新加坡男同性戀的媒體報導—比較主流報紙與公民新聞網站的異同 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 碩士論文. 政治大立Master’s Thesis ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Nat. io. sit. y. 新加坡男同性戀的媒體報導—比較主流報紙與公民新聞網站的異同. er. Singapore Male Homosexuals in the Media – A Comparison Between a. al. n. iv n C Mainstream Presshand Journalism Site e nagCitizen chi U. Student: Loh Li Hwee 盧莉薇 Advisor: Assistant Professor Tsung-Jen Shih 施琮仁助理教授中華民國. 101. 年. May 2013. 5. 月.

(2) 新加坡男同性戀的媒體報導—比較主流報紙與公民新聞網站的異同 Singapore Male Homosexuals in the Media – A Comparison Between a Mainstream Press and a Citizen Journalism Site. Student: Loh Li Hwee. 研究生：盧莉薇. Advisor: Tsung-Jen Shih 治政大. 指導教授：施琮仁助理教授. 學. 國立政治大學. ‧. ‧ 國. 立. Nat. y. 國際傳播英語碩士學位學程. n. er. io. al. sit. 碩士論文. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. A Thesis Submitted to International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master of Arts 中華民國. 101. 年 5. May 2013 i. 月.

(3) 新加坡男同性戀的媒體報導—比較主流報紙與公民新聞網站的異同 Singapore Male Homosexuals in the Media – A Comparison Between a Mainstream Press and a Citizen Journalism Site. Student: Loh Li Hwee. 研究生：盧莉薇. Advisor: Tsung-Jen Shih 治政大. 指導教授：施琮仁助理教授. 學. 國立政治大學. ‧. ‧ 國. 立. Nat. y. 國際傳播英語碩士學位學程. n. er. io. al. sit. 碩士論文. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. A Thesis Submitted to International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master of Arts 中華民國. 101. 年 5. May 2013 ii. 月.

(4) Acknowledgement I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor Prof. Shih Tsung-Jen for his patience and continuous support which made this thesis possible. I would also like to thank the rest of my thesis committee – Prof. Katherine Chen and Prof. Wen-Ying Liu for their insightful comments and encouraging words. Also, I am thankful to Conny for her administrative help and reassurance. I need to thank the Taiwan MOE scholarship for sponsoring my studies and express my appreciation to the College and IMICS for the inspiring two years in Taiwan. Last but not. 政治大 including Jia Yun, Yingyi and Janice, 立 thank you for loving who I am.. least, my thanks to my family for standing by me, in whatever I do. And to all my friends. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iii. i n U. v.

(5) Abstract This content analytic study investigated the reporting approaches of a mainstream newspaper — Straits Times and a citizen journalism site — The Online Citizen on homosexual issues in Singapore. This paper examines the reporting pattern of these two news outlets in the coverage of homosexuality surrounding two important issues — (1) the interview by Time magazine with former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong conducted in 2003, in which he openly commented about nondiscriminatory policies towards the gay people in the country for the first time. (2) The. 政治大 supporters petitioned to abolish the law that criminalizes homosexuality. The purpose is to find 立 initiation to review the Penal Code in 2006 whereby Section 377A was not repealed after gay. out how gays were represented in the media with the shift in politics of homosexuality. Using. ‧ 國. 學. Chi-square tests, the results indicated that there is significant relation between news focus, news. ‧. section, story type, topic, number of sources, identity of dominant news sources and attitude with time for the Straits Times. In addition, this paper found evidence that pro-gay news tone were. y. Nat. io. sit. likely to come from official source whereas anti-gay news tone tended to originate from ordinary. n. al. er. source. Significant relations were also found between attitude and news outlets. Lastly, Straits. Ch. i n U. v. Times was better diversified in terms of topics of gay-related stories while The Online Citizen. engchi. was more diversified with regards to story frames.. Keywords: Censorship; Citizen Journalism; Gays; Media representation; Singapore. iv.

(6) Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................1 2. Male Homosexuality in Singapore............................................................................................6 An Overview ................................................................................................................................6 Changing Politics of Male Homosexuality ..................................................................................7. 政治大 Gay Events in Singapore ............................................................................................................10 立. ‧ 國. 學. Singaporean’s Attitudes towards Gay ........................................................................................11 Review of Penal Code Section 377A .........................................................................................11. ‧. Media Law in Singapore ............................................................................................................15. y. Nat. io. sit. The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act ..................................................................................... 15. n. al. er. Out-of-Bound Markers .................................................................................................................. 16. Ch. i n U. v. Internal Security Act ..................................................................................................................... 16. engchi. Subscription Television Programme Code ................................................................................... 16 Internet Regulation ........................................................................................................................ 17. 3. Literature Review ....................................................................................................................19 Framing Analysis .......................................................................................................................19 Definition ....................................................................................................................................... 19. Framing Homosexuality: Media Portrayal of Homosexuality in Singapore ..............................20 v.

(7) 4. Methodology .............................................................................................................................28 Time Frame ................................................................................................................................28 Searching Method ......................................................................................................................30 Reasons for comparing Straits Times and The Online Citizen ..................................................32 Measurements.............................................................................................................................33 Reliability Test ..........................................................................................................................39. 政治大 Pattern of reporting gay-related 立news in the two periods for Straits Times ..............................42. 5. Findings.....................................................................................................................................41. ‧ 國. 學. Relationship between identity of news source and its tone in Straits Times in Period 1 ..........48 Relationship between identity of news source and its tone in Straits Times in Period 2 ..........51. ‧. Pattern of reporting gay-related news in The Online Citizen ....................................................53. y. Nat. er. io. sit. Relationship between identity of news source and its tone in The Online Citizen ...................56 Discussion .................................................................................................................................57. al. n. iv n C Reporting pattern of Straits Times inhthe two periods ................................................................... 57 engchi U Reporting pattern of The Online Citizen in comparison to Straits Times ...................................... 63. Limitation ..................................................................................................................................67 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................69 References .....................................................................................................................................73 Appendix .......................................................................................................................................79 Codebook for news coverage on male homosexuals ..................................................................... 79. vi.

(8) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Chapter 1 Introduction Homosexuality suffers from social stigma and remains illegal in Singapore today. As a result, the local media used to shun news coverage about homosexuality in Singapore, other than gay issues in foreign countries (Goh, 2008). This situation changed in 2003 when the former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said “We are born this way and they are born that way, but they are like you and me” in an interview. 治政大the Newspaper and Printing The local newspapers under the governance of 立 Presses Act (NPPA) have been largely believed to be pro-government (Tan & Soh, with Time Asia magazine (Elegant, 2003).. ‧ 國. 學. 1994). Comments or announcements made by the ruling party are thus expected to cause changes to how news are reported. Public events have shown to affect news. ‧. coverage. One of the most salient event that have changed journalistic practice would. Nat. sit. y. be the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. Possible new threats that might be dismissed as. er. io. work of pranksters and ignored before the incident are now taken seriously and. al. n. iv n C h e n gin April Charles’ comments on nanotechnology i Uis believed to have shaped the c h 2003 reported (Finnegan, 2006; Norris, Kern, & Just, 2003). On the other hand, Prince. way technology news is covered in the United Kingdom (Anderson, Allan, Petersen, & Wilkinson, 2005). In particular, Anderson et al. (2005) suggested that the Prince’s intervention “provided a convenient news ‘peg’ or ‘angle’ for journalists” (pp. 216). This paper investigates two events that are likely to influence news reporting patterns of Singapore media on homosexual related news stories. The first event was mentioned above in which Former PM Goh told the Time Asia magazine that gays will be allowed to serve sensitive positions in the civil service. Such open declaration of tolerance or nondiscriminatory policy towards homosexuals by the Singapore. 1.

(9) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. government opens a new chapter in homosexual politics in the country. Had it been a few years earlier, most Singaporeans probably would not be able to imagine politicians making such open comments on homosexuality (Ng, 2008a). This comment gave the local media the “go” sign to address homosexual related issues, drove local newspaper and television programs coverage on homosexuality for months (Goh, 2008). Plausible explanation for such change in political stance on homosexuality may be growing awareness of the need to present the world with a more open society (Ng, 2008a) so as to attract and retain creative classes at home and. 政治大 The second event 立took place in November 2006 when the government released. abroad and the chase after the “pink dollar”1(Chan, 2008).. ‧ 國. 學. public consultation paper on amendments to the Penal Code2. The Amendment Bill proposed to repeal Section 377 that criminalize oral and anal sex between consenting. ‧. heterosexual couples 16 and above but retain Section 377A which prohibits similar acts between male homosexuals. This subject saw heated public debate and. y. Nat. io. sit. unprecedented public participation online (Detenber et al., 2007). Both camps, one for. n. al. er. repealing the section and the other for keeping it, wrote to the press and collected. i n U. v. thousands of signatures for petitions and lobbied the Prime Minister and other lawmakers (Phua, 2008).. Ch. engchi. A phenomenon known as “framing effects” occurs when (many a times small) changes in the presentation of an issue or an event result in (at times big) changes of opinion. An experimental study done by Price, Nir and Cappella (2005) showed that framing manipulation did influence attitudes on legalization of gay partnerships,. 1. Money spent by gay men and lesbians (Detenber et al., 2007).. 2. The Penal Code, introduced in 1871, is based on the Indian one which in turn was based on the. British version. It covers all aspect of criminal activity and is also the biggest and oldest legislation in Singapore (Nadarajan, 2006). 2.

(10) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. contingent on ideological makeups of the groups. Given the possibility that media framing of gay-related news can impact reader’s perception of homosexuals, and shifts and nuances of political leaders may influence how media cover news stories, the current study will examine how newspaper frame homosexuality or gays in their coverage of news stories, in hope to shape our understanding of how homosexuals are being portrayed with changes in governmental stance in homosexuality in traditional media in the country. In his study on General Election and online media, Gomez (2006) argued that. 政治大 mainstream media during 立 election made new media an alternative source of the use of internet to disseminate political information not presented in the. ‧ 國. 學. information during Election. Carpenter (2010) found out online journalism articles were more likely to feature a greater diversity of topics and information from outside. ‧. sources. Online media are expected to provide alternative and different content in comparison to the mainstream media. In a study done by students from the Singapore. y. Nat. io. sit. Polytechnic, where 801 youths were surveyed, it was found out that the average youth. n. al. er. spends approximately 4.7 hours online daily and citizen journalism has a significant. i n U. v. influence in shaping their views on politics ("Youth citizen journalism on the rise,". Ch. engchi. 2012).The World Wide Web is global and borderless and is hence difficult to regulate and less restrictions are enforced online (Phua, 2008). Therefore, many take the Internet as the final fortress of free speech in Singapore (Offord, 1999). For the same reason, many gay advocacy groups operate online (Phua, 2008). Indeed, Phua (2008) found out in his in-depth interview with twenty gay and lesbian website owners and moderators that homosexual issues are more freely discussed and debated online than in print and broadcast media where the subject is still a taboo. Given internet medium is considered an alternative platform that provides broader perspectives and subjects, and the growing importance of citizen journalism site among youth in Singapore, 3.

(11) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. adding the fact that gay-related issues are discussed more freely online, it is meaningful to analyze the role of online medium in coverage of male homosexual related news. This paper will thus also perform a content analysis of news stories related to male homosexuality in the citizen journalism site The Online Citizen. This study has two primary purposes. One, find out how did mainstream news reporting on gays evolve with shift in politics of homosexuality, taking references from two dividing points which is in 2003 when former Prime Minister Goh commented the. 政治大. government’s tolerance policy towards gays and in 2006 when the Penal Code and. 立. Section 377A was reviewed. The other purpose of this study is to explore the. ‧ 國. 學. differences between how mainstream press and citizen journalism site report news that are related to male homosexuality. In particular, comparing how mainstream. ‧. paper The Straits Times and journalism site The Online Citizen cover gay related news. y. sit. io. er. readership.. Nat. stories. Both Straits Times and The Online Citizen are chosen because of their high. The watershed General Election in 2011 that saw the opposition made. al. n. iv n C historical gains and dominant ruling party vote share h e n g c h i Uslid to an all-time low since. independence made Singapore politicians realized, in Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen’s words “with basic needs like housing, health care and education already met, Singaporeans today wanted something different”. Hence, topics such as homosexuality and media control are subjects that are currently hotly discussed and believed to remain as the focus of many in the future. Therefore, this study expects to shape our understanding of how homosexuals are being portrayed over time in traditional media and also in the new media of the country. Furthermore, better our understanding on the interactions of media coverage and media regulation in. 4.

(12) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Singapore. In addition, with its diverse Asian ethnicities and religions, Singapore provides a rich and fresh context to study media portrayal of homosexuals. This thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter introduces readers to the topic and provides an overview of this paper. The second chapter outlines homosexuality in Singapore. The third chapter covers the media laws in the country including press law and internet regulation. The fourth chapter gives a literature review of framing analysis and the review of papers on homosexuality in Singapore. The fifth chapter describes the methodology, the data searching and gathering process.. 政治大 with the limitation of 立 this study. The last chapter, chapter seven gives insights on the. Chapter six discusses the findings, analysis and interpretations of the results together. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. direction of future related research and concludes this paper.. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 5. i n U. v.

(13) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Chapter 2 Male Homosexuality in Singapore An Overview According to the 2010 Census, Singapore has a population of 5.077 million with Chinese and Malays making up the dominant ethnic groups (i.e. Chinese: 74.1 percent, Malays: 13.4 percent, Indians: 9.2 percent, Others: 3.3 percent). Consequently, the social and moral backdrop in the country is immersed in “Asian. 政治大 Muslim ideals as a result 立of its closeness to Indonesia and Malaysia (Phua, 2008). values”, which includes traditional Confucianism along with some Christian and. ‧ 國. 學. Chan (2008) suggests that the government has been perpetuating homophobic laws by applying Chinese conservatism and fundamentalist Christian values. According to. ‧. Heng (2001), the barring of homosexuality is likewise embedded in the country’s nation building since homosexuality endangers the building of the family.. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. fundamentals of a paternalistic state (Leong, 1997).. sit. Furthermore, same-gender unions do not result in procreation, hence threatens the. i n U. v. Although gay sex is criminalized in Singapore, Section 377A has not been. Ch. engchi. invoked frequently throughout the country’s relatively short history. Besides sporadic incidences of police raids against “public indecency” stipulated under the Penal Code Section 377A, homosexuals have been more or less left alone in the nation. Nonetheless, this invisible yet existent threat of criminalization has disciplinary effect using the social theory of panopticism that Michel Foucault builds on Jeremy Bentham’s conceptualization of a panopticon3 (Chan, 2008). Chan (2008) concluded. 3. A panopticon is a circular building with an observation tower in the middle of an open space which is. surrounded by an outer wall. Applying Jeremy Bentham’s idea of the panopticon in the prison systems where prisoners were watched by an all-seeing eye, Foucault observes that the greatest effect of the 6.

(14) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. that this fear of being monitored resulted in many closet doors to remain tightly closed and also discouraged gay activism. On the other hand, other studies have shown that gays in confucianized Singapore avoid coming out to their parents so that they will not shame their families4. Alternatively, they hide their sexual inclination in kinship terms and “go home” with their boyfriends (Chou, 2000; Tan, 2011). “Going home” avoid contesting mainstream discourses of homosexuality and helps to gain familial acceptance of their gay sexuality (Chou, 2000; Tan, 2011). Changing Politics of Male Homosexuality. 政治大. In 1998, then Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, now Singapore’s Minister. 立. Mentor, answered a call-in question posed by a Singaporean viewer in an interview. ‧ 國. 學. with CNN, on whether gay Singaporeans had a future in Singapore5. He replied saying “It’s a question of what a society considers acceptable, and as you know,. ‧. Singaporeans are by and large, a very conservative, orthodox society, very, I would. sit. y. Nat. say completely different from the United States” (Fernandez, 1998, p. 28). This was. io. er. the first time a politician openly acknowledged the presence of the homosexual community in Singapore and provided the government’s perspective of the gay. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. people. In another occasion, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew told the National Public. engchi. Radio in the US programme Fresh Air, “what people do in private about their sexual. panopticon is to induce the inmate a state of conscious and lasting visibility that ensures the automatic performance of power. Hence, by giving off the impression that surveillance is permanent in its effects, even though it is discontinuous in its exercise, the perfection of power should make real action unnecessary (Foucault, 1977). 4. This is contrary to Anglo-American ontologies that theorize gays should come out to match their. outer selves with their inner ones (Tan, 2011). 5. The viewer said: “I am a gay man in Singapore. I do not feel that my country has acknowledged my. presence. As we move to a more tolerant millennium, what do you think is the future for gay people in Singapore, is there a future at all?”. 7.

(15) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. orientation is up to them” and “the country has not prosecuted anybody for homosexuality for the last 40, 50 years” (Gross, 2000). Suggesting Singapore would not prosecute anyone for consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex. This was the first time a Singaporean minister made such a point (Ng, 2008a). Nonetheless, the Singapore government has cracked down on gay and lesbian organizations in the past. People Like Us (PLU) (Chinese: 我等之輩), an informal group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual people submitted application for registration with the Registrar of Societies in 1996 but was rejected by the. 政治大 for Home Affairs and立 also the Prime Minister. Nevertheless, all appeals were rejected. government without reason. Subsequently, PLU submitted an appeal to the Minister. ‧ 國. 學. without a reason given (Offord, 1999). Registration implies that the group is a legal organization and could raise fund, hold formal meetings and be recognized as a. ‧. community group. Although no reasons were provided, the government denies registration to societies it believes “likely to be used for unlawful purposes or for the. y. Nat. io. sit. purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare, or public order” (Heinz, 1993, p. 79).. n. al. er. From this, it can be deduced that the Singapore government believes PLU to have. i n U. v. either an unlawful purpose or to be a threat to public peace, welfare and the public. Ch. engchi. order (Offord, 1999). Facing governmental prohibition of gay-related activities in the public domain and mainstream media, the homosexual community found themselves forming online communities as a solution (Phua, 2008). PLU among others such as Yawning Bread and Fridae are some of the gay and lesbian advocacy groups that are operating online. Nonetheless, Chan (2008) acknowledged that the government has been making strides to grant a place for the gay community in the Singaporean society. In 2003, former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in an interview with Time Asia magazine, acknowledged gays in the country by saying that “We are born this way 8.

(16) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. and they are born that way, but they are like you and me” (Elegant, 2003). He also declared nondiscriminatory policy towards the gay people in the same interview, saying that gays will be allowed to serve sensitive positions in the civil service as well. In the same year, former Prime Minister Goh in his National Day speech, urged Singaporeans to accept gay people as fellow human beings and as fellow Singaporeans. Although he emphasized that he do not encourage or endorse a gay lifestyle, he pointed out that “if the public sector refuses to employ gays, the private sector might also refuse… gays too, need to make a living”. Former PM Goh’s. 政治大 gay community as male 立homosexuals lived a very discreet life with regards to their. nondiscriminatory policy towards gays was considered a watershed point to the local. ‧ 國. 學. sexual identity. Evident in a confession by a gay in an interview conducted by Offord in 1997, male homosexuals faces job discrimination in the country. He said “in terms. ‧. of what discrimination (there is) at work, I think that all I need say is that I work in the public sector and I know for certain that gay people have been fired for the simple. y. Nat. io. sit. fact that they are gay” (Offord, 2003, p. 144). In 2005, in an interview done by Time. n. al. er. magazine, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in reply on how he felt about gays, said. i n U. v. that he agreed with his predecessor Goh, that gay people “are people like you and me” (Smith, 2005).. Ch. engchi. Nonetheless, at the same time, evidenced in Prime Minister Lee’s speech to Parliament during the repeal 377A debate in 2007, gay activist are reminded they should not push their agenda too far or too hard. Prime Minister Lee said “the result will be counter-productive because it’s going to lead to less space for the gay community in Singapore. So it’s better to let the situation evolve gradually”. The message seemed to be well delivered as Stuart Koe, former chief executive officer of Fridea.com, the largest Asian gay web portal says “The gay community is given sufficient leeway currently to evolve and grow without any untowards or negative 9.

(17) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. pressures from the government. It may backfire if a referendum is sought” (Lim, 2004, p. 1768). Therefore, gay events like Nation, hangouts like sauna houses and bars, gay literature and film grow outside the public’s eyes but constantly under the surveillance of the police and other licensing units (Goh, 2008). Gay Events in Singapore Singapore’s first public Lesbian, Gays, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) pride festival, “Nation” was given the green light by the police in year 2001 (Fong, 2004). For the following consecutive 3 years, the event was held successfully and. 政治大. attracted international visitors from all over the world. The fourth “Nation” party. 立. “Nation.04” was estimated to have generated SGD 10 million in tourism revenue in a. ‧ 國. 學. study commissioned by the Singapore Tourism Board (Fong, 2004). This was the largest party in the series, to date, and attracted more than 8,000 patrons in which 40%. ‧. of them were international visitors (Fong, 2004). Nonetheless, the Licensing Division. sit. y. Nat. of the Singapore Police Force rejected application to hold the fifth annual event. io. er. “Nation.05” in 2005, giving reasons that the event was “contrary to public interest” ("No license, so gay party moves to Phuket," 2005). This decision was also made. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. after former senior Minister of State for Health, Balaji Sadasivan announced pressing. engchi. needs to come up with measures to tackle an “alarming Aids epidemic” fronting Singapore, emphasizing an acute surge in new Aids infections among homosexuals (Khalik, 2004). In reaction to the official ban, Fridae transplanted the gay event to Phuket, Thailand that year. Among other gay events, such as “Indignation”, “Snowball” and “Nation”, Pink Dot Singapore is an annual event that started since 2009. It is a free for all (both homosexuals and heterosexuals) occasion whereby people come together to celebrate the freedom to love and support the LGBT community in the country. Pink is chosen. 10.

(18) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. because that is the color when you mix red and white which are the colors of the Singapore national flag. More than 15,000 Singaporeans showed their support for the event in Pink Dot Singapore 2012. Singaporean’s Attitudes towards Gay Lim (2002) studied individuals’ attitude towards homosexuals in Singapore and whether gender differences in attitude towards homosexuals exist. She found out that respondents generally harboured negative attitude towards homosexuals, suggesting most Singaporeans are still quite conservative towards gender roles and. 政治大. homosexuality. In addition, in comparison to men, women reported to be more. 立. comfortable working with gays.. ‧ 國. 學. In the same tone, in a study conducted by Debenter et al. in 2007, researchers observed that in general, respondents held negative attitudes toward lesbians and gay. ‧. men. 68.6 percent communicated negative attitudes, 22.9 percent expressed positive. sit. y. Nat. attitudes and 8.5 percent were neutral. Furthermore, more than half of the respondents. io. er. said they were intolerant of homosexual content in films (i.e. 57.6 percent said they minded portrayal of homosexuality in films, 31.3 percent did not mind and 11.1. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. percent were neutral). Interestingly, this study compared levels of tolerance for films. engchi. based on their region of origin and they discovered that respondents were more tolerant of depiction of homosexual characters in films from the West than in film from Asia. Lastly, Debenter et al. (2007) also showed that Christians and Muslims have significantly more negative attitudes and less tolerance than Buddhists and Freethinkers. Review of Penal Code In November 2003, a police sergeant Annis Abdullah, 27, was found guilty under the archaic Penal Code Section 377 for having oral sex with a 16 year old even. 11.

(19) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. though she was above the age of consent and have agreed to perform the act ("Cop jailed, career over because of oral sex," 2003). Section 377 states that “whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals” can be fined and jailed up to 10 years, or even for life. The conviction of Annis caused much public debate and triggered the subsequent review of the Penal Code.6 On 9 November 2006, the Ministry of Home Affair released public consultation paper on amendments to Penal Code and subsequently there were many related reports and commentaries published in the newspaper.. 政治大 (Amendment) Bill which 立proposed significant changes to the law. The Bill proposed. In 2007, the government reviewed the Penal Code and introduced Penal Code. ‧ 國. 學. the repeal of Section 377 but opted to keep Section 377A which prohibits similar acts between homosexuals. Section 377A prohibits “gross indecency” between males, in. ‧. public or private, with a maximum of two years’ imprisonment (Leong, 1997). Section 377A specifies prohibition of gay sex between male but made no mention to. y. Nat. io. sit. lesbians. There is no law equally specific to lesbian sex in the country. On 22 October. n. al. er. 2007, the Home Affairs Ministry explained the decision to retain Section 377A. The. i n U. v. former Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said “public. Ch. engchi. feedback on Section 377A has been emotional, divided and strongly expressed, with the majority calling for its retention”. He emphasized “Singaporeans are still a largely conservative society”. And that “the majority finds homosexual behavior offensive and unacceptable”. The ministry reiterated that although it is technically illegal for men to have sex with other men, this law will not be proactively enforced against consensual acts that happen in private (Lum, 2006). According to a statistic submitted. 6. It was revealed later that the prosecution got the teenage girl’s age wrong and tendered the statement. of facts to the court which mistakenly stated that she was 16 years old when in actual fact, she was 15, hence a minor when the incident took place ("Mistake in court: Girl was a minor," 2003). 12.

(20) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. by former deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, a total of 185 person was convicted under Section 377A in a 10-year period between 1997 to 2006, The penalty for violation of the law remains a maximum of two years in jail (Lum, 2006). This subject saw heated public debate and unprecedented public participation online (Detenber et al., 2007). Gay supporters claimed the clause to be discriminatory and called for repeal of the Section. They established website “repeal377A.com” and wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister and petitioned to the Parliament on the grounds that the Section violates constitutional safeguards on equal rights7. Gay. 政治大 privacy, besides being立 discriminatory” (Lum, 2006). On the other hand, opponents of interest group PLU called for Section 377A to be repealed as it is “an invasion of. ‧ 國. 學. the repeal set up website “keep377A.com” to lobby for signatures to show their support to keep the law.. ‧. The amended Penal Code makes it no longer an offence for consenting heterosexual couples 16 and above to engage in any sexual act, including oral and. y. Nat. io. sit. anal sex8. However, Section 377A (Outrages on decency) which outlaws a male to. n. al. er. engage in an act of gross indecency with another male whether in public or private. i n U. v. remains in place ("At a glance: What's new, what's expanded; These are some of the. Ch. engchi. key proposed changes to the Penal Code," 2007). That is to say, homosexual sex continues to be a crime under the current law in Singapore. According to Chan (2008), the continued criminalization of gay sex legitimizes conservative social values on homosexuality which in turn outline and impact censorship on television, cinema and theater programmes. Next, I will discuss the various regulations that restrict media in 7. Section 377A targets a specific group of people and therefore goes against the Constitution which. guarantees that everyone be treated equally before the law (Nadarajan, 2006). 8. Unnatural sex acts such as bestiality and necrophilia however, will be redefined as crimes ("At a. glance: What's new, what's expanded; These are some of the key proposed changes to the Penal Code," 2007). 13.

(21) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. the country. The controls in place on various medium have major impact on how male homosexuals are portrayed in these media channels.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 14. i n U. v.

(22) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Chapter 3 Media Law in Singapore The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act Media is highly regulated by the government in Singapore. According to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew (2000, p. 218), “Freedom of the press, freedom of the news media, must be subordinated to the overriding needs of Singapore, and to the primacy of purpose of an elected government”. The Newspaper and Printing Presses. 政治大 and magazines by issuing 立 permits (Aw, 2012). Under the law, the government has to. Act (NPPA) is introduced in 1974 and this act regulates locally distributed newspaper. ‧ 國. 學. approve all shareholders in a newspaper company. In addition, the government has a direct say in deciding who will be appointed chairman of the board. It is widely. ‧. believed that the act curtails press freedom in Singapore directly or indirectly, through stringent self-censorship among journalists and publications (Aw, 2012).. y. Nat. io. sit. The “Freedom of the Press 2012 Report” ranked Singapore 150th in a list of. n. al. er. 197 countries. In a United States diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks, a senior. i n U. v. editorial staff member of The Straits Times was reported as saying that there’s. Ch. engchi. “significant pressure” on its editors to follow the government line (Oon, 2011). According to the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), the various safeguards outlined in NPPA “help to ensure that the media operating in Singapore play a responsible role and that publishers are accountable for the content they publish” (Ministry of Information Communication and the Arts, 2011). The Ministry also said the safeguards “prevent local newspaper from being manipulated by foreign interests which can have a divisive effect on social cohesion”. Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), publisher of the flagship English daily, The Straits Times, controlled most of the print media in Singapore. SPH publishes all daily 15.

(23) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. newspaper except “TODAY” which is owned by MediaCorp, a Singapore media company that also runs television and radio broadcasting. Daily newspapers are published in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (Singapore Press Holdings, 2011). Out-of-Bound Markers Besides the regulation of NPPA, the mass media in Singapore exercise selfcensorship defined by “out-of bound” (OB) markers9 to ensure articles are socially responsible. OB markers refer to “issues that are too sensitive to be discussed in public for fear of destabilizing or jeopardizing public peace and order” (Ho, 2000, p.. 政治大. 186). These markers are not clearly defined by the government and journalists would. 立. not know when he or she will cross until one faces a backlash from the government. ‧ 國. 學. (Ng, 2008a). As a result, most journalists exercise caution in what they write. Internal Security Act (ISA). ‧. The act allows detention without trial and in its history, the ISA has been used. Nat. sit. y. to detain known or suspected communists. Besides preventive detention, the ISA also. er. io. has provision in relation to publication. In particular, according to Chapter 3 Part 4,. al. n. iv n C U of Singapore”. The ISA h epublic prejudicial to the national interest, n g order c h ori security the Minister can prohibit or limit the printing and sale of publications that “Are. does not explicitly define what constitutes a security threat. This ambiguity contributed to fear effect and consequent lack of expression of views and stifling civil discourse and debate (Singapore Press-Pedia, 2007). Subscription Television Programme Code Although this paper does not analyze television programme, it is important to understand the entire media climate in the country. Additionally, the print press also 9. The government termed this word based on golfing terminology to identify subjects that are “off. limits”. 16.

(24) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. seemed to be affected by regulations placed on television programmes, specifically on the portrayal of homosexuality. The Media Development Authority (MDA) is the institutional home for the Censorship Board. It stipulates under the Subscription Television Programme Code, Part 4.2, that “Information, themes and subplots on lifestyles such as homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexualism, transvestism, paedophilia and incest should be treated with utmost caution. Their treatment should not in anyway promote, justify or glamorise such lifestyles. Explicit depictions of the above should not be broadcast.”. 政治大 of “promote, justify or立 glamorise” gay lifestyle is unclear. Secondly, homosexuality,. Chan (2008) outlined two problems with these guidelines. Firstly, the meaning. ‧ 國. 學. lesbianism, bisexualism, and transvestism are put together as a group with pedophilia and incest, indirectly blemishing homosexuality through such association. In 2003,. ‧. Channel I, an English-language TV channel10, was fined SGD15,000 by MDA under the Subscription Television Programme Code Part 4.2 when it asked a lesbian it was. y. Nat. io. sit. interviewing to comment on her sexuality. The local media avoided the topic of. n. al. er. homosexuality altogether for fear of violating the MDA regulation of “justifying,. i n U. v. promoting and glamorizing homosexuality” (Ng, 2008a). To a large extent, print press. Ch. engchi. journalists are wary of such regulations and exercise self-censorships in their news coverage even though these rules are not directed at the print media (Ng, 2008a). Internet Regulation Singapore government claims to adopt “light-touch approach” in regulating the Internet (Lee, 2005). Under the Class License Scheme, administered by MDA,. 10. Channel I was owned by Singapore Press Holdings which later merged with MediaCorp TV.. Channel I ceased transmission as a result of business decision in 1 January 2005. 17.

(25) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Internet Content Providers11 and Internet Service Providers12 are deemed automatically licensed and have to observe and comply with the Class License Conditions and the Internet Code of Practice13, which stipulates what the community holds as offensive or harmful to the country’s racial and religious harmony (Media Development Authority, 2011). Even though the Internet regulation in the country can hardly be said to be liberal, the establishment’s claim of “light touch” regulatory regime is not totally empty as well given no political site is known to have ever been blocked (Cherian, 2007).. 政治大 literature review of male 立homosexuality in Singapore.. Next I will discuss the theoretical framework of this study and provide a. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. 11. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Internet Content Providers are those who provide information on the World Wide Web, including. web authors and editors, web publishers, and web server administrators (Media Development Authority, 2004). 12. Currently, the main local Internet Service Providers are SingNet Pte Ltd, Starhub Limited and M1. Limited. 13. The Internet Code of Practice prohibits material that is objectionable on the grounds of public. interest, public morality, public order, public security and national harmony. This includes material that is felt to glorify, incite, or endorse ethnic, racial or religious friction. Prohibited material also includes anything that deals with sexual violence and extreme violence or cruelty (Media Development Authority). 18.

(26) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Chapter 4 Literature Review Framing Analysis Definition. Frames are a “schemata of interpretation” that helps people to organize what they see in daily life, making an otherwise meaningless series of events into something meaningful (Goffman, 1974, p. 21). Gitlin (1980) defines frames as instrument that helps journalists to structure huge amount of information and organize. 政治大 activity involves selection 立 and salience and is defined as selecting “some aspects of. them in an effective manner for readers. According to Entman (1993), framing as an. ‧ 國. 學. perceived reality and mak[ing] them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral. ‧. evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation” (pp.52). In the same tone, Norris, Kern and Just (2003) said “the essence of framing is selection to prioritize some facts,. y. Nat. io. sit. images, or developments over others, thereby unconsciously promoting one particular. n. al. er. interpretation of events” (pp.6). Different frames explain an event or issue result in. i n U. v. this same event or issue to be comprehended in different manners (Gandy, 2001).. Ch. engchi. Therefore, by using framing analysis to identify the frames the message producer use, helps to find out how media organize and structure messages and the view of people on these messages (Miller & Riechert, 2001). Media recipients can be seen as active audiences in interpreting and discussing public issues, but they depend on the mass media to provide common frames of references that lead interpretation and discussion (Price et al., 2005). The same news article framed differently can result in different perceptions of the news. For example, in a study done by Sniderman and Theriault, respondents were asked if they would favor or oppose allowing a hate group to hold a political rally. 19.

(27) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. 85% of the surveyed responded in favor if the question was prefaced with the suggestion, “Given the importance of free speech”. On the other hand, when the question was prefaced with the phrase, “Given the risk of violence”, only 45% answered in favor (2004). As a result, individuals focus on different facets of the problems and choose which value to associate to particular issue and actively form their perception on the discussion using an abstract value (Brewer, 2002; Price et al., 2005). Generally, there are two ways to conduct framing analysis which is the. 政治大 approach begins with立 very loosely predefined conception of the frames and study a inductive and deductive approach (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). The inductive. ‧ 國. 學. news report with an open mind, in attempt to find out all the possible frames. This method enables the detection of several possible manners on how an issue can be. ‧. framed. Nonetheless, this approach is labor intensive, often reliant on small samples, hence hard to replicate (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). On the other hand, a. y. Nat. io. sit. deductive approach encompasses the preconception of some frames as content. n. al. er. analytic variables to attest the degree to which these frames take place in the news. To. i n U. v. use this method, one needs to clearly know what are the kinds of frames that are likely. Ch. engchi. to appear in the news as frames that are not defined earlier may be overlooked. Contrary to the inductive approach, the deductive approach can be replicated easily and can cope with large samples and differences in framing between media can be identified with ease (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). Given that this research needs to compare newspaper and internet content and for ease of replicating the study in the future, I will apply the deductive approach. Framing Homosexuality: Media Portrayal of Homosexuality in Singapore The local media largely shunned news coverage about homosexuality in. 20.

(28) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Singapore, other than gay issues in foreign countries before former Prime Minister Goh acknowledged the presence of gays in 2003. According to Ng (2008a), in his research that covers a 13-year period from 1990 to 2002, 194 English language gayrelated news reports14 and articles appeared in The Straits Times, The New Paper, The Business Times, Today and currently defunct Streats and Project Eyeball. That translates to only 16 articles every year or as little as 1.34 articles each month. Homosexual topics were avoided previously due to fear of being accused by the censorship board of “justifying, promoting and glamourizing homosexuality” as. 政治大 programmes. Gay-related 立 topics if covered in the newspaper, usually portrayed. stipulated in the Subscription Television Code Part 4.2 that governs local television. ‧ 國. 學. homosexuality in negative light, often stressing “promiscuous and unsafe” lifestyles of gays. Leong (1997), in his study of the socio-legal constraints on homosexuality in. ‧. Singapore, said “the media treat gays as criminals, perverts, and subjects for gossip and scandal”. In his study, Ng (2008a) found out that from 1990 to 2002, almost half. y. Nat. io. sit. (43%) of the articles from the English dailies were features that concentrates primarily. n. al. er. on the negative social behavior, problems and societal pressure of homosexuals. Other. i n U. v. subjects comprise of popular cruising spots for gay men, personal accounts of a. Ch. engchi. transversite and AIDS related stories. The next most reported kind of gay related news in the English newspaper (23%) were cases of police arrest or charges against men having sexual contact with other men in public or in private. The remaining 35% were random survey reports and opinions from the government or readers (17%) which are usually conservative and reports related to the arts, culture and entertainment scene (18%) which are somewhat positive. I will adopt Ng’s findings and include the topics he singled out in the categories of topics in my codebook. 14. Referring to reports with a Singapore context and excludes reports adapted from foreign media. unless they are related to Singapore. 21.

(29) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Chan (2008) made similar observations, with regards to under-representations of gays in the media. He observed that although many gays remain in the closet in Singapore, the gay men community in the country is vibrant and thriving as in any global city. Gay bars, clubs, saunas and cruising grounds are easily accessible if one knows where to go. However, a peculiar phenomenon is that gay life is seldom represented culturally. Homosexuality in Singaporean popular culture is subtle or even unseen to the general public. Chan investigated the difference between this “sociosexual plenitude” and the seemingly “liminal representational presence of gay. 政治大 contradiction was a result 立 of the government’s desire to impress the global audience. sexuality” in Singapore television, film and theater (2008, p. 306). He concluded such. ‧ 國. 學. as an open and vibrant society when it carries on to hold onto its antiquated Penal Code. This contradicting behavior is described as “strategic but inevitable discursive. ‧. code-switching in governmental and media representations” (Chan, 2008, p. 310). Chan’s findings suggested the close relation between the government’s stance. y. Nat. io. sit. on homosexuality and the cultural representation of the gay community in the media. n. al. er. in Singapore. Indeed, regulations such as NPPA, OB markers, ISA and even. i n U. v. Television subscription code that we have discussed in earlier chapter placed much. Ch. engchi. restrictions on the local print press. According to Chong (2010), the political transition from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong to Lee Hsien Loong has largely been construed as a path of gradual political and cultural liberalization in Singapore. And these discourses of liberalization are often built by the ruling elites themselves and propagated by the state-controlled media. On the contrary, internet regulated by the “light touch” approach in the country is considered a freer space in which many gay advocacy groups choose to operate. Mainstream media started to embrace citizen journalism in 2004 when South Asia’s great tsunami took place. Tourists and residents with digital camera and camera phones used the Web to share their stories with the 22.

(30) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. world, highlighting citizen journalism’s ability to cover breaking news in places with few regular reporters (Marshall, 2005). This is of course made possible with technological advancement and growing internet penetration. In Pavlik (2000, p. 231) words, “content is once again undergoing a profound transformation, largely enabled, if not driven, by technological change”. As Rosen (2008, p. 517) defines, “when the people formerly known as audience employ the press tools they have in their possession to inform one another, that’s citizen journalism”. Some limitation of citizen journalism includes incomplete. 政治大 and untrained journalists 立(Cherian, 2009).. in scope, inadequacy of a shared space for national dialogue that democracy requires. ‧ 國. 學. But it was not until 2006 then citizen journalism became prevalent in Singapore. It was considered the landmark year for the new media and citizen. ‧. journalism in the country (Giam, 2006). According to Giam (2006), there were several significant happenings in 2006 that fuelled the prevalence of citizen journalism. y. Nat. io. sit. including podcasting and vodcasting by netizens on the General Election 2006,. n. al. er. political parties began to adopt internet to propagate their messages, SPH launched. i n U. v. STOMP that was claimed to be citizen journalism. PM Lee even made special. Ch. engchi. mention in the National Day Rally speech in 2006, that new media will “change the texture of society” and that the traditional media was “under siege” to retain its audiences (Lee, 2006, p. 26). In a study done by students from the Singapore Polytechnic, where 801 youths were surveyed, it was found out that the average youth spends approximately 4.7 hours online daily and citizen journalism has a significant influence in shaping their views on politics ("Youth citizen journalism on the rise," 2012). In another study, Phua (2008) found out in his in-depth interview with twenty gay and lesbian website owners and moderators and all respondents reflected homosexual issues are more 23.

(31) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. freely discussed and debated online than in print and broadcast media where the subject is still a taboo. Thus, it is interesting to explore how are gay-related news are covered in citizen journalism sites that have growing influences among netizens. In a PHD dissertation done by Viall (2009), she compared the front-page content of 75 citizen journalism site with 75 traditional media sites in the same geographical area across the United States. Findings revealed that thematically, citizen journalism sites have higher proportions of political and community content but lower percentages of sports, entertainment, crime and business news items. In addition,. 政治大 content theme category, 立particularly in political items.. citizen journalism sites have higher percentages of news items with opinion in every. ‧ 國. 學. This paper hopes to examine how the mainstream press covers homosexualrelated news as compared to citizen journalism site, expecting the print press to be. under.. ‧. more conservative on the issue given the highly regulated climate the institution is. y. Nat. io. sit. Homosexuality issues only started to gain much media reporting after former. n. al. er. Prime Minister Goh openly announce approval of homosexuals to work and even hold. i n U. v. sensitive positions in the civil service in 2003. Goh (2008) observed that after former. Ch. engchi. Prime Minister Goh announced nondiscriminatory policy towards homosexuals in the country, news report and television programs featuring homosexuality flourished. Local Chinese and Malay-language television stations aired programmes meant to educate the supposed conservative masses on the subject of homosexuality. In addition, movies and plays, together with articles and literatures with homosexual themes grow to become common (Ng, 2008a). Chinese language channel Channel U broadcasted a programme named “OK, No Problem” on 30 July 2003, weeks after Former Prime Minister Goh made the nondiscriminatory comment on gays. The programme invited a gay man to talk live on the Television programme about how he 24.

(32) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. came out of the closet and the difficulties he encountered because of his gay identity (Du, 2003). According to Ng (2008a), “this was a breakthrough in Singapore television history as it was the first time on prime time television that any gay person had been portrayed in a positive light”. Mass media is influential on socialization that fosters how one sees the world on top of one’s values on social issues (Comstock & Paik, 1991). Specifically, news media has significant influence over individual’s perceptions of and attitudes toward homosexuals (Anderson, Fakhfakh, & Kondylis, 1999). Readers’ perspective of gay. 政治大 news (Pan, Meng, & Zhou, 立 2010).. people or gay-related issues is shaped in relation to how the news maker framed the. ‧ 國. 學. Most studies found that the news coverage of gay rights and same sex marriage is framed with two primary beliefs, morality and equality (Brewer, 2002,. ‧. 2003; Rimmerman, Wald, & Wilcox, 2000; Wald, Button, & Rienzo, 1996). Research has shown that both frames are significant elements of public opinion about gay rights. y. Nat. io. sit. in the United States (Wilcox & Wolpert, 1996, 2000). Gay and lesbian activists frame. n. al. er. the issue with equality, claiming equal rights that heterosexuals enjoy for gays. i n U. v. (Sullivan, 1995). On the other hand, equality frame could be used by anti-gays to. Ch. engchi. reason that homosexuals should not be granted “special rights” as they are not equated to blacks or other racial minorities (Brewer, 2003, p. 180). Opponents also try to frame the issue using morality, stressing that gay right laws threatens traditional moral values (Dobson & Bauer, 1990). In the case of Singapore, in previous chapters, we have seen several instances in which the local government explicating Singapore is by and large a conservative nation to justify policies that undermined the gay community. This is undoubtedly using morality as a tool to defend their position. The local gay activists, on the other hand, use equality or egalitarian frame to contest the government’s decision. Thus, I expect the two frames – morality and equality frames 25.

(33) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. to be particularly prominent within the local news coverage of gays. I will examine both frames in this paper. According to Chang (1999), the Singapore government has used legislation to mold the press into a “cheerleader” of the ruling party. To the extent that framing in communication could affects public opinion and that the possibility that shift in governmental stance on homosexuality may influence media portrayal of homosexuals, this study hopes to discuss, in particular, to what extent is the shift of politics of homosexuality represented in the news coverage of male homosexuality. 政治大 media, I will take references 立 from two dividing points i.e. in 2003 when former Prime using framing analysis. To study how news coverage on homosexuality evolves intra-. ‧ 國. 學. Minister Goh announced nondiscriminatory policy towards gays and that they can even hold sensitive positions in governmental department and in 2006 when the Penal. ‧. Code was reviewed and the debate on whether to repeal Section 377A took place. To investigate this, research question one and two were proposed as below:. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. Straits Times?. sit. RQ1: What was the pattern of reporting gay-related news in the two periods for. i n U. v. RQ2: What was the relationship between identity of news source and its tone in. Ch. Straits Times in both periods?. engchi. The review of the Penal Code and in particular debate on whether to repeal Section 377A in late 2006 sparked a new and larger scale of local media reporting on the topic of homosexuality. Coupled with growth of the internet and social media, the discussion on Section 377A expanded to involve the public sphere who shared their views and opinions on internet forums in addition to conventional print press forum. This gives us a very good opportunity to explore in comparison to the mainstream print press, how are male homosexuality framed in internet news. In particular, we will compare mainstream English Daily Straits Times with citizen journalism site The 26.

(34) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Online Citizen, to find out if there are any differences in terms of pattern of reporting on the debate to repeal Section 377A. In a quantitative content analysis study done by Carpenter (2010), she found greater content diversity in citizen journalism as compared to traditional newspaper online. In particular, online citizen journalism articles were more likely to demonstrate improved diversity of topics and information from outside sources. Voakes et al. (1996) defined content diversity as “a dispersion of the representation of ideas, perspectives, attributions, opinions or frames within a news product, and within. 政治大 source diversity because 立the latter does not always result in a diversity of ideas in. the context of one particular issue” (pp. 585). Content diversity is differentiated from. ‧ 國. 學. news stories. Carpenter (2010), on the other hand, measure content diversity with diversity of topics, the use of outbound hyperlinks and the number of multimedia and. ‧. interactive elements found in the articles. This paper would adopt earlier researches and operationalizes content diversity as diversity of topics and frames in news stories.. y. Nat. io. sit. In another research done in 2008, Carpenter showed that online citizen journalists has. n. al. er. lower tendency to rely on media routines, produce stories that use more unofficial. i n U. v. sources and opinion in their articles. Hence, research questions three and four was proposed as below:. Ch. engchi. RQ3: What was the pattern of reporting gay-related news in The Online Citizen? RQ4: What was the relationship between identity of news source and its tone in The Online Citizen?. 27.

(35) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Chapter 5 Methodology Time Frame A content analysis was conducted in this study. Two issues that this paper hoped to explore is (1) How did the news coverage of gay-related issues evolve over time, in particular, taking references from two watershed events in local gay history i.e. Former Prime Minister Goh announce nondiscriminatory policy towards gays in. 政治大 site — The Online Citizen 立 portrays gays in comparison to mainstream press the Straits the country and public debate to repeal Section 377A. (2) How did citizen journalism. ‧ 國. 學. Times?. On 7 July 2003, former Prime Minister Goh in his interview with Time. ‧. magazines gave his views on gays, saying that governmental jobs provides equal job opportunities to the gay community, that day was considered a landmark day in gay-. y. Nat. io. sit. rights history in Singapore. And on 9 November 2006, the Ministry of Home Affair. n. al. er. released public consultation paper on amendment to Penal Code. In particular, Section. i n U. v. 377A incited enthusiastic discussion in the public. This event started the first large. Ch. engchi. scale dialogue between the gay community and the government. Therefore, gayrelated stories published in Straits Times between 7 July 2003 and 7 July 2005 and between 9 November 2006 and 9 November 2008 were selected as the sampling frame in this study. Given this paper aims to capture and analyze gay-related news reported after the two events until the amount of coverage peaked and started to decline, a time period of two years after the two landmark events is considered a proper time frame. Looking at figure 1, the number of Straits Times articles related to male homosexuality published per month in period one reached several high before reaching its peak at 26 articles in March 2005 and declined steadily aftermath. Two 28.

(36) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. months before and after our examination period shows a number of lower than 10 articles per month. Thus, it is safe to say this study have captured most of the news in the most important period. Referring to figure 2, the number of gay-related news stories in Straits Times in period two peaked in September 2007 at 48 articles and remained low at below 10 articles for the next one year. Two months before our examination period shows articles number lower than 10 per month. One month after our examination period, the number of articles went up from 8 to 14. However, this number went down to 2 a month later. Thus, it is acceptable to say I have captured the. 政治大. majority of news in a significant period.. 立. No. of ST Articles in Period 1. n. al. er. io. Jul‐03 Aug‐03 Sep‐03 Oct‐03 Nov‐03 Dec‐03 Jan‐04 Feb‐04 Mar‐04 Apr‐04 May‐04 Jun‐04 Jul‐04 Aug‐04 Sep‐04 Oct‐04 Nov‐04 Dec‐04 Jan‐05 Feb‐05 Mar‐05 Apr‐05 May‐05 Jun‐05. 0. Nat. 5. y. 10. ‧. 15. sit. 20. ‧ 國. 25. 學. 30. Ch. No. of ST Articles in Period 1. engchi. i n U. v. Figure 1. Number of gay-related articles per month in Straits Times in period 1. This figure illustrates total number of gay-related articles that appeared in Straits Times in each month of period 1. Period 1 starts from 7 July 2003 to 7 July 2005.. 29.

(37) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. No. of ST Articles in Period 2 60 50 40 30 20 10 Nov‐06 Dec‐06 Jan‐07 Feb‐07 Mar‐07 Apr‐07 May‐07 Jun‐07 Jul‐07 Aug‐07 Sep‐07 Oct‐07 Nov‐07 Dec‐07 Jan‐08 Feb‐08 Mar‐08 Apr‐08 May‐08 Jun‐08 Jul‐08 Aug‐08 Sep‐08 Oct‐08. 0. No. of ST Articles in Period 2. 治政 Figure 2. Number of gay-related articles per month in 大Straits Times in period 2. This figure illustrates total 立 number of gay-related articles that appeared in Straits Times in each month of period 2. Period 2 starts from 9 November 2006 to 9 November 2008.. ‧ 國. 學. By using 7 July 2003 and 9 November 2006 as the watershed points, the time. ‧. period under investigation was divided into 2 sections. In the first section, 7 July 2003. sit. y. Nat. to 7 July 2005, there are 264 news stories related to gay or homosexuals identified in. io. er. The Straits Times. And the second section, 9 November 2006 to 9 November 2008, contained 295 articles in the same newspaper. The sample size in the second section. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. was around 12% larger than that in the first because as what Debenter et al. (2007). engchi. described, the appeal to decriminalize gay sex saw heated public debate and unprecedented public participation online. As for The Online Citizen, 43 news article related to Section 377A was generated. A two year time frame was applied for The Online Citizen as well firstly so that a fair comparison can be made inter media in period two. Secondly, The Online Citizen started operation only on December 2006. Thus, time frame beyond that would not be plausible. Searching methods Using LexisNexis Academic database, I generated articles by searching for. 30.

(38) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. “gay” OR “homosexual” OR “homosexuality” OR “Section 377A” in the body of all items and adding index terms Geography to Singapore in Straits Times archive from 7 July 2003 to 7 July 2005 and 9 November 2006 to 9 November 2008. I chose this search term so that I can include all local news that are related to gays and homosexuality but at the same time exclude local report on foreign issues related to homosexuality. “Section 377A” was used as search term because I can include all local news that are related to the debate to repeal Section 377A but at the same time exclude reports that discuss repealing other constitution that is unrelated to our topic.. 政治大 constitution that encompasses 立 more than criminalization of homosexual sex and Penal Code is not chosen as a keyword because Penal Code is a very broad. ‧ 國. 學. would produce significant number of articles that is irrelevant to this study if used as a search term. In addition, keywords like “gay” and “Section 377A” usually comes with. a keyword should not result in significant loss of information.. Nat. y. ‧. “Penal Code” when discussing gay-related issues. Thus, exclusion of “Penal Code” as. io. sit. I went through the samples and removed totally irrelevant articles that are. n. al. er. generated because the articles contained the keyword “gay” due to a person’s surname. i n U. v. or first name. Other articles that are generated because articles contained the word. Ch. engchi. “Gay World” (name of a demolished building) and “Ching Gay” (name of an annual street parade) are also taken out. In the instances when “gay” is used in the articles to describe having or showing a merry, lively mood, or used to described being bright or showy, such news stories are removed from the sample as well. For Straits Times, a total of 39 articles are removed from the sample of the first period and 26 articles are removed from the sample of the second period. With that, 225 articles in the first period and 269 articles in the second period of samples are remained. See diagram 3 below for better illustration.. 31.

(39) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. 350 300 250. 26 39. 200. No. of irrelevant articles to this study. 150. Remaining articles to be coded. 100 50 225. 政治大 269. 0 Period 1 7 Jul 03 to 7 Jul 05. 立. Period 2 9 Nov 06 to 9 Nov 08. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Figure 3. Number of gay-related articles in Straits Times over the two time period examined. This figure illustrates the total number of gay-related articles that appeared in Straits Times over the period 1 and 2 respectively. As The Online Citizen is not a formal channel of news, there are 43 articles. Nat. sit. y. published in the web portal from the period between 9 November 2006 to 9. er. io. November 2008 when I search for keywords “gay” OR “homosexual” OR. al. n. iv n C U Altogether 537 news stories hreason terms were chosen for the same e n gexplicated c h i above.. “homosexuality” and “Section 377A” in The Online Citizen website. Thes search. were studied to find out how homosexuals are framed intra-media (analyzing Straits Times) and inter-media (analyzing The Straits Times and The Online Citizen) during the two time periods. Reasons for comparing Straits Times and The Online Citizen Firstly, although there are a few English daily in Singapore including The Business Times, The New Paper and Mypaper15, Straits Time is the most-read 15. My paper is a bilingual newspaper in Singapore that covers home and world news, business, sports,. lifestyle and entertainment in two languages (Singapore Press Holdings). 32.

(40) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. newspaper in Singapore. 34 percent of the population that is age 15 and up reads the Straits Times in 2011. It is also the highest circulated newspaper in the country (Singapore Press Holdings, 2012). Thus, it serves as a suitable platform for studying how the mainstream press portrays homosexuals or homosexual-related news. There is a number of online platforms such as Yawning Bread (Commentaries on politics and social issues in Singapore by Alex Au who is also an open gay and gay activist), Singapore Politics (Blog on Singapore politics and current affairs by Ng EJay), TR Emeritus (An independent Singapore blog site on politics and social issues),. 政治大 with user-generated material 立 but was involved in a scandal in which they allegedly. STOMP (i.e. Straits Times Online Mobile Print. So called citizen journalism website. ‧ 國. 學. ask their employee to pass herself off as a citizen journalist and fabricate news. STOMP belongs to the government owned Singapore Press Holdings which also. ‧. publish the English Daily Straits Times), Public House (Singapore blog site on politics and social issues in Singapore) etc.. y. Nat. io. sit. The Online Citizen is chosen because firstly, it is established since 2006, hence. n. al. er. enables the comparison between the news reporting of Straits Times and The Online. i n U. v. Citizen on the review of the Penal Code. Secondly, it was gazette as a political. Ch. engchi. association and is registered as a media outlet under the Media Development Authority, providing a layer of objectivity and credibility. Also, the authors, editors, members and legal advisors of The Online Citizen team are all introduced in their real identity without anonymity. Therefore, providing their content an extra level of reliability. Lastly, the web portal has a readership of around 500,000, making it one of the leading socio-political website that produce quality and content in the country (Kumaran, 2012). Measurements. 33.

(41) SINGAPORE MALE HOMOSEXUALS IN THE MEDIA. Each article in the Straits Time and The Online Citizen is the unit of analysis. This paper segregates two time period in which period 1 is defined as time period between 7 July 2003 to 7 July 2005 whereas time period 2 is time period between 9 November 2006 to 9 November 2008. News outlet. News outlet refers to the two medium examined in this paper i.e. Straits Times and The Online Citizen. Content relevancy. Content relevancy of articles measure whether less than or greater than 50% of the news content is on gay issues. This variable exists because. 政治大 issues and if male homosexuality 立 is not the primary focus of the article, we exclude it we are only interested in examining articles that focus mainly on male homosexual. ‧ 國. 學. from overall pool of articles. By primary focus, I mean that the homosexual issue content exceeds 50%. Relevancy percentage is calculated using number of paragraphs. ‧. applicable to gay-related issues over total number of paragraphs of article. To be counted as paragraphs related to gay-related issues, that particular paragraph do not. y. Nat. io. sit. necessarily need to contain any of the four keywords. The important thing is the. n. al. er. paragraph should discuss or report issues related to gay or homosexuals.. i n U. v. News focus. News focus of the articles can be gay-related news other than. Ch. engchi. Section 377A, gay-related news with mention of Section 377A but is not the focus of the article and news focusing on Section 377A. By focus, I mean that the specified issue content exceeds 50%, calculated using number of paragraphs applicable to specified issues over total number of paragraphs of article. News Section. News Section refers to which section do the news stories belong to. This is only applicable to the Straits Times as The Online Citizen though has its own categorization, the website is designed in such a way that it is technically impossible to identify which section each article falls under. Possible sections are “Prime news”, “Singapore” (i.e. Local news), “Lifestyle” which includes art, 34.