One-sided portrayal: Singapore media discourse of social scientists’ roles

Abstract

This article analyses the gap between the news media’s and scholars’ portrayals of social scientists’ roles in Singapore. It adopts a media representation theoretical framework, undertaking a media discourse analysis of the Singapore Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehood between January 2018 and October 2019. Findings show the media’s consistent depiction of the instrumental roles of social scientists via avoidance of academic language and social-political critiques. The article argues that Singapore’s news media portrayal emphasises the instrumental orientation of social scientists’ roles. The study contributes a social-cultural account in the Singapore context, reframing the media representation framework that has hitherto been understood from a Western perspective.