The Role of Newspaper and State Government in Conservation of World Heritage Site in Malaysia

Abstract

Currently, there are two historical sites has been recognized as World Heritage Site by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Malaysia, which are Melaka (Malacca) and George Town, Penang. Since its recognition, those cities becomes so famous and positioned as one of the world tourism attraction that need to visit. In line with this prestige, conservation matter definitely appears to be a major concern especially to both cities in order to maintain the status given. The paper aims to discover the local daily ISSN 2161-7104 2018 http://jpag.macrothink.org 213 newspaper of The Star in terms of its portrayal of image on the historic or heritage buildings within the areas of World Heritage Site. Content analysis and previous literature were used as the research method. The findings show that indeed the images of photo could influence the public reader and create awareness of the issues raised. Behind the image thus, this paper would also examine at the role of the state in an effort to conserve the historic buildings of these two cities. Studies on image or visual are still rare in the country and therefore, this paper intend to fill this gap by associating it with the cultural heritage conservation in Malaysia. Journal of Public Administration and Governance