Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?

This study explores the dynamics of visual imageries on political communication focusing especially on the political storytelling of Najib Razak. Najib Razak is a contested figure in Malaysian politics. He was Malaysia’s 6th Prime Minister and the man responsible for the fall of a 60-year-old govern...

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Main Author: Mohamed, Shafizan
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Taylor's University 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/1/75775_Najib%20Razak%E2%80%99s%20political%20storytelling.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/7/75775_Najib%20Razak%E2%80%99s%20political%20storytelling_scopus.pdf
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spelling iium-757752020-03-13T08:55:47Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/ Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader? Mohamed, Shafizan H61.8 Communication of information JQ715 Politics and Government in Malaysia JQ719 Elections in Malaysia This study explores the dynamics of visual imageries on political communication focusing especially on the political storytelling of Najib Razak. Najib Razak is a contested figure in Malaysian politics. He was Malaysia’s 6th Prime Minister and the man responsible for the fall of a 60-year-old government. His dynamic political life offers an interesting case for this study. Image type analysis was carried out on 94 Instagram postings shared by Najib from March 2018 to January 2019. The results showed that Najib actively used Instagram to author his own stories by switching between narratives that were personal and political. These narratives depicted Najib as a resilient politician and a proletarian leader, an image he used to promote his political comeback. Instagram affords politicians a platform to engage in populist politics that celebrates the individual lives of politicians over strict political actions. However, this study argues that while populist politics may take the attention away from ideological issues that guide a politician’s actions and decisions, it still needs scholarly recognition as Instagram and other social media forms are now an inevitable part of political communication. Thus this analysis offers a crucial look at the mediatisation and personalisation of politics and contributes to the academic literature on social media, storytelling, as well as political communication in Malaysia. Taylor's University 2019-10-30 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/1/75775_Najib%20Razak%E2%80%99s%20political%20storytelling.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/7/75775_Najib%20Razak%E2%80%99s%20political%20storytelling_scopus.pdf Mohamed, Shafizan (2019) Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader? SEARCH Journal of Media and Communication Research, 11 (3). pp. 71-89. ISSN 2229-872X E-ISSN 2672-7080 http://search.taylors.edu.my/documents/journals/2019-11-3/SEARCH-2019-11-3-J5-71-89.pdf
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
English
topic H61.8 Communication of information
JQ715 Politics and Government in Malaysia
JQ719 Elections in Malaysia
spellingShingle H61.8 Communication of information
JQ715 Politics and Government in Malaysia
JQ719 Elections in Malaysia
Mohamed, Shafizan
Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
description This study explores the dynamics of visual imageries on political communication focusing especially on the political storytelling of Najib Razak. Najib Razak is a contested figure in Malaysian politics. He was Malaysia’s 6th Prime Minister and the man responsible for the fall of a 60-year-old government. His dynamic political life offers an interesting case for this study. Image type analysis was carried out on 94 Instagram postings shared by Najib from March 2018 to January 2019. The results showed that Najib actively used Instagram to author his own stories by switching between narratives that were personal and political. These narratives depicted Najib as a resilient politician and a proletarian leader, an image he used to promote his political comeback. Instagram affords politicians a platform to engage in populist politics that celebrates the individual lives of politicians over strict political actions. However, this study argues that while populist politics may take the attention away from ideological issues that guide a politician’s actions and decisions, it still needs scholarly recognition as Instagram and other social media forms are now an inevitable part of political communication. Thus this analysis offers a crucial look at the mediatisation and personalisation of politics and contributes to the academic literature on social media, storytelling, as well as political communication in Malaysia.
format Article
author Mohamed, Shafizan
author_facet Mohamed, Shafizan
author_sort Mohamed, Shafizan
title Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
title_short Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
title_full Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
title_fullStr Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
title_full_unstemmed Najib Razak’s political storytelling on Instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
title_sort najib razak’s political storytelling on instagram: the fall of a government and the rise of an opposition leader?
publisher Taylor's University
publishDate 2019
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/1/75775_Najib%20Razak%E2%80%99s%20political%20storytelling.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/75775/7/75775_Najib%20Razak%E2%80%99s%20political%20storytelling_scopus.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T21:47:11Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T21:47:11Z
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