Were Malaysian voters influenced by alternative Medias?

Text messages, email, blogs and copies of Internet-streamed videos became the most influential information sources for voters ahead of Malaysia’s March 8 parliamentary elections and resulted in a surprise blow to the Barisan National (BN) party, which has ruled the country for more than 50 years.

After BN’s worst election showing, in which it lost its two-thirds majority in the parliament, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi acknowledged March 25 that his coalition "certainly lost the Internet war," and added that it was "a serious misjudgment" for his party to rely solely on government-controlled newspapers and television in its efforts to attract voters.

The poor reputation that Malaysia’s newspapers have, as mouthpieces of coalition parties, has worked against them, and in favor of alternative media,”

With about 500,000 active bloggers, Malaysia boasts one of the largest online communities in the world after Indonesia and the European Union. Many Malaysians consider important, such as government corruption and interference with the country’s judiciary.

The widespread distribution of cellular phones in rural areas enabled the effective use of SMS (short messaging system) text messages, and campaign activists copied Internet-streamed television programs onto video CDs (VCDs) and circulated them in the countryside where VCD players are popular. More primitive methods, such as photocopies of political platforms and statements, also helped bring the opposition’s message to Malaysia’s rural voters.

The opposition’s use of the Internet might have helped train and position some of the country’s newest leaders. Five of Malaysia’s newly elected parliamentarians are bloggers.

"In Malaysia, people trust the Internet more than official sources ... the opposition; election campaign was conducted unconventionally and quietly," hoping the recent campaign and election results will be a "wake up call" for the government.