Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia

The way the media constructs events and personalities often have a significant impact on how the public perceives political figures. When President Donald Trump took the limelight in international politics during the 2024 U.S. presidential election and once again became a polarising figure, it turne...

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Main Author: Lim, Lai Hoon
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2025
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26662/1/%5B40-52%5D%20Media%20Portrayal%20of%20Donald%20Trump%20in%20the%20Post-2024%20United%20States.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26662/
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author Lim, Lai Hoon
author_facet Lim, Lai Hoon
author_sort Lim, Lai Hoon
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description The way the media constructs events and personalities often have a significant impact on how the public perceives political figures. When President Donald Trump took the limelight in international politics during the 2024 U.S. presidential election and once again became a polarising figure, it turned out to be a significant topic of scholarly inquiry. Donald Trump’s post-election actions and statements have attracted momentous attention of global media outlets, including The Star Online, a prominent Malaysian English-language mainstream news outlet. By using the Framing Theory, this study examined Donald Trump’s portrayal in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. presidential election to determine the themes, tones, and sources in that coverage. News reports and opinion columns published in the first 100 days were content analysed to probe into how The Star Online presents and contextualises news and opinions on Trump for Malaysian audiences. The findings suggested that The Star Online primarily portrayed Trump in a negative light. The reports focused on Trump’s policies, authoritarian leadership style, nationalism, and controversial statements after the election. The Star Online primarily framed dominant themes as criticism, including Trump’s economic policies, immigration stance, and foreign relations. The Star Online relied predominantly on international wire agencies as news sources, which indicates that the local media outlets may correspond with international media viewpoints, offering a homogeneous portrayal of Donald Trump.
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publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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spelling my-ukm.journal.266622026-03-04T08:03:59Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26662/ Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia Lim, Lai Hoon The way the media constructs events and personalities often have a significant impact on how the public perceives political figures. When President Donald Trump took the limelight in international politics during the 2024 U.S. presidential election and once again became a polarising figure, it turned out to be a significant topic of scholarly inquiry. Donald Trump’s post-election actions and statements have attracted momentous attention of global media outlets, including The Star Online, a prominent Malaysian English-language mainstream news outlet. By using the Framing Theory, this study examined Donald Trump’s portrayal in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. presidential election to determine the themes, tones, and sources in that coverage. News reports and opinion columns published in the first 100 days were content analysed to probe into how The Star Online presents and contextualises news and opinions on Trump for Malaysian audiences. The findings suggested that The Star Online primarily portrayed Trump in a negative light. The reports focused on Trump’s policies, authoritarian leadership style, nationalism, and controversial statements after the election. The Star Online primarily framed dominant themes as criticism, including Trump’s economic policies, immigration stance, and foreign relations. The Star Online relied predominantly on international wire agencies as news sources, which indicates that the local media outlets may correspond with international media viewpoints, offering a homogeneous portrayal of Donald Trump. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2025-07 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26662/1/%5B40-52%5D%20Media%20Portrayal%20of%20Donald%20Trump%20in%20the%20Post-2024%20United%20States.pdf Lim, Lai Hoon (2025) Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia. e-Bangi Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 22 (3). pp. 40-52. ISSN 1823-884x http://ejournal.ukm.my/ebangi/index
spellingShingle Lim, Lai Hoon
Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia
title Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia
title_full Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia
title_fullStr Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia
title_short Media portrayal of Donald Trump in the Post-2024 United States Presidential Election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in The Star Online, Malaysia
title_sort media portrayal of donald trump in the post-2024 united states presidential election: a content analysis of news reports and opinion columns in the star online, malaysia
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26662/1/%5B40-52%5D%20Media%20Portrayal%20of%20Donald%20Trump%20in%20the%20Post-2024%20United%20States.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/26662/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/ebangi/index
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/