Media Focus Table 1

INAUGURATIONU.S.–WORLD RELATIONSHIP

U.S. DOMESTIC

Market Media Category % Vol % Vol % Vol

Australia Print 47% 28% 25%

Average 77% 12% 11%

China Print 82% 11% 7%

Average 90% 6% 4%

Hong Kong Print 97% 1% 1%

Average 97% 1% 2%

Indonesia Print 69% 22% 9%

Average 71% 21% 8%

Malaysia Print 77% 14% 10%

Average 61% 28% 11%

New Zealand Print 40% 36% 24%

Average 75% 15% 10%

Pan-Asia Print 38% 25% 38%

Average 38% 25% 37%

Singapore Print 48% 24% 29%

Average 47% 30% 23%

MALAYSIA WAS THE ONLY MARKET WHERE NEWS WEBSITES WERE LEADING THE POLICY DEBATE RATHER THAN PRINT. THIS REINFORCES THE INFLUENCE OF THIS MEDIA TYPE IN MALAYSIA.



7

Lack of Infl uence of Blog Coverage

As highlighted by Chart 3, there was scant coverage in

the blogs analysed. This result is probably unsurprising

given that Asia Pacifi c bloggers could add very little new

information to a conversation originating in the United

States. The blog coverage in the region had little partisan

material and the reporting was largely balanced. This

suggests that Asia Pacifi c bloggers did not provide any in

depth analysis on this topic.

Despite anecdotal evidence that blogs infl uence

mainstream media, there is no support for that assertion

in this study.

Media Intermediation Chart 4

Chart 4 details the number of occasions when an analysed

media report referred to another media type. Blogs

received very few references in other media coverage

compared to newspapers, television and news agencies.

For this particular topic, there was a very low volume of

blog coverage in the analysed markets and blogs had little

infl uence on the general discussion.

THE BLOG COVERAGE IN THE REGION HAD LITTLE PARTISAN MATERIAL AND THE REPORTING WAS LARGELY BALANCED.


Media Monitors

8

Obama and Hope

Across all markets, one in four stories contained the

message that President Obama offers hope, which

constituted 42% of all messages in the coverage. This high

message penetration rate reinforces the effectiveness of

President Obama’s campaign in building the message of

hope. Obama offers hope was the most frequently occurring

message in all eight Asia Pacifi c markets. President

Obama’s second key message was change and it was also

widely mentioned, appearing in 10% of coverage.

The media widely reported that the twin messages of hope and change have had an impact on people’s perceptions around the world. A number of media reports across all eight markets referred to poll results that found the vast majority of people believed President Obama will improve United States relations with the rest of the world.

OBAMA OFFERS HOPE WAS THE MOST FREQUENTLY OCCURRING MESSAGE IN ALL EIGHT ASIA PACIFIC MARKETS.

Leading Messages Chart 5



9

Inauguration as an Event

Across the eight analysed markets, the overwhelming

focus of the media coverage surrounding President

Obama’s inauguration was on the inauguration as an

event or spectacle, as highlighted in Table 2. This media

coverage focused on topics such as celebration balls,

celebrity involvement, and predictions of the number of

people attending the event. As the discussion was mainly

about the event celebrations, there was not a great deal

of analysis about how United States-World relations

and United States domestic issues would be affected by

Obama’s presidency. Singaporean and Pan-Asia media

were the exceptions.

More than 50% of media coverage in Pan-Asia and

Singapore was about United States-World relations and

United States domestic issues. The media in these two

markets, as well as Malaysian media, which particularly

focused on the Middle East, provided the greatest level of

analysis about the likely success of Obama’s presidency.

When the media in the other fi ve markets focused on

United States-World relations or United States domestic

challenges, some did not critically evaluate President

Obama’s key messages. For example, in the analysed

media coverage from New Zealand there was very little

questioning of President Obama’s policies or readiness for

the challenges ahead.

AS THE DISCUSSION WAS MAINLY ABOUT THE EVENT CELEBRATIONS, THERE WAS NOT A GREAT DEAL OF ANALYSIS ABOUT POLICY ISSUES.

MARKET INAUGURATION U.S.–WORLD RELATIONSHIP U.S. DOMESTIC

Australia 77% 12% 11%

China 90% 6% 4%

Hong Kong 97% 1% 2%

Indonesia 71% 21% 8%

Malaysia 61% 28% 11%

New Zealand 75% 15% 10%

Pan-Asia 38% 25% 37%

Singapore 47% 30% 23%

Total 73% 15% 12%

Media Focus Table 2


Media Monitors

10

World Focus

All markets except Pan-Asia had a greater focus on

international affairs when discussing policy issues.

Across the other seven markets the greatest level of

discussion was on key global challenges facing President

Obama, with a specifi c focus on the Middle East.

The Asia Pacifi c media was more interested in Israeli-

Palestinian relations, than the Afghan and Iraq wars.

This suggests that the Palestinian situation is more

important to most of this region than Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, Israeli-Palestinian relations presents a more

diffi cult public relations challenge than Afghanistan and

Iraq for President Obama as he has less direct infl uence

over the outcomes.

The coverage indicates that many in the region believe

President Obama needs to focus on the Israeli-

Palestinian issue.

Given the importance of the United States economy for

this region and its current signifi cant problems, it was

surprising that in only two markets, Singaporean and Pan-

Asian media, policy issues and serious challenges lying

ahead for the new President were more widely discussed

than the celebrations surrounding his inauguration.

U.S.-World and U.S. Domestic Comparison Chart 6

... IT WAS SURPRISING THAT IN ONLY TWO MARKETS, SINGAPOREAN AND PAN-ASIAN MEDIA, POLICY ISSUES AND SERIOUS CHALLENGES LYING AHEAD FOR THE NEW PRESIDENT WERE MORE WIDELY DISCUSSED THAN THE CELEBRATIONS SURROUNDING HIS INAUGURATION.



11

The Pan-Asian media analysed United States domestic

issues in far more depth, discussing health care, taxation,

education and job creation proportionally more frequently

than other markets. However, the domestic focus of the

Pan-Asian coverage is unsurprising given that both of

the analysed Pan-Asian newspapers (International Herald Tribune and Wall Street Journal Asia) have ownership

structures based in the U.S.

A key trend showed that markets with a greater amount

of analytical discussion were less favourable towards

President Obama overall. Australia, China and Hong

Kong appear to be anomalies (see Chart 7). However,

the media reporting in all three markets, focused on the

event and spectacle of the inauguration ceremonies rather

than policy issues. This meant President Obama’s likely

performance was less widely discussed and coverage was

considered balanced, bringing the overall favourability in

those markets closer to neutral (50).

A KEY TREND SHOWED THAT MARKETS WITH A GREATER AMOUNT OF ANALYTICAL DISCUSSION WERE LESS FAVOURABLE TOWARDS PRESIDENT OBAMA OVERALL.

Media Favourability - Market Comparison Chart 7


Media Monitors

12

Confl ict in Gaza

One of the key topics that was widely discussed across all

markets was the Middle East and in particular the confl ict

in the Gaza strip. However, the emphasis of the discussion

was quite different across the markets.

Malaysian, Singaporean and Pan-Asian media included

a number of references that directly criticised President

Obama for not speaking out about the Gaza confl ict before

his inauguration. The reporting in these three markets was

particularly critical. On 6 January 2009, the International Herald Tribune stated:

“Obama has disappointed many commentators in the

Muslim world by steadfastly declining to condemn

Israel’s Gaza operation, and he maintained his

silence over the weekend as Israel began its ground

invasion ... But Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and Obama’s

studied silence about it threatens to short-circuit his

plans for a U.S. image makeover.”

(International Herald Tribune, 6 January 2009)

Less than a week later, an article appeared in The Jakarta Globe which quoted a President Obama interview from the

ABC (America) program, This Week. On the Middle East and

Guantanamo Bay, President Obama said:

“What I am doing right now is putting together the

team so that on January 20, starting day one, we

have the best possible people who are going to be

immediately engage in the Middle East peace process

as a whole”.

(The Jakarta Globe, 12 January 2009).

This story also ran in Suara Pembaruan, 12 January 2009;

antara.co.id, 12 January 2009; Kompas Cyber Media, 12

January 2009; and Seputar Indonesia, 13 January 2009.

Before President Obama’s inauguration, Malaysian and

Singaporean reporting was similar to Pan-Asian media.

However, after his inauguration speech, call to Arab and

Israeli leaders, and announcement of George Mitchell as

the United States envoy to the Middle East, Malaysian and

Singaporean media were more supportive of President

Obama. This was not the case in Pan-Asia, where as late

as 24 January 2009, atimes.com was still very critical.

Indonesian media was quite supportive of President

Obama’s Middle East stance throughout the analysed

period, Malaysian and Singaporean media were more

supportive following his inauguration while some reports

in Pan-Asian media remained critical following the

inauguration.

Given the highly focused and divergent reporting across

the Asia Pacifi c, it seems evident that a resolution to

issues surrounding Israeli-Palestinian relations is a

critical success factor for President Obama, particularly

in predominantly Muslim countries in the region. While

Afghanistan - and by implication Pakistan - were also seen

as very important, they did not attract the same level of

discussion, with the timing of the confl ict in Gaza pushing

that part of the world to the forefront in the weeks around

President Obama’s inauguration.

... BUT ISRAEL’S INVASION OF GAZA, AND OBAMA’S STUDIED SILENCE ABOUT IT THREATENS TO SHORT-CIRCUIT HIS PLANS FOR A U.S. IMAGE MAKEOVER.”

Media Coverage - Leading Key World Challenges Chart 8



13

Economy

Table 3 displays the number of mentions of economic issues

as a percentage of the total number of media reports in

each market. Given the importance of the U.S. economy

to the region and the current global fi nancial crisis, it was

surprising that this topic was not discussed more widely.

Hong Kong and China showed the lowest level of interest of

all markets analysed.

MARKETMENTIONS OF U.S. ECONOMY AS PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL COVERAGE

Singapore 29%

Pan-Asia 25%

New Zealand 24%

Malaysia 23%

Australia 20%

Indonesia 16%

China 14%

Hong Kong 13%

Protectionism

There was very little discussion about protectionism across

the analysed markets. In China, Hong Kong, Indonesia

and Pan-Asian media, there were no mentions of possible

moves towards greater protectionism by the new U.S.

administration. However, Chinese media reports warned

against any lessening of the relationship between the U.S.

and China, with one in particular highlighting President

Bush’s achievements in this area.

GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF THE U.S. ECONOMY TO THE REGION AND THE CURRENT GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS, IT WAS SURPRISING THAT THIS TOPIC WAS NOT DISCUSSED MORE WIDELY.

Mentions of Economy Table 3


Media Monitors

14

ConclusionsMedia across the region have largely supported >the contention that President Obama has provided

the United States and the world with hope that

international relations will be better; and that he has

created enormous momentum and therefore the

opportunity to deliver change.

Pan-Asian media discussion provides an insight into >the possible communication challenges that President

Obama will face in other markets once the euphoria

surrounding his inauguration dissipates and media

reports focus more strongly on current and future

policy challenges.

The region’s media seemed to be more interested >initially in how President Obama will deal with

international troublespots rather than his response to

American and global fi nancial problems.

Ongoing media coverage of President Obama’s >response to challenges across the Middle East will

have a signifi cant impact on how his performance is

evaluated in large parts of the Asia-Pacifi c region.

Positively for President Obama, he is starting with

considerable goodwill from the media.

At the time of President Obama’s inauguration, the >media did not focus on the possibility of protectionist

policies from the incoming U.S. administration.

President Obama may fi nd it increasingly diffi cult to

manage the expectations of protecting U.S. jobs, while

encouraging free trade.

Across the region, there was more discussion on >news websites about President Obama’s inauguration

than there was in television, blogs and print, although

newspapers and magazines generally covered the

topic in far more depth than the other media types.

THE REGION’S MEDIA SEEMED TO BE MORE INTERESTED INITIALLY IN HOW PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL DEAL WITH INTERNATIONAL TROUBLE-SPOTS RATHER THAN HIS RESPONSE TO AMERICAN AND GLOBAL FINANCIAL PROBLEMS.

ACROSS THE REGION, THERE WAS MORE DISCUSSION ON NEWS WEBSITES ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA’S INAUGURATION THAN THERE WAS IN TELEVISION, BLOGS AND PRINT.



15

Market Analysis – AUSTRALIA

THERE WAS VASTLY MORE COVERAGE (A TWO TO ONE RATIO) ON NEWS WEBSITES COMPARED TO PRINT, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE OF ONLINE MEDIA IN THIS MARKET.

The Australian media focused more on the inauguration as an event than providing in depth analysis of the challenges facing President Obama.

There was vastly more coverage (a two to one ratio) on

news websites compared to print, which highlights the

signifi cant role of online media in this market. Australian

newspapers, however, debated the likely success of the

Obama presidency in far greater depth than news websites,

blogs and television.

There was very little blog discussion in Australia, a pattern

that was repeated across all markets. While blogs have

often been seen as partisan, discussion in this medium

was almost balanced, whereas reporting in the other three

media types was comparatively favourable.

While the majority of Australian coverage was about the

inauguration as an event, the message that Obama offers

hope was strongly evident across all media. This key

message was largely split into two categories:

Hope that President Obama will be far superior to >President Bush and begin to undo the perceived

malaise that has fallen over America in over the past

eight years (theaustralian.news.com.au, 19 January

2009, theage.com.au, 20 January 2009 and

news.com.au/dailytelegraph, 26 January 2009).

Hope that through his superior oratorical skills and >ability to unite people across the spectrum he will

bring a new dawn to the United States and externally

to the world (smh.com.au, 6 January 2009 and SBS:

World News Australia, 21 January 2009).

Media Focus Chart 9


Media Monitors

16

As illustrated in Chart 10, only a very small fraction of

reports (0.5%) questioned President Obama’s ability to

deliver on the promise of hope, compared to 31% that

supported this assertion.

Two commentators who questioned whether President

Obama could bring change were Anne Summers, a

columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald, and Alexander

Downer, the Foreign Minister in the previous Federal

Government. Summers questioned President Obama’s

ability to create change as he was surrounding himself

with former Clintonites in his administration (The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 January 2009).

Downer believed that change under President Obama

would be slight because he has limited policy options

and there is “seldom radical policy change unless the

new government is determined to wreck the place”

(The Advertiser, 12 January 2009). Downer ended his

analysis by stating that “Obama will be a competent but

not a revolutionary president. Thank goodness for that”.

Downer’s position is perhaps unsurprising given his

ideological perspective.

Obama and Hope Chart 10

DOWNER ENDED HIS ANALYSIS BY STATING THAT “OBAMA WILL BE A COMPETENT BUT NOT A REVOLUTIONARY PRESIDENT. THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT”.



17

The United States-World relationship and United States

domestic economic issues received an equal amount of

coverage in the Australian media during the analysed

period. Only China and Hong Kong demonstrated this

characteristic, while all other markets showed greater

focus on international relations than U.S. economic issues

in their media coverage.

Afghanistan, Iraq and Israeli-Palestinian relations were

all seen as important challenges for President Obama

and therefore widely discussed. President Obama

gave one of his fi rst major television interviews on an

Arabic cable channel called Al-Arabiya Arab TV Network,

possibly to demonstrate his greater engagement with the

Muslim world. This interview and the messages around

engagement and peace, rather than unilateralism and war,

were widely reported in Australian media (abc.net.au, 27

January 2009 and smh.com.au, 27 January 2009).

In relation to the economy, some fi nancial market analysts

saw the inauguration of President Obama as a key driver of

momentum in the Australian share market from November

2008 (The Australian Financial Review, 10 January 2009).

Others believed that there was a lack of direction in the

Australian share market, but thought “there’s a perception

we’ll go for a little bit of a run on the back of the Obama

presidential inauguration on January 20” (The Advertiser, The Canberra Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, 10 January 2009).

These predictions did not accurately forecast the slide

in the Australian share market leading up to President

Obama’s inauguration nor the steady result for the week

after. The All Ordinaries closing results on the following

days were:

Closed on 5 November 2008 at 4,287.30 >

Closed on 9 January 2009 at 3,680.40 >



Closed on 24 February 2009 at 3,285.00 >

PRESIDENT OBAMA GAVE ONE OF HIS FIRST MAJOR TELEVISION INTERVIEWS ON AN ARABIC CABLE CHANNEL CALLED AL-ARABIYA ARAB TV NETWORK, POSSIBLY TO DEMONSTRATE HIS GREATER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MUSLIM WORLD.



Media Monitors

18

Given the large number of media reports in Australia

compared to other markets, the key messages in this

market were uniformly aligned with the overall message

results. However, there were some unique aspects of the

Australian coverage with a number of reports containing

the message that President Obama does not understand

the enormity of the task that lies ahead, a message almost

entirely missing in other markets. There was also a

greater level of concern about the future importance of

U.S.–Asian relations.

Compared to the other seven markets, Australian media

included more discussion that questioned President

Obama’s understanding of the gravity of the challenge.

Nine of the 12 messages about this topic occurred in the

Australian media. The Weekend Australian used content

from an editorial in the China Daily, to create doubt about

President Obama. The Weekend Australian said that the

“China Daily newspaper editorialized snipingly after

Obama’s inauguration: ‘The U.S. leaders have never been

shy of talking about their country’s ambition to be leader

of the world. For them, it’s a divinely granted destiny no

matter what other nations think. The realities on the

ground are more complex than those presented by Obama”

(24 January 2009).

The discussion about President Obama’s likely relations

with Asia was more complex. In comparison to the other

markets, there was proportionally less favourable coverage

about Asian relations in the Australian media. In contrast,

the Australian media was more critical about Asian

relations, reporting more often that President Obama will

not improve relations with Asia and the region will not

benefi t economically from his presidency.


COMPARED TO THE OTHER SEVEN MARKETS, AUSTRALIAN MEDIA INCLUDED MORE DISCUSSION THAT QUESTIONED PRESIDENT OBAMA’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE GRAVITY OF THE CHALLENGE.



19

Despite the views of some commentators that blogs

heavily infl uence mainstream media, the coverage related

to President Obama’s inauguration seems to show that

for global stories local bloggers have little to add to the

conversation, and hence were not active. In Australia, there

was only one instance of a blog being referred to in another

media type (a news website). While the numbers were

small, Australian bloggers referred to the other three types

of media analysed more than to blogs in their posts.


IN AUSTRALIA, THERE WAS ONLY ONE INSTANCE OF A BLOG BEING REFERRED TO IN ANOTHER MEDIA TYPE.


Media Monitors

20

Upon initial analysis, Chinese media seemed to be less interested in the message of hope President Obama offers than other markets, with only 26% of media coverage in China reporting that he does offer hope compared to an average of 45% in the other seven analysed markets.

China had the second highest percentage of media reports

that were predominantly about the inauguration as an

event (90% compared to an average of 73%). The high level

of inauguration coverage masked results about specifi c

expectations for Obama’s presidency (Chart 14).

In the relatively small number of reports discussing

policy issues, there was a far higher level of message

penetration than in the overall coverage. Over 80% of

non-inauguration-focused Chinese media reports were

favourable, and China had the second highest percentage

of favourable non-inauguration media reports. Only New

Zealand had a slightly higher proportion.

The challenges that President Obama faces and the

solutions that were discussed in the Chinese media

were very similar to those discussed in the other seven

markets. Three of the top four were external challenges

(Iraq, Afghanistan and Israeli - Palestinian relations). Only

the economy was reported as an internal U.S. problem

(Guangzhou Daily, 20 January 2009, Beijing Evening News, 21

January 2009, and XinMin Evening News, 22 January 2009).

Market Analysis – CHINA

THE HIGH LEVEL OF INAUGURATION COVERAGE MASKED RESULTS ABOUT SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS FOR OBAMA’S PRESIDENCY.

Media Focus Chart 14



21

Given its potential impact on China, it is surprising that

there was no direct discussion of protectionism by the

Chinese media, and very little in the other markets.

As displayed in Table 4, the media seemed to largely

ignore evaluation of the possible trade implications of

President Obama’s domestic economic problems. Instead,

where the U.S. economy was discussed, it was largely

straight reporting of President Obama’s talking points i.e.

recognition that the U.S. economy has failed but he has a

plan to fi x it, including the fi scal stimulus plan, tax cuts and

job creation.

Discussion of protectionism may gather momentum over

the next few months to become a more signifi cant topic of

discussion in the future.


Mentions of Protectionism Table 4

MARKETPERCENTAGE OF COVERAGE MENTIONING PROTECTIONISM

Malaysia 2%

Australia 1%

New Zealand 1%

Singapore 1%

China 0%

Hong Kong 0%

Indonesia 0%

Pan-Asia 0%

GIVEN ITS POTENTIAL IMPACT ON CHINA, IT IS SURPRISING THAT THERE WAS NO DIRECT DISCUSSION OF PROTECTIONISM BY THE CHINESE MEDIA.


Media Monitors

22

As a case in point, an opinion article in the China Daily

did not provide analysis of the international ramifi cations

of President Obama’s domestic economic challenges.

It briefl y outlined those challenges and reaffi rmed that

“interdependence between the two economies is beyond

description. Particularly during this recession”. However,

the article did not discuss any potential solutions (21

January 2009). Instead the story argued that President

Bush’s positive legacy was the Sino-American relationship

and that President Obama needs to continue positive

relations with China while moving away from President

Bush’s policies in the Middle East. The article said that

the “yet-to-be-justifi ed war on Iraq, for one, proves an

outstanding discredit to his country and himself (Bush).

President Obama vowed to put an end to that. Which is

correct and overdue”.

The article was picked up by the Malaysian news website

thestar.com.my with the headline “Don’t undo Bush’s work,

China tells Obama” (thestar.com.my, 21 January 2009). The

website interpreted the article as a direct statement to

President Obama to maintain the strengthening of U.S.-

China relations undertaken by the Bush administration:

“Chinese state media urged new U.S. President Barack

Obama not to ignore the “hard-earned progress” in ties

made by George W. Bush”.

Another article in the Guangzhou Daily also questioned

President Bush’s legacy. The article commended President

Obama for defending the Constitution of the United States

and was glad to have a president who respects the rule

of law. It reinforced this view by stating that “Americans hope

President Obama takes his oath more seriously than President

George W. Bush” (Guangzhou Daily, 21 January 2009).

As seen in Chart 16, the top fi ve messages in the Chinese

media were the same across the other seven markets.

Supporting these positive messages was the inclusion of

poll results that nearly 70% of those interviewed believed

President Obama will improve relations with the rest of the

world (chinanews.com.cn, 12 January 2009, netease.com,

16 January 2009, CCTV9, 21 January 2009, Beijing Evening News, 22 January 2009.


“CHINESE STATE MEDIA URGED NEW U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA NOT TO IGNORE THE “HARD-EARNED PROGRESS” IN TIES MADE BY GEORGE W. BUSH”.



23

Compared to the other analysed markets, the Chinese

media showed a stronger belief that President Obama

will focus more on Asia, with 11 of the 18 instances of this

message appearing in Chinese media, making up 10% of

all favourable messages from that market.

From one perspective, the Chinese media was criticising

the former U.S. administration over the war in Iraq

and adhering to the rule of law. Conversely, the media

praised President Bush for his greater engagement with

China. It would appear that the Chinese media were

acknowledging that some differences still exist with the

United States, but the desire to continue building a closer

relationship remains strong, owing to the economic

importance of that relationship.

Chinese coverage had a relatively low level of media

intermediation, with television, blogs and news websites not

mentioned by any other media in the analysed coverage.

There were eight instances of newspaper reports being

mentioned, fi ve of those in other newspaper articles and

three in news website items. Interestingly, these eight news

items had a signifi cantly higher average favourability than

overall coverage from China.


COMPARED TO THE OTHER ANALYSED MARKETS, THE CHINESE MEDIA SHOWED A STRONGER BELIEF THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL FOCUS MORE ON ASIA.

IN THE COVERAGE ANALYSED, BLOGS, TELEVISION NEWS AND NEWS WEBSITES HAD NO INFLUENCE ON THE REPORTING OF PRINT MEDIA IN CHINA.


Media Monitors

24

The Hong Kong media covered the inauguration predominantly as an event more than the media of any of the other seven Asia Pacific markets. Only 3% of media reports analysed President Obama’s likely performance in any depth (Chart 18).

Despite the lack of analysis, 31% of Hong Kong

coverage concluded that President Obama does offer

hope, which is the average across all markets. A slight

difference between the reporting in Hong Kong and the

rest of Asia was that 3% of Hong Kong media felt that

President Obama does not offer hope, compared to the

average of just 1%.

While the majority of coverage in Hong Kong was largely

factual reporting on the event, there is strong evidence

that Hong Kong media, like most other Asian media,

believed that President Obama does offer hope (Table 5).

Market Analysis – HONG KONG


ONLY 3% OF MEDIA REPORTS ANALYSED PRESIDENT OBAMA’S LIKELY PERFORMANCE IN ANY DEPTH.

ISSUE DESCRIPTION VOL % VOL AVG FAV

Does Not Mention Hope 102 61% 50.3

Obama Offers Hope 51 31% 57.0

Balanced On Obama’s Hope 7 4% 52.9

Obama Does Not Offer Hope 5 3% 45.0

Hope Mentioned Unrelated To Obama

1 1% 55.0

Obama and Hope Table 5



25

Given Hong Kong’s position as a fi nancial centre in the Asia

Pacifi c region, it is unsurprising that the poorly performing

United States economy was more widely discussed and seen as

a greater challenge than external issues such as Afghanistan,

Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian relations by its media.

The key challenge reported most often in Hong Kong was

the economy, with the fi scal stimulus plan the most often

discussed solution to improve the United States economy

(Apple Daily, 13 January 2009). This was the most frequently

mentioned solution across all analysed markets.

In comparison to Chinese media, the media in Hong Kong

were not focused on how President Obama would engage

with Asia. While one Hong Kong media report did make

this link through the headline “Obama shows friendliness

only because China is infl uential” (Ming Pao, 13 January

2009), the link was conditional. The condition of infl uence

reinforces the dichotomy that was found in the Chinese

media on Sino-American relations.

Media reports on President Obama’s stance and

importance on the Middle East reinforced that he

represents a change from President George W. Bush

because he views the Middle East as a top priority (Apple

Daily, 13 January 2009).

GIVEN HONG KONG’S POSITION AS A FINANCIAL CENTRE IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION, IT IS UNSURPRISING THAT THE POORLY PERFORMING UNITED STATES ECONOMY WAS MORE WIDELY DISCUSSED THAN INTERNATIONAL ISSUES.



Media Monitors

26

Hong Kong coverage showed less dominance of hope as

the leading message, accounting for 30% of messages,

while President Obama’s understanding of the enormity of

the task that lies ahead represented 23%, a signifi cantly

higher level than the average across all markets.

Hong Kong was also one of the few markets with three

unfavourable messages appearing, accounting for 8% of

all messages. Overall these messages seem to indicate

that Hong Kong media are pleased to see a change in the

presidency, and believe President Obama is fully aware of

the challenges ahead, however they are not yet convinced

he will be able to successfully deal with all of those

challenges until President Obama proposes a wider range

of solutions to back up his rhetoric.




27

There was very little media intermediation in the coverage

analysed from Hong Kong, refl ecting the high levels of

straight factual reporting of the inauguration as an event.

Only three items mentioned other media reports, and all

three discussed newspaper articles. As in China, none of

the analysed coverage referred to other television news

items, blogs or news website articles. This again points to

print media as maintaining a higher level of authority in

both Hong Kong and China than other forms of media.


As with China, Hong Kong media referred to print

publications in its reporting, rather than blogs or news

websites (Wen Wei Po, 21 January 2009). However, media

in Hong Kong also linked to stories already broadcast on

television to substantiate its reporting. A Hong Kong Daily News article repackaged a CNN survey that found 75% of

United States citizens are certain that Obama would be a

strong and determined leader if elected president and that

Obama achieved the highest popularity in a president-elect

for over 30 years (2 January 2009).

A HONG KONG DAILY NEWS ARTICLE REPACKAGED A CNN SURVEY THAT FOUND 75% OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS ARE CERTAIN THAT OBAMA WOULD BE A STRONG AND DETERMINED LEADER IF ELECTED PRESIDENT.


Media Monitors

28

Market Analysis – INDONESIAThe overall focus of Indonesian media coverage was very similar to the average across all markets. In Indonesia, approximately 71% of media reports mostly discussed President Obama’s inauguration, 21% were about United States-World relations and 8% focused predominantly on United States domestic issues. (Chart 22)

Even the percentage of overall discussion in the different

media types (blogs, print, news websites and television news)

in Indonesia was largely the same as the other markets.

However, Indonesian media conveyed the message that

President Obama offers hope signifi cantly more than their

Asia Pacifi c counterparts. Nearly 79% of all Indonesian

media reports were favourable, compared to an average of

just 45% across the other analysed markets. This includes

reports on the inauguration as an event. (Table 6)

NEARLY 79% OF ALL INDONESIAN MEDIA REPORTS WERE FAVOURABLE, COMPARED TO AN AVERAGE OF JUST 45% ACROSS THE OTHER ANALYSED MARKETS.


Market Favourability Table 6

MARKET FAV NEU UNFAV

Indonesia 79% 21% 0%

New Zealand 50% 50% 0%

Australia 44% 55% 1%

Singapore 41% 48% 11%

Hong Kong 37% 60% 4%

Malaysia 36% 60% 3%

Pan-Asia 36% 48% 16%

China 26% 72% 2%

Total 45% 52% 3%



29

While Indonesian media also widely discussed Israeli-

Palestinian relations and Iraq as the two key challenges

that Obama faces (see Chart 23), they were not critical

of President Obama’s silence about the Israeli confl ict in

Gaza, as was the case in the media in other markets. In

fact, a number of Indonesian media reports in both print

and news websites used a quote from a President Obama

interview on the ABC (America) program, This Week, that

contradicted media reporting in other markets that he was

silent on the subject before his inauguration. On the Middle

East and Guantanamo Bay, President Obama said:

“What I am doing right now is putting together the

team so that on January 20, starting day one, we

have the best possible people who are going to be

immediately engage in the Middle East peace process

as a whole.”

(Jakarta Globe, 12 January 2009, Suara Pembaruan, 12

January 2009, antara.co.id, 12 January 2009, Kompas Cyber Media, 12 January 2009 and Seputar Indonesia,

13 January 2009).

Favourable coverage about the Middle East and

Guantanamo Bay continued after President Obama’s

inauguration (RCTI, 22 January 2009 and Metro TV, 23

January 2009). In fact, 34% of all messages that the

United States’ world standing is enhanced through

President Obama appeared in Indonesia media. This is a

disproportionate number, given that Indonesia accounted

for only 10% of the total number of media reports.


34% OF ALL MESSAGES THAT THE UNITED STATES’ WORLD STANDING IS ENHANCED THROUGH PRESIDENT OBAMA APPEARED IN INDONESIA.


Media Monitors

30

Indonesian media also included a disproportionate number

of favourable messages about President Obama’s handling

of the U.S. economy. Over 60% of all favourable messages

about President Obama’s plan to ease the credit crisis were

reported in this market. Both results strongly reinforce

the very supportive media coverage that President Obama

received in Indonesia.

OVER 60% OF ALL FAVOURABLE MESSAGES ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PLAN TO EASE THE CREDIT CRISIS WERE REPORTED IN THIS MARKET.




31

INDONESIA HAD 25% OF ALL OCCURRENCES OF MEDIA INTERMEDIATION.

There were a signifi cant number of references in

Indonesian media to other media in their stories. In total,

there were 100 examples of intermediation in the analysed

Indonesian media, with a large proportion from news

agencies like AP. Indonesia had 25% of all occurrences of

intermediation, a disproportionate level compared to its

overall level of coverage.



Media Monitors

32

While the majority of coverage in Malaysia focused on the inauguration as an event (for example, rehearsals, celebrities, attire, balls and entertainment), there was a higher level of discussion in Malaysian media about United States-World relations than in all markets except Singapore. (Chart 26)

The Malaysian focus on international issues chiefl y

concerned discussion of the Israeli confl ict in Gaza. This

issue was particularly important to the Malaysian media,

and by implication to the Malaysian community.

As displayed in Table 7 only Pan-Asian media focused

more on this issue than their counterparts in Malaysia

and only marginally.

The vast majority of coverage about the Israeli confl ict

in Gaza mentioned President Obama’s inauguration

only in passing. Some of this coverage suggested that

his inauguration was a catalyst for Israel to call off

the attacks so that it did not antagonise the incoming

administration (thestar.com.my, 16 January 2009).

However, a small number of stories questioned President

Obama’s Middle Eastern credentials and as a result

the tone of reports towards him probably gave a mixed

impression in the lead-up to the inauguration. It was

reported that President Obama’s silence over the Israeli

confl ict in Gaza reduced expectations in the Arab world

because it suggested that he would not be changing the

United States’ policy of support for Israel (thestar.com.my,

21 January 2009) and therefore might place greater

priority on other foreign relations issues.

Market Analysis – MALAYSIA


THE MALAYSIAN FOCUS ON INTERNATIONAL ISSUES CHIEFLY CONCERNED DISCUSSION OF THE ISRAELI CONFLICT IN GAZA.

MARKETNUMBER OF MIDDLE EAST MENTIONS

MIDDLE EAST COMPARED TO KEY CHALLENGES MENTIONS

Pan-Asia 15 39%

Malaysia 64 37%

Indonesia 50 30%

New Zealand 39 30%

Singapore 50 30%

Australia 122 24%

China 31 20%

Hong Kong 21 20%

Mentions of the Israeli-Palestinian Confl ict Table 7



33

Yet Hilal Khasnan, political science professor at the American

University of Beirut, provided an alternative reading of

President Obama’s inauguration speech. He believed that

President Obama’s reference to Muslims was signifi cant

because it was “a symbolic gesture to the Muslim world that

they are part of the world” (thestar.com.my, 21 January 2009).

The Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad

Badawi appeared to offer President Obama some advice

immediately after the inauguration. A quote from the

Prime Minister strongly encouraged President Obama

to engage with the Muslim world to solve the problems.

He was quoted as saying “I think this is important as he

understands that America is deeply involved and associated

with problems faced by the Muslim world”

(thestar.com.my, 22 January 2009).

In the same news website on the same day, the report

reproduced key President Obama messages on Israeli-

Palestinian relations, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It was reported

that President Obama would pursue Israeli-Palestinian

peace more boldly than Bush as he called both Israeli and

Arab leaders to tell them he would actively engage with

the different parties, while promising to consolidate the

Gaza ceasefi re. On Iraq, President Obama said he favours

a 16-month timetable for combat troop withdrawal, but he

would increase troop numbers in Afghanistan

(thestar.com.my, 22 January 2009).

President Obama supported his rhetoric immediately after

his inauguration by appointing George Mitchell as his

Middle East envoy. This helped to reduce earlier doubts in

the media about his commitment to the region.

While there was a great deal of discussion about the Middle

East, and some of it was unfavourable towards President

Obama, overall the Malaysian media reported that he does

offer hope. As occurred in Singapore, the use of survey

results by the Malaysian media illustrated the strength of

belief around the world that the United States will have a

better relationship with the world. A BBC survey found that:

69% of respondents in 17 Asian, African and European >countries believed that Obama will improve relations

with the world, compared to 47% six months ago

68% of respondents in China believed that Obama will >improve relations with China 68%, compared to 39%

six months ago

(Nanyang Siang Pau, 21 January 2009).



Media Monitors

34

Malaysian leading messages refl ected the overall averages

quite closely, with hope clearly the dominant message.

However there were a higher proportion of messages

specifi cally relating to U.S.-World relations, accounting for

21% of all messages, which was higher than the average

across all markets (12%). This was not unexpected given

the Malaysian media’s focus on the confl ict in Gaza during a

large part of the analysis period.

In comparison to other markets, where print media had

the most stories about United States-World relations or

United States domestic issues, in Malaysia, news websites

had signifi cantly more reports about these two topics than

newspapers and magazines. Malaysian news websites

provided much greater analysis of President Obama’s key

challenges than print media.

Key Messages Chart 28

MALAYSIAN NEWS WEBSITES PROVIDED MUCH GREATER ANALYSIS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S KEY CHALLENGES THAN PRINT MEDIA.



35

Malaysian coverage had a relatively high level of media

intermediation, with 35 instances across fi ve media types.

Newspapers and TV news reports were both mentioned

extensively in the analysed coverage, with these items

once again showing a higher level of average favourability

than coverage that did not mention any other media. This

trend of higher favourability where media intermediation

occurred was consistent across six of the eight markets

and in many cases the material quoted contained

messages favourable to President Obama.


IN ALL BUT 2 MARKETS, ITEMS MENTIONING OTHER MEDIA SOURCES HAD A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AVERAGE FAVOURABILITY THAN ALL COVERAGE.


Media Monitors

36

Market Analysis – NEW ZEALANDNew Zealand coverage concerning President Obama’s inauguration was consistent to the average of all markets. Nearly 75% of all coverage was focused on the inauguration as an event, compared to the average of 73% (Chart 30).

The proportion of reports predominantly about United

States-World relations was 15% in New Zealand, the same

as the average across all markets. As with most other

markets, United States-World relations were discussed

more frequently than United States internal issues.

While the overall topics of coverage in New Zealand were

very similar to the averages, the discussion was much

more favourable in New Zealand, particularly when

coverage about the inauguration as an event is excluded.

Omitting inauguration as event stories, the three most

frequently mentioned themes across all coverage were

hope, the economy and the Middle East. These themes

were also widely discussed in New Zealand, but, as the

results reinforce, its coverage was glowing in its support

of President Obama and at times highly critical of the

previous president. The day after his inauguration, The New Zealand Herald compared President Obama to

Abraham Lincoln as a man of the people and castigated

“the arrogant, ignorant, empty headed immediate past-

president, led by the nose for eight long years by a bunch of

ruthless, greedy and unscrupulous neoconservatives”

(22 January 2009).

THE DAY AFTER HIS INAUGURATION, THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD COMPARED PRESIDENT OBAMA TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS A MAN OF THE PEOPLE AND CASTIGATED “THE ARROGANT, IGNORANT, EMPTY HEADED IMMEDIATE PAST-PRESIDENT, LED BY THE NOSE FOR EIGHT LONG YEARS BY A BUNCH OF RUTHLESS, GREEDY AND UNSCRUPULOUS NEOCONSERVATIVES”.




37

Such was the extent of the favourable coverage in New

Zealand, it appeared at times that the media reiterated

President Obama’s key messages without critical

evaluation. In a tvnz.co.nz piece, most of his key messages

were present. The story mentioned the challenges the

United States faces - a deep economic downturn, a

trillion-dollar federal defi cit and a struggling bank sector.

However, the report said President Obama vowed to meet

the challenges through the $U.S.700 billion fi nancial

rescue plan, and continued that the country’s predicament

is a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part

of some. The report quoted President Obama who said

that “the challenges are real. They will not be met easily.

But know this ... they will be met.” The report fi nished by

referencing a CBS/New York Times poll that found 79% of

Americans are optimistic about the next four years

(tvnz.co.nz, 20 January 2009).

Even the subject that drew a comparatively signifi cant level

of criticism in other analysed markets, President Obama’s

lack of a response on the Israeli confl ict in Gaza, was given

favourable treatment by the analysed New Zealand media.

A nzherald.co.nz report on the day of his inauguration

speculated that one of President Obama’s fi rst acts would

be to appoint George Mitchell as his Middle East envoy.

The story then provided Mitchell’s credentials for the

position and surmised that the appointment would signal

that President Obama intends to plunge immediately into

the turbulent waters of Middle Eastern politics.

This last sentence was juxtaposed against the statement

that President Obama remained almost silent on the Gaza

confl ict in the lead up to his inauguration

(nzherald.co.nz, 21 January 2009).


OBAMA’S LACK OF A RESPONSE ON THE ISRAELI CONFLICT IN GAZA, WAS GIVEN FAVOURABLE TREATMENT BY THE ANALYSED NEW ZEALAND MEDIA.


Media Monitors

38

Support of President Obama on tvnz.co.nz was

strengthened later in January through its reporting of his

television interview on Al Arabiya. Key President Obama

favourable messages discussed in the report, included:

America will work with Iran if it “unclenched its fi st” >

Israel and Palestinians should resume peace negotiations >

Americans are not the enemy of Arabs and Muslims >

President George W. Bush damaged relations >with many Arab and Muslim nations by invading

Afghanistan and Iraq and his initial reluctance to push

for Israeli-Palestinian peace

President Obama has fulfi lled a campaign promise by >not waiting until the end of his administration to deal

with Palestinian and Israeli peace

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, was optimistic >because President Obama had assured him that

he intended to maintain Washington’s traditional

commitment to Israel

President Obama praised Saudi King Abdullah for the >Saudi-sponsored peace initiative

President Obama acknowledged that the United States >had made mistakes but said he would try to restore

relations with Arab and Muslim nations

Mustafa Alani, an analyst, believes Arabs are optimistic >that President Obama will turn a new page, but the

devil is in the detail

(tvnz.co.nz, 27 January 2009).

As highlighted in Chart 32, there were no mentions of

unfavourable messages for President Obama in the

analysed New Zealand media coverage. New Zealand

had an extremely high penetration of the message of hope,

accounting for 55% of all messages in this market.

Those broader themes of hope, change and renewal

dominated the messages seen in New Zealand media,

with less than 5% of messages relating to specifi c

policy solutions.

NEW ZEALAND HAD AN EXTREMELY HIGH PENETRATION OF THE MESSAGE OF HOPE, ACCOUNTING FOR 55% OF ALL MESSAGES IN THIS MARKET.




39

New Zealand was the only market where television news

reports received more mentions in the analysed coverage

than any other type of media. 50% of all cases of media

intermediation involved television news items, although the

average favourability of these items was consistent with

the average favourability of all New Zealand coverage.

So while it seems television news had a greater infl uence

on other media than in the other markets, it did not have a

large impact on the favourability of that coverage.


WHILE IT SEEMS TELEVISION NEWS HAD A GREATER INFLUENCE ON OTHER MEDIA THAN IN THE OTHER MARKETS, IT DID NOT HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON THE FAVOURABILITY OF THAT COVERAGE.


Media Monitors

40

Market Analysis – SINGAPORESingaporean media was only one of two markets (the other was Pan-Asia) that had more than 50% of its coverage predominantly about United States-World relations and United States internal issues. While the single biggest story focus of the coverage was still the celebratory nature of the inauguration (particularly yahoo.com.sg), Singaporean media analysed the potential of Obama’s presidency in more depth than all other markets except Pan-Asia (Chart 34).

News websites and newspapers debated the prospects for

success of President Obama in equal depth in Singapore,

unlike in most other markets, where newspapers were

more analytical than the other media types. Media

companies in Singapore, as in Australia and Malaysia, have

embraced online technology to deliver their information.

There were almost double the number of media reports on

news websites such as asiaone.com and channelnewsasia.com

than there were in newspapers in Singapore.

Overall, Singaporean media reported that President Obama

does offer hope. The same themes used in other markets

to conclude that he offers hope and is a change from the

past were also present in Singaporean media (asiaone.com, 20 January 2009, The Business Times, 20 January and

Today, 22 January 2009).

A number of stories quoted surveys that found

President Obama had a very high approval rating

compared to previous incoming presidents (asiaone.com,

channelnewsasia.com and The Business Times, 19 January

2009). Singaporean media also reported that President

Obama’s inauguration had “unleashed a robust mood

of optimism, a feeling that under his leadership, the

United States may pull through” (The Straits Times,

26 January 2009).


SINGAPOREAN MEDIA ALSO REPORTED THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA’S INAUGURATION HAD “UNLEASHED A ROBUST MOOD OF OPTIMISM, A FEELING THAT UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP, THE UNITED STATES MAY PULL THROUGH”.



41

However, as in Malaysian and Pan-Asian media, there

was more doubt that President Obama could deliver on

his rhetoric about hope and change than in the other

analysed markets.

There was slightly more speculation in the Singaporean

media than most other markets about how President

Obama will handle the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict.

Singaporean media also included a greater amount of

commentary that criticised his decision not to comment on

Israel’s confl ict in Gaza in the lead-up to his inauguration.

The Business Times quoted a Republican strategist, Scott

Reid, who said: “Obama’s silence during these 10 deadly

days in Israel has been deafening and heard all over the

world ... I think it’s caution in that there’s one president

at a time but the lack of even supporting the president’s

position has been shocking to all Americans” (7 January

2009). However, The Business Times also included

comments from Shibley Telhami of the Saban Centre

for Middle East Policy, who thought President Obama’s

decision not to comment was correct.

Whether in reaction to the criticism for maintaining silence

before his inauguration or possibly because it was his

strategy, President Obama called Arab and Israeli leaders

in the days immediately following his inauguration. This

action was reported favourably in Singaporean media

because it was not expected to happen so quickly and

it showed that President Obama was serious about the

Palestinian problem (Channel NewsAsia, 22 January

2009). President Obama’s appointment of George Mitchell

as Middle East envoy was also reported as a positive

development (The Straits Times, 29 January 2009), and

Mitchell’s comments about the importance that he places

on the region were quoted by channelnewsasia.com (29

January 2009).



Media Monitors

42

Another signifi cant difference between Singaporean

coverage and reporting in the other markets was the

criticism of President Obama’s plan to ease the credit

crisis. 50% of all unfavourable messages about this

topic were found in Singaporean media, reinforcing the

importance of this issue in this market.

Singapore’s messages had a higher focus on policy than

most other markets, with Obama proposes solutions to back up his rhetoric the third leading message, achieving similar

levels of coverage to the message of change and three

quarters the coverage of the message of hope.

Singapore’s negative messages were also policy focused,

criticising President Obama’s approach to international

relations and U.S. economic challenges in equal

measure, rather than critiquing the broader themes of

hope and change.

50% OF ALL UNFAVOURABLE MESSAGES ABOUT CRITICISM OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PLAN TO EASE THE CREDIT CRISIS WERE FOUND IN SINGAPOREAN MEDIA, REINFORCING THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ISSUE IN THIS MARKET.




43

THIS HIGH LEVEL OF INTERMEDIATION SEEMS TO INDICATE THE SINGAPOREAN MEDIA IS MORE OPEN TO ACCESSING OTHER MEDIA TYPES.

Singapore had an extremely high level of media

intermediation, with other media items referenced in

a quarter of all Singaporean coverage. As with most

markets, newspapers were the most mentioned media

type, however television news reports and items from News

Agencies were also widely mentioned. The favourability

of these items was higher than the overall favourability of

Singaporean coverage. This high level of intermediation

seems to indicate the Singaporean media is more open to

accessing other media types as well as international and

agency media reports in developing news stories, although

once again blogs had no impact on any other media type.



Media Monitors

44

Pan-Asia media provided the greatest analysis of what Obama’s presidency is likely to mean to the United States and the rest of the world of any of the eight analysed markets. Only 38% of Pan-Asia coverage predominantly focused on the inauguration as an event, compared to an average of 73% across all markets (Chart 38).

While both United States-World relations and United States

domestic issues were important for the Pan-Asian media,

there was a greater focus on U.S. domestic issues. In fact,

domestic issues had a similar volume of media reports to

discussion about the inauguration as an event.

Market Analysis – PAN-ASIA

PAN-ASIA MEDIA PROVIDED THE GREATEST ANALYSIS OF WHAT OBAMA’S PRESIDENCY IS LIKELY TO MEAN TO THE UNITED STATES AND THE REST OF THE WORLD OF ANY OF THE EIGHT ANALYSED MARKETS.

Key U.S. Domestic Issues Table 8

PAN-ASIA ALL MARKETS

Key Issues % Vol % Vol

Economy 25.3% 36.9%

Fiscal Stimulus Plan 16.1% 15.5%

Other 14.9% 19.7%

Health Care 13.8% 4.0%

Taxation 8.0% 3.6%

Education 6.9% 2.7%

Job Creation 6.9% 3.7%

Unemployment Benefi t 3.4% 1.0%

Job Losses 2.3% 5.3%

Subsidies 1.1% 0.1%

Clean Energy 1.1% 4.4%




45

The greater focus on the issues surrounding President

Obama’s inauguration meant that there was a higher level

of critical discussion in Pan-Asian media. In this market,

19% of messages were unfavourable, compared to an

average of only 6% across all analysed countries. Also,

there were more than fi ve times as many unfavourable

media reports in Pan-Asian media (16%) than the average

across all markets (3%).

The media in most markets talked about the economy

generally, whereas Pan-Asia media focused on other key

internal problems in the United States, including health care,

taxation, education and job creation, as shown in Table 8.


THERE WERE MORE THAN FIVE TIMES AS MANY UNFAVOURABLE MEDIA REPORTS IN PAN-ASIAN MEDIA (16%) THAN THE AVERAGE ACROSS ALL MARKETS (3%).


Media Monitors

46

While United States-World relations were not as important

in media discussion as domestic topics in the United

States, they were still signifi cant in this market. By a

margin of two to one, the Middle East was reported by the

Pan-Asian media as the most important challenge. Like

Malaysian and Singaporean media, Pan-Asian media were

critical of President Obama’s lack of a position on the

Israeli confl ict in Gaza in the lead-up to the inauguration.

The International Herald Tribune said:

Obama has disappointed many commentators in the

Muslim world by steadfastly declining to condemn

Israel’s Gaza operation, and he maintained his

silence over the weekend as Israel began its ground

invasion ... But Israel’s invasion of Gaza, and Obama’s

studied silence about it threatens to short-circuit his

plans for a U.S. image makeover (6 January 2009).

Even after it was reported in Malaysia that President

Obama had told Israeli and Arab leaders that he would be

actively engaging the different parties, and also after he

announced that George Mitchell would be his envoy to the

Middle East, atimes.com was still very critical. It argued:

Lest United Stated President Barack Obama’s

opportunistic silence when Israel began the Gaza

offensive that killed more than 1,400 Palestinians

(more than 400 of them children) be misinterpreted,

his aides pointed reporters to comments made

six months earlier in the Israeli town of Sderot. ‘If

somebody was sending rockets into my house, where

my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do

everything in my power to stop that’ (24 January 2009).

The Pan-Asian results give an insight into the

possible communication challenges that President

Obama will face in other markets once the euphoria

surrounding his inauguration dissipates, which will

be to demonstrate progress on a range of issues to a

global community with high expectations.

THE PAN-ASIAN RESULTS GIVE AN INSIGHT INTO THE POSSIBLE COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL FACE IN OTHER MARKETS ONCE THE EUPHORIA SURROUNDING HIS INAUGURATION DISSIPATES.




47

Appendix A. METHODOLOGYMedia Monitors uses the CARMA

®, media content analysis

methodology, which is internationally recognised as one of

the most sophisticated and rigorous commercial systems

available and its executives are foremost specialists in

media research and analysis worldwide.

Media Monitors analyses media coverage of companies,

organisations, products, events, campaigns, trends and

issues quantitatively and, most importantly, qualitatively.

Quantitative analysis is relatively straightforward. However,

in addition to simply counting the total number of articles

and column centimetres/inches or minutes of air time,

Media Monitors is able to calculate the total impressions

generated (the total circulation or audience reached by

media coverage).

Also, where competitors are analysed, Media Monitors can

report editorial ‘share of voice’.

Importantly, Media Monitors analyses media content

qualitatively taking into account multiple key variables that

determine the impact of media coverage. These include:

The > media in which articles appear (with weightings

applied for priority and target media);

Positioning > (front page, front of business section, etc);

Prominence > (size or length of articles; headline

mentions; photo; etc);

Issues > discussed;

Messages > contained in articles (positive and negative);

Sources > quoted (favourable and unfavourable); and

Other textual and contextual factors such as > tone, headline, photos, etc.

From this multi-variate analysis, an aggregate score

is derived and presented on a 0-100 scale where 50 is neutral to provide a sophisticated overall rating of the

favourability or otherwise of each article, each media,

each source and each writer for the client. Average favourability is also calculated for issues, media, writers

and sources, providing valuable data for identifying trends

and for comparing with benchmarks or previous data. This

aggregate score is called the CARMA® Favourability Rating.

The CARMA® Favourability Rating is much more than a

positive or negative description which is the basis of some

simplistic (univariate) media analysis systems. It provides

a precise overall qualitative rating that refl ects the likely

impact of coverage.

Quality control to ensure rigor and reliability of analysis is

achieved in four key ways:

First, most of the variables analysed by Media Monitors >- eg. media name, page number, positioning, sources’

names, etc - are objective criteria;

‘Issues’ and ‘Messages’ (somewhat more subjective) >are identifi ed by either (a) exact word or phrase

matching or (b) presence of acceptable synonyms.

A list of acceptable synonyms and coding instructions

is provided to analysts in Coding Guidelines to

maintain consistency and rigour (eg. “Innovator” can =

“cutting edge products”; “ahead of competitors”; “fi rst

to market”; etc);

Media Monitors uses > multiple coders on all projects to

minimise individual subjectivity; and

Media Monitors conducts > intercoder reliability assessment.

Media Monitors is a member of the Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), the leading international organisation for communication

and media research based in the UK and fully complies

with its strict standards (see www.amecorg.com/amec).


Media Monitors

48

Australia

BlogsAndrew BoltClub TroppoCore EconomicsJohn QuigginLarvatus ProdeoTim Blair

NewspapersThe Australian Financial ReviewThe Australian including The Weekend AustralianThe Sydney Morning Herald including the Sun HeraldThe Age and The Sunday AgeHerald SunThe Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)

The Canberra Times and The Sunday Canberra TimesThe Advertiser (Adelaide) and The Sunday Mail (Adelaide)

The West AustralianThe Sunday TimesBusiness Review WeeklyCFO

News Websitesabc.net.aunews.com.aunews.com.au/dailytelegraphsbs.com.ausmh.com.autheage.com.autheaustralian.news.com.au

Television NewsABC1: 7:00pm News

Channel 7: 6:00pm News

Channel 9: 6:00pm News

SBS: World News Australia Sky: Sky News

China

Blogsblog.focus.cnChina HeraldChina JournalChina Rises Notes from the Middle KingdomWen Yun ChaoZeng Jin Yan ___ (Hu Jia’s wife)

Newspapers21st Century Business HeraldBeijing Evening NewsBeijing Youth DailyChina DailyChina Economic TimesChina Business NewsChina Business HeraldChina Economic HeraldChina Economic TimesEconomic DailyGlobal TimesGuangzhou DailyGuangming DailyInformation ReferenceInternational Business DailyJiefang Ribao People’s DailyReference NewsShenzen Commercial NewsWenhui DailyWest-China City DailyXinmin Wanboa Yangtse NewsYangcheng Evening News

News Websiteschina.comchinanews.com.cncn.yahoo.comnetease.compeople.com.cnsina.com.cnsohu.comtom.comeastday.comxinhuanet.com

Television NewsCCTV 1: CCTV Major NewsCCTV 4: World ExpressCCTV 9: World Wide WatchCCTV News: 8 O’clock News

Appendix B. MEDIA LIST



49

Hong Kong

Blogsleftbbs.mysinablog.com

NewspapersAM 730Apple DailyHeadline DailyHong Kong Daily NewsHong Kong Economic JournalHong Kong Economic TimesOriental DailyMetropolis DailyMing Pao Daily NewsSouth China Morning PostSing Tao Daily NewsTa Kung PaoThe StandardWen Wei Po

News WebsitesHong Kong iMailInterfax ChinaSouth China Morning Postthestandard.com.hk

Television NewsATV World: 19:30 NewsTVB Jade: 18:30 NewsTVB Pearl: 18:00 News

Indonesia

BlogsAdinotoBloggombalBudiraharjoEnda NasutionGerakan bawah tanahHarry SufehmiIndonesia anonymousMasekoNdoro KakungWimar Witoelar

NewspapersBisnis IndonesiaBisnis InternationalEksekkutifIndonesian BusinessJawa PosKedaulatan RakyatKompas Morning DailyKoran TempoMedia IndonesiaRepublikaSeputar IndonesiaSinar HarapanSuara MerdekaSuara PembaruanThe Jakarta GlobeThe Jakarta PostWarta EkonomiWarta Kota

News Websitesantara.co.idantaranews.comastaga.combisnis.comdetik.cominvestorindonesia.comkompas.commediaindonesia.comokezone.comtempointeraktif.com

Television NewsMetro TV

RCTI

SCTV

Trans TV


Media Monitors

50

Malaysia

BlogsAnwar IbrahimBerita Malaysia KiniDEMA - Malaysia Youth & Students Democratic MovementI am MalaysianKickdefellakyspeaks.comPendapat KritisProject MalaysiaRocky’s BruThe People’s ParliamentWest Malaysia

NewspapersBerita HarianBusiness WeekChina PressDewan EkonomiMalay MailMalaysia NambanMalaysian BusinessNanyang Siang PauNew Straits TimesSin Chew Jit PohThe Edge The StarThe SunUtusan Malaysia

News Websitesbernama.comnst.com.mytheedgedaily.comthestar.com.my

Television NewsBernama: 9:00pm NewsNTV7: 7:00pm NewsTV2: Dateline on 2TV3: Nightline

New Zealand

BlogsJust LeftKiwiblogKotareMulholland Heeft Meer Mmmmmmmm...Public AddressSecond p0st

NewspapersThe Dominion Post and The Dominion Post WeekendThe New Zealand Herald and The Herald on SundayNational Business Review

News Websitescio.co.nznzherald.co.nzstuff.co.nztvnz.co.nz

Television NewsSky News NZ: 7:00pm NewsTV ONE: 6:00pm NewsTV3: 6:00pm News



51

Singapore

Blogsjournalism.sgmrbrown L’infantile terrible of SingaporeSingapore DailySingapore Dissident

NewspapersBerita HarianThe Business TimesLianhe WanbaoLianhe ZaobaoShin Min DailyThe EdgeThe New PaperThe Straits TimesToday

News Websiteasiaone.combusinesstimes.com.sgchannelnewsasia.comnewpaper.asia1.com.sgyahoo.com.sg

Television NewsChannel 5: News 5 TonightChannel 8: News 8 @ 10Channel News Asia: World Tonight

Pan-Asia

BlogsMutant Frog Travel Log

NewspapersInternational Herald TribuneThe Wall Street Journal Asia

News Websiteatimes.com

Television NewsCNBC Asia: Nightly News Bulletin


AUSTRALIA

Media Monitors Pty LtdLevel 3, 219-241 Cleveland Street

Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012

Australia

Phone: +61 2 9318 4000

SINGAPORE

Media Monitors Pte Ltd39 Tras Street

Singapore 078978

Phone: +65 6302 1510

Fax: +65 6302 1515

CHINA

SinoFile InformationConsulting Co Ltd

85A Tonglinge St,

Beijing 100031

Phone: +86 10 6605 9202

NEW ZEALAND

Media Monitors LtdLevel 9, 1 Willis Street

Wellington Central, Wellington 6011

Phone: +64 4 462 6200

Freecall in NZ: 0800 607 000

MALAYSIA

Asia Media Monitors Sdn BhdA-15M-1 Menara Taipan

6 Jalan P Ramlee

50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Phone: +603 2730 1600

HONG KONG

Media Monitors LtdUnit 3204B - 5

32/F, AIA Tower, 183 Electric Road,

North Point, Hong Kong

Phone: +852 3664 2700


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