STRATEGY OF FRONT PAGE NEWS SELECTION IN MALAY AND CHINESE NEWSPAPERS: STUDY ON BERITA HARIAN AND CHINA PRESS

News is a form of reporting that provides information about a current event precisely to the public. Various events occur daily but not all appear as headlines. The question repeatedly asked is, what is the criteria of an event that makes it an headline on the front page? This article intends to discuss the front page news selection strategy and the types of issues that appear as the main news. The ‘Agenda Deciding Theory’ has been applied as an framework because the mass media disseminate information, attract attention and influence the public. Data for this article was gathered based on qualitative method, through in-depth interview as an instrument, with two senior editors as informants. Respectively, they serve as media officer with Berita Harian and China Press. The findings in this article is, there are differences in the selection of headline between Berita Harian and the China Press. News that has impact on majority readers is given priority as headline. The Berita Harian newspaper tends to display agenda that is related to national issue, while the China Press headline tends to incline towards issue that concerns the Chinese community. Both newspapers have different graphic and lay out strategy. The China Press emphasizes on visual image, meanwhile the Berita Harian gives priority to exclusive news that attracts interest among its readers. This article intends to provide a concept on news value that could be made as the key factor in news selection and visual on the front page of Malay and Chinese newspapers in Malaysia.