Abstract. Forest fire news has become a crucial discourse in Indonesia and Malaysia after massive catastrophe following forest fire events in both countries for so many years. This research explores the comparative study of media agenda building to contribute to forest fires' handling and prevention. An Outside Initiative Model of Cobb (1976) and the development of social media Pfetsch et al. (2015) is adopted to understand the phenomenon. Research data is collected using two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) on forest fire news stakeholders in Indonesia and Malaysia. The research results showed that forest fire had become a public discourse in Indonesia and was widely reported when the forest fires occurred. However, the forest fire issues did not make public issues in Malaysia; therefore, there is no political demand regarding forest fire. The media in both countries did not have a political agenda regarding the forest fire issue because of economic and political limitations. Both media in Indonesia and Malaysia is more focused on reporting the event of forest fires to attract readers.