Conclusion

Summary

The book has attempted a nuanced examination of the capability of the online platform to enrich political life in the Malaysian national elections of 2008 and 2013. This was conducted by focusing on the processes and dynamics of blogging, including on the actors themselves, to demonstrate how aspects of the social and political landscape could affect the democratic potentials of the online media within the relatively authoritarian Malaysian society. In seeking to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the democratic potentials of the Internet, a multidimensional approach was employed taking into consideration the wider institutional and societal structures, the social ties that emerged out of the use of the online platform and the practices adopted by the relatively distinct groups of bloggers to achieve their goals. The book argues that the different dynamics and social and political circumstances at particular moments in the two elections must be taken into consideration when examining the democratic potentials of the new media.

A key feature of the new media was the ability to open space for free expression of ideas and opinions and overcome the blackout and censorship of the tightly controlled mainstream Malaysian media. However, the function of the online platform to challenge mainstream media coverage did not appear to be uniform over the two elections. In the lead-up to the 2008 general election there seemed to be a clear demarcation between blog contents and mainstream media coverage. The mainstream media did not give any publicity to the content of the blogosphere. At that time many former mainstream media editors and journalists, including former political elites such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, were sidelined by the mainstream media. The former media and political elites who were dissatisfied with the country's leadership at the time used the online avenue to vent their frustrations. Blogging was a timely tool for them to voice their views about the political situation in the country. The distinct boundary, however, became blurred after the 2008 election, when the mainstream media began highlighting the content of particular blogs which could either promote the image of the BN coalition or taint the reputation of the opposition coalition. Many of the former media and political elites who were marginalized in the 2008 election had been co-opted and returned to the mainstream media after Najib Razak took over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as prime minister.