By:

In the past years, Malaysian youths had been involved in various kinds of activities which apparently led to the creation of too many fragmented impressions given by our nation and also by the media. From the mid to the late 1990s, various music subcultures such as rap, hip-hop, heavy metal and punk have taken the centre stage of personifying the rhetoric concerning social problems among the youths. Among those, Black Metal, a sub-genre of heavy metal, is the latest of these subcultures that has gradually captured the interest of Malaysian youths and subjected to the scrutiny of the local media. The question now is whether this subculture had created a moral panic in Malaysia as the local media began to give unwarranted publicity about the Black Metal subculture. Therefore, this study will look at the effects of Black Metal subculture among today's youths and the role of media in it. The objective of this study is to find out if this culture had caused a moral panic in Malaysia by analysing the effects of this culture and the role of media. This study will be accomplished by employing a textual analysis of those press reports collected in the era of 1990s and early 2000s.

Stream: Media, Film Studies, Theatre, Communication

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Obtained a degree in Mass Communication (majoring in Journalism and Film and TV Production) from Curtin University of Technology, Australia, in 1999 and Master of Arts (Communication) from RMIT University, Australia, in 2002. Presently working as a lecturer in Taylor's College Malaysia, lecturing in Journalism, Cultural Studies and Cinema Studies. His research interests include popular music and film studies and he is also an active musician in the local independent music circuit.

Obtained a degree (Hons) in Communication and Malay Linguistics from Universiti Putra Malaysia in the year 1999 and Master of Science in Corporate Communication from Universiti Putra Malaysia, 2003. Presently working as a lecturer in Taylor's College Malaysia, lecturing in Corporate Communication. He has conducted various educational seminars and community projects since the year 1997. A strong interest in media studies especially in the field of public relations and corporate communications.