Role of images in constructing public opinion about environmental matters in Malaysia

This paper provides a discussion on the perception of Malaysian media and environmental nongovernmental organisations (ENGOs) on the role of images in shaping the public's mind about environmental matters. Two methods were employed for this study. First, a total of 24 participants from the Malaysian media and ENGOs were interviewed. Second, a total of 2,050 environmental articles on media newspapers and ENGOs newsletters from the period of 2012 to 2014 were collected for the quantitative content analysis. The findings from interview confirmed that pictures were labelled by journalists and ENGOs staff as the most important tool in presenting the reality of the environmental problems to the public. This is because, upon seeing the pictures accompanying environmental articles, readers will gain more trust of the environmental information. This was in harmony with the results of the quantitative content analysis, where more than 60% of pictures were found on environmental articles.