International Communication 1999 Abstracts
International Communication Division
Open Competition
Transnational Journalism And The Story Of AIDS/HIV: A Content Analysis Of Wire Service Coverage • Nilanjana R. Bardhan, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale • This study links two global phenomena, AIDS/HIV and transnational journalism, and treats them both as dependent variables that intertwine to generate global images of AIDS/HIV. Weaving the concepts of news framing and agenda-setting with global news flow literature, this extensive study analyses the AIDS/HIV news frames of five transnational wire services-the AP, Reuters, AFP, ITAR-TASS and IPS-for the period 1991 to 1997. The strength of this study lies in its global scope. It addresses a global issue from a global platform.
A Distorted Mirror On The World: Photographs In The Los Angeles Times • Christopher E. Beaudoin and Esther Thorson, Missouri-Columbia • This study examines, via an extensive content analysis, the manner in which the Los Angeles Times covers the world via photography. The study relies on four theoretical frameworks, involving ideologies, personal values, news values, and stereotypes. Although the Times fared well in offering equal coverage of the developing world, focusing on Latin America and Asia, and offering a good mix of topic domains, it slipped up in terms of stereotyping individuals, especially women and non-adults.
Refining The Participatory Approach To Development Communication Through The Public Relations Excellence Model • Dan Berkowitz and Nancy Muturi, Iowa • Theoretical models of development communication have made a transition in recent years from a traditional top-down approach towards a participatory approach where beneficiaries of development efforts provide input for communication programs. This paper interfaces concepts from the recent public relations literature on communication excellence with the central ideas of the participatory approach. The conceptual discussion is then applied to a case study of a women’s reproductive health program in Kenya.
The Impact of Cable Television on Political Campaigns in Taiwan • Peilin Chiu, United Evening News, Taipei, Taiwan and Sylvia M. Chan-Olmsted, Florida • This study examined the impact of cable TV on Taiwan’s election campaign strategies, the implications of political affiliation/ownership of cable TV to political campaigns, and cable’s role in Taiwan’s democratization process. The results showed that cable has provided an alternative platform for the opposition parties and encouraged the emergence of rational politics in Taiwan. More campaign media budget has been allocated for this emerging political medium, campaign candidates and staff are taking a pro-active role in expending their cable airtime.
Is the System Down? The Internet and the World Intellectual Property Organization • Dane S. Claussen, Georgia • Gore says Internet is an educational and democratic miracle. But Clinton proposes to WIPO treaties making it looking at copyrighted webpages a violation. Clinton’s rationale: unless copyright is dramatically toughened, artists/authors won’t create. His other rationale: anything received free on the Internet would otherwise be paid for (although little but pornography is now paid for). In contrast, this paper concludes that intellectual property’s domestic issues are unchanged, and related international issues are largely unresolvable.
Praising, Bashing, Passing: Newsmagazine Coverage Of Japan, 1965-1994 • Anne Cooper-Chen, Ohio University • This longitudinal study of Japan, the world’s #2 economic power, analyzed all 290 pieces that Newsweek published during 30 years. Japan was portrayed positively (praised)1965-74, but more negatively (bashed) as Japan grew in power and then in a balanced way after 1985. The study found a decade of inattention 1975-84, followed by a surge of coverage 1988-93, and then a drop (passed) in 1994. In those high-attention years, longer stories and an accentuated linking of the United States to stories about Japan occurred.
Missionary Translation in Colonial Kenya: Groundwork for Nationalism • David N. Dixon, Regent University • Missionaries engaged in massive evangelistic efforts throughout the colonial period in Africa. An important element in their work was publishing, and toward this end they reduced African languages to writing and taught the people to read. Missionary translation, however, had unintended political consequences that reverberate even today. This paper examines two case studies in Kenya, the Friends Africa Mission and the Africa Inland Mission, and explores the political effects of literacy.
Sixty-Five Years of Journalism Education in Latin America • Leonardo Ferreira, Donn J. Tilson and Michael B. Salwen, Miami • This paper reviews the state of journalism education in Latin America. It reports both historical and contemporary developments, noting how events in the region’s past affect the present. This inquiry is based on scholarly and biographical works, documentary materials, personal interviews and data from directories and catalogues. After decades of modernization and critical-oriented approaches, Latin American journalism started shifting away from its neo-Marxist past, even before the end of the Cold War.
Development News?: A Case Study Of The Coverage Of United Nations’ Activities In Somalia • Anita Fleming-Rife, Penn State University • This case study examines the coverage of the United Nations Operation in Somalia during a two-month period in 1993. It examines the coverage, not only in five western newspapers but in the United Nations’ press briefing notes as well. Findings show that the UN briefed the correspondents about development activities, but western correspondents ignored this topic-choosing to focus on conflict instead.
Public Relations Functions and Models: U.S. Practitioners in International Assignments • Alan R. Freitag, North Carolina-Charlotte • Based upon Grunig and Hunt’s four-stage public relations model construct and upon Broom and Dozier’s role classification theory, this research explores approaches taken by U.S. practitioners in international assignments. A survey of PRSA members indicates practitioners stress craft/technician functions in international assignments more than in their U.S. duties. Similarly, respondents favor the press agentry model in international assignments to a greater degree than in U.S.-centered practice, though this publicity-focused model dominates both facets of their practice.
A Cross Cultural Analysis of the Perceived Credibility of Television Reporters • Sarah Kay Happel and Charles A. Lubbers, Kansas State University • This study compares the perceived credibility of television reporters between the United States and Finland. The source credibility theory was tested by comparing female reporters to male reporters when covering a war story, and also when covering a fashion story. There were no sexist attitudes discovered in either country when a female reporter covered a non-traditional topic. However, American men and Finnish women perceived the male fashion reporter as less credible than the female fashion reporter.
The Influence Of Ideological Perspective On Three North American Chinese-Language Newspapers’ Framing Of China’s Resumption Of Sovereignty Over Hong Kong • Jui-Yun Kao and William A. Tillinghast, San Jose State University • This content analysis of the tone and news framing of China’s China Press, the World Journal owned by a Taiwanese news group, and the Sing Tao Daily owned by Hong Kong interests found that newspapers did follow a pro-government stance on the issue of China regaining sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 and that content of the three newspapers differed significantly from each other before and after the return.
Making a Difference: U.S. Press’ Framing of the Kwangju and Tiananmen Pro-democracy Movements • Sung Tae Kim, Indiana University-Bloomington • The purpose of this study is to examine how the New York Times and Washington Post framed two student-led pro-democracy movements in East Asia in 198 Os, Kwangju of South Korea and Tiananmen of China. The findings showed the U.S. elite newspapers used news sources and symbolic terms in an opposite manner to differentiate the two similar international movements. In addition, to detect different news frames concerning national interests and ideological perspectives, the different responses of U.S. government and other potential factors during these two movements were also discussed.
Front Pages Of Taiwan Daily Newspapers 1952-1996 • Ven-hwei Lo and Hsiaomei Wu, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan; Anna Paddon, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale • After years of martial law in Taiwan, editors no longer publish under licensing and page restrictions and have had the opportunity during the past ten years to introduce design innovations. Using content analysis, the front pages of three Taiwan dailies were examined for their use of color, graphics, headline styles, modular design and number of stories. To what extent these newspapers, which print characters rather than letters and use vertical rather than horizontal lines of type, have adapted contemporary newspaper design styles is described.
Manifestations of Ethnocentrism in U.S.-Japan Press Coverage • Catherine A. Luther, Tennessee • The purpose of this study was to explore if manifestations of ethnocentrism could be found in U.S.-Japan press coverage. A sample of news items concerning U.S.-Japan relations was selected from the United States’ New York Times and Japan’s Yomuri newspaper. Using attributional biases as indicators of ethnocentrism, each news item was examined to see the types of attributions mentioned in the item. Results showed the presence of ethnocentrism, but mainly in the U.S. news items.
Worthy Versus Unworthy Victims in Bosnia and Croatia, 1991 to 1995: Propaganda Model Application to War Coverage in Two Elite Newspapers • Lawrence A. Luther, Ohio University • A content analysis of news articles in The New York Times and The London Times was conducted. The war in Bosnia and Croatia was divided into three periods of study between 1991 and 1995. Examined were articles that mentioned the perpetrators and victims of ethnic cleansing, and refugees. Results demonstrated that the Serbians were presented as the main group responsible for ethnic cleansing. The Bosnian Muslims were named in almost exclusive terms as the victims.
Interactive Online Journalism At English-Language Web Newspapers In Asia: A Dependency-Theory Analysis • Brian L. Massey, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Mark R. Levy, Michigan State University • Three different measures of socio-economic development were used in an attempt to account for differences in the degree of interactivity associated with English-language Web newspapers in Asia. A five-dimension conceptualization of interactivity was used, and two hypotheses based on the Dependency Theory of national economic development were tested. A content analysis of 44 Asian Web newspapers showed that interactivity neither decreased regionally, from Asia’s developed center through to its economically peripheral nations, nor sub-regionally.
How Should Development Support Communication Address Power And Control Issues In Third World Development? A Nomological Analysis • S. R. Melkote, Bowling Green State University • This essay is an attempt to sketch a nomological framework for development support communication (DSC). The author defines what he/she believes should be the outcome for research and practice in this field, look at the relationships and differences between constructs, examine the practices or exemplars and explicate the role implications for DSC practitioners in the intervention process. The focal point of this essay is the concept of empowerment.
Split Images: Arab and Asian Political Leaders’ Portraits in Major U.S. News Magazines • Hye-Kyeong Pae, Georgia State University • This study reports how Arab and Asian political leaders are portrayed in news magazines. The content analysis was based not on the space allotted in the magazines but on the feature of language used. The language was primarily categorized by five biases and then was classified by another four biases in terms of degree of favorableness. The results support the contention that news magazines in the U.S. pay more attention to the nations affecting U.S. interests and that there are split images between the allies and non-allies.
Professionalism and African values at The Daily Nation in Kenya • Carol Pauli, Marist College • An survey of 15 journalists at Kenya’s largest independent newspaper finds that they place high importance on such hallmarks of professionalism as willingness to go to jail to protect sources and belief in the value of education (McLeod and Hawley, 1964). It also suggests a journalistic role of “ombudsman/peacemaker,” which is different from American ‘roles (Johnstone, Slawski, and Bowman, 1976; Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986) but consistent with African communitarian values, as suggested by Bourgault (1993).
The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Thailand: From Mass Media Campaigns to Community Interventions • Pim Pisalsarakit and Diana Stover Tillinghast, San Jose State University • The study traces the progress of the HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns in Thailand from 1987 to present. Three campaign phases are examined-the initial mass media campaigns, the multisectorial collaboration campaigns, and the current community mobilization campaigns, which use mass media as a complement to interpersonal interventions at the grassroots level. The paper includes findings from a field study of three community campaigns aimed at modifying the at-risk sexual behavior of students as well as residents of Bangkok’s slum communities.
Human Rights and Press Freedom in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Four-Nation Analysis • Cornelius B. Pratt, Zambia and Evelyn Hone College • The institutionalization of human rights in sub-Saharan Africa is as vital to the region’s search for sustainable development, foreign direct investments, social and economic enterprise and good governance as it is to press freedom. Therefore, this disquisition, among other things, affirms the interplay between human rights and press freedom in four African nations. It argues that the inherent synergy between both will, in the long run, make each to more directly embolden the other.
Can Broadcasting Serve the Public Interest and Diversity Today? A Look at the Political Economic Underpinnings of Broadcast Deregulation in Europe, the U.K and the U.S. • J. A. Rush, Jr., Brigham Young University • In the U.S., the U.K. and Western Europe, the time-honored goals and functions of public service broadcasting are under attack from several quarters. The most prevalent of these is the drive to digitize the system awhile allowing the business demands of the marketplace to determine some issues traditionally reserved for government rules and policy-making. This paper takes a political economic look at some of the reasons and outcomes of global de-regulation of broadcast media.
Problematizing Comparative Studies, Institutional Research Environment and Feminist Perspectives in Japanese Television Drama Discourse • Eva Tsai, Iowa • In this paper I critique three areas of the scholarly discourse that has emerged to describe and explain Japanese television dramas. First, scholars must go beyond cultural comparisons to study Japanese television. Second, the television industry in Japan has directed the course of Japanese television studies. Third, feminist scholarship, in addition to its image analyses of Japanese programs, could add to the discourse by addressing the issue of positionality.
Wag the Press: How Changes in U.S. Foreign Policy Toward China Were Reflected in Prestige Press Coverage of China, 1979 vs. 1997 • Zaigui Wang and Dennis T. Lowry, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale • This study used content analysis to compare the news coverage of four U.S. prestige newspapers of the state visits of Chinese Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping in 1979 and Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1997. The results showed that news coverage of Deng’s visit (1997) was (a) more favorable, (b) had more coverage of controversial issues, (c) used more ideologically loaded labels in reference to the Chinese government.
International Advertising Strategies in China – A Worldwide Survey of Foreign Advertisers • Jiafei Yin, Central Michigan University • This paper explores how international corporations advertise in China. A worldwide survey of foreign advertisers in China, the first of its kind, was conducted. The study has’ found that the predominant majority of the companies surveyed use the combination strategy, that is, partly standardized and partly localized. Factors that relate to the advertising strategies used in China are the number of subsidiaries, the perceived importance of localizing language and product attributes, and the perceived importance of mostly Chinese cultural values.
Libel Law And Freedom Of The Press In China • Kyu Ho Youm, Arizona State University • In the context of libel law and press freedom in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), this paper examines “how the particular rules chosen reflect differing assumptions respecting reputation and a free press” by focusing on the constitutional and statutory status of reputation as an individual interest in China, on the judicial interpretation of Chinese libel law, and on the impact of the libel law on the Chinese press.
TV and the Perception of Crime and Violence Among Greek Adolescents • Thimios Zaharopoulos, Washburn University • This study looks at Greek adolescents’ television viewing and its role in influencing their perception of crime and violence. Greek adolescents accurately perceive the chances of becoming a crime victim is higher in the United States than Greece. Generally, as a group, they give accurate estimates of crime; chances of being victimized; and of the proportion of people working in law enforcement (first-order effects). On first examination, television seems to relate to how heavy viewers, as opposed light viewers, perceive the above issues.
Markham Competition
Coverage of Three Disruptive International Events in U.S. Newspapers • Raymond N. Ankney, North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This papers reviews the factors that contributed to U.S. newspapers covering three disruptive international news events. The cross tabulations identified several factors that influenced coverage. First, the higher the newspaper circulation size, the more likely a newspaper was to cover the events. A second factor was the presence of a foreign news editor. A third factor was the presence of an overseas news bureau.
Friend Or Foe? Bertelsmann And Kirch – Two German Media Companies And Their Uneasy Relationship With Regard To Digital Television • Kai Hattendorf, American • In today’s global media market, cooperation between competitors is increasingly common. The paper discusses the attempt by the German-based media companies Bertelsmann and Kirch-Gruppe to jointly develop digital Pay-TV in Germany. It shows as well that in Europe political control mechanisms minimize the power of the market by focusing on the policy of the European Unions Commissioner Karel van Miert.
How 10 American newspapers and the AP covered the world: A content analysis of June 29, 1998, to July 26, 1998 • Beverly Horvit, Missouri • A content analysis of 10 midsize and small U.S. newspapers was conducted for June 29 to July 26, 1998. Their international coverage was compared with The Associated Press’. The study showed the newspapers devoted a smaller percentage of their coverage to the Americas than did the AP; seven published a higher percentage from Western Europe. The newspapers ran about 6-11 international items – many briefs – a day, while AP offered about 48 items daily.
This Game is Brought to You Commercial-free: A Comparative Analysis of World Cup Soccer Television Coverage in Germany and the U.S. • Christian Kaschuba, Washington • This study analyzes “commercial elements” (advertising and sponsoring) in the television coverage of the 1998 Soccer World Cup in Germany and the United States. Hence, it compares coverage by non-commercial, public service broadcasters (ARD and ZDF in Germany) with commercial, i.e. profit-seeking, enterprises (Disney’s ABC and ESPN in the U.S.). The results of a content analysis clearly show that the coverage by ABC and ESPN in the U.S. is far more commercialized than the coverage by their German counterparts.
The Framing of Globalization in the First and Third Worlds: A Case of the Asian Economic Crisis and the IMF Rescue • Sung Tae Kim and Krista Kathleen Eissfeldt, Indiana University-Bloomington • This is a comparative study aimed at detecting ‘globalized’ news frames in major newspapers and newsmagazines published in the United States and South Korea. A content analysis was conducted of news coverage concerning the recent Asian financial crisis and the subsequent IMF bailout. Our findings are discussed with reference to cultural imperialism theory. Overall, we found that globalized news frames do exist in news stories, as evidenced by an unquestioning acceptance of neoliberalism, the imposition of blame on debtor-nations and traces of a “mentality of austerity” cultivated in media of the developing world.
Getting Neighbor’s News from “Monsters” living Thousand Miles Away? International News Flow among Asian Countries in the Internet Age • Yong-Chan Kim, Southern California • The present study examined whether the Internet affects the relationship between global news suppliers and local news organizations in Asia. This research critically reviewed the Malone’s “electronic market hypothesis”: the network technology will reduce transaction cost for interorganizational relations and the cost reduction will transform the hierarchically structured relations to market-type one. According to the interviews with 15 Asian journalists, the Internet is more likely to reinforce the current hierarchical relationship between the major Western news agencies and local news media in Asia.
A New Era of Freedom Latin American and Caribbean News Media Confront the Challenges of the 21st Century • Kris Kodrich, Indiana University • The news media in Latin America and the Caribbean have a tremendous opportunity in the 21st Century. Because of a new era of democracy in the region, the media have unprecedented amounts of freedom. They also are becoming more ethical, professional and technologically advanced. But the media also face incredible challenges. The region’s economies are teetering, and too many people are poor, hungry, sick and uneducated. Government restrictions are nowadays more legal than lethal.
National Interest and Coverage of U.S.-China Relations: A Content Analysis of The New York Times & People’s Daily 1987-1996 • Xigen Li, Michigan State University • This study tested the effect of national interest on the coverage of U.S.-China relations by The New York Times and People’s Daily. It examined the relationship between extramedia variables and the news coverage, and the relationship between national interest emphasis in the news coverage and the references to trade and non-trade political issues. The findings support the proposition that national interest affects the coverage of U.S.-China relations both in The New York Times and People’s Daily.
Songs of Freedom: A Communications Approach to the Study of Mau Mau Rebellion • Samuel Chege Mwangi, Iowa • This paper proposes a new way of conducting international Communication research in societies where illiteracy is high. It examines the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya and how music was used as a form of communication. It compares the songs against existing text books on the Mau Mau and makes the case that events as recorded in the music are corroborated in the books and therefore this is a credible and innovative way of conducting research.
Participatory Communication in a High School Setting: Lessons Learned and Development Alternatives from a Development Communication Project in Colombia • Rafael Obregon • The past two decades have witnessed an Increasing tendency to emphasize community participation as a key component in development programs. Development communication scholars and practitioners view participation as a crucial element in communication-related projects. Yet, the literature often highlights big scale projects that require high investments, often sponsored and implemented by international organizations without giving similar attention to small-scale, low-cost programs based on community participation approaches.
The Presidential Candidates In Political Cartoons: A Reflection Of Cultural Differences Between The United States And Korea • Jongmin Park and Sungwook Shim, Missouri-Columbia • This study examines the content of political newspaper comics in presidential elections to compare the culture of the United States and Korea from three perspectives: (1) the context of communication, (2) individualism vs. collectivism, and (3) confrontation. It finds a clear difference between candidate images in the cartoons of America and Korea. These three dimensions were good indicators of cultural differences between Western and Asian society.
Media Of The World And World Of The Media: A Crossnational Study Of The Ranking Of The “Top 10 World Events” From 1988 To 1998 • Zixue Tai, Minnesota • This paper studies the ranking of the top 10 world events from 1988 to 1998 by 11 media representing eight countries and examines the similarities as well as differences between/across media and nations. Findings indicate that all media display bias of their own in their ranking of the top world events and are myopic to those stories that are culturally, geographically and psychologically close. Media from the same national setting show strikingly similar patterns in their evaluations of world news.
Chilean Conversations: On-line forum participants discuss the detention of Augusto Pinochet • Eliza Tanner, Wisconsin-Madison • More than a thousand people participated in an on-line discussion of the October 1998 London detention of Chile’s ex-dictator and actual senator-for-life Augusto Pinochet. This textual analysis of 1670 letters shows that participants in the Spanish-language forum of La Tercera en Internet created and interacted in a virtual space that was important to them. Forum participants saw this communication as essential to the Chilean reconciliation process and a way to strengthen civic life.
Giving Peace a Chance? Agenda-building influence of Nobel Peace Prize announcements in U.S. newsmagazines, 1990-1997 • Michelle M. Tedford, Ohio University • This study found no support for an agenda-building influence in U.S. newsmagazines by the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s announcement of Peace Prize winners. Stories about the winners were measured for the two years surrounding each announcement since the end of the Cold War. Those not already considered news makers before the announcement received little coverage after the announcement. In stories announcing the winners, greater space was devoted to those already on the news agenda.
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