A Semantical Interpretation of the Post-Electoral Newspaper Reporting in Gaining the Legitimacy from the Citizens: A Case Study of the Newspaper Articles Headlines during the Post-Electoral Period

This qualitative study focuses on the semantical interpretation of the post-electoral newspaper reporting in gaining the legitimacy from the citizens. The study is being addressed through two research questions: 1) what are the semantical interpretation of the newspaper articles’ headlines in the mainstream and the oppositions’ newspapers? 2) What are the issues highlighted in the newspaper during the post-electoral period of the 13th General Election? The data for the entire research were obtained through the mainstream newspapers which are Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo and Harian Metro and also the opposition’s newspaper represented by Harakah. The data were also collected based on the newspapers that were published after the Election Day has ended. However, the newspapers were not collected daily as the researcher has chosen a few newspapers that contained the traits of having portrayed electoral campaign. The data were analysed using the thematic analysis by deriving themes from the content analysis of the newspapers. The findings were divided into two sections which are semantical interpretations of newspaper articles’ headlines during post-electoral period and issues highlighted in the political campaigns. The researcher has come to a conclusion that both mainstream and opposition based newspapers were portraying improper political headlines during the post-electoral period.