Pembentukan pelan tindakan untuk meningkatkan partisipasi belia komuniti terpinggir dalam proses pembangunan negara melalui media baharu

Most of the marginalized youth communities do not really enjoy full citizenship because of their inability to exercise their full rights as free citizen especially in joining any political activity. It also relates to their inability to give and express opinions on issues raised by the country. The role of media, particulary the new media, has transformed the landscape to exercise citizens rights and strengthen the movement of society. Hence, this study aims to propose an Action plan to increase the participation of youth through the new media. The objectives of this study are to (i) identify current status and participation level through media by marginalized community youth, (ii) expose as certain the domain of participation among youths of marginalized communities, (iii) measure the level of media's knowledge and skills, interest and confidence in media to determine the youth role of the ideal marginalized community and (iv) formulate the action plan in enhancing youth participation in marginalized communities. The study chose to use Somekh Model based methodologies in five phases of research to achieve the objective of the research ie phase (1) identifying problems, phase (2) pioneering research and data gathering through questionnaire surveys and focus group interviews, phase (3) analyzing questionnaire data and focus group interviews, phases (4) implement quasi experiments through intervention programs and final phases (5) developing and implementing action plans. A total of 1,527 youths from all over Malaysia were involved in this study 1029 (survey), 70 (focus group interviews), 393 (treatment groups), and 35 (youth co-forums). The findings show that the marginalized community of youth needs strong support and motivation from the rest of the community and stakeholders. In conclusion, the results of this study have contributed to an action plan in raising the participation of youths in marginalized communities through the new media.