The current study analyzes the framing of China’s emergence as a global power in the opinion pages of two elite newspapers. The study expands upon previous studies examining newspaper opinion gatekeepers’ use of the editorial and opposite-editorial pages as salient platforms for the expression of diverse opinion regarding foreign affairs. Results show that the New York Times framed China as a global power undermined by structural limitations, while The Wall Street Journal framed China as a direct threat to US foreign policy interests. The results of the analysis are discussed in the context of media-government power dynamics.
Alms from China (2011) The New York Times, 6 November, 10SR.
3.
ArtRJ (2010) The United States and the rise of China: Implications for the long haul. Political Science Quarterly125: 359–391.
4.
Asia pushes back against China (2011) The Wall Street Journal, 19–20 November, A14.
5.
Asia’s roiling sea (2012) The New York Times, 19 August, 10SR.
6.
Bader JA (2013) Obama and China’s Rise: An Insider’s Account of America’s Asia Strategy. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
7.
BaumMAPotterPBK (2008) The relationships between mass media, public opinion and foreign policy: Towards a theoretical synthesis. Annual Review of Political Science11: 39–65.
8.
Boot M (2012) China starts to claim the sea. The Wall Street Journal, 25 June, A11.
9.
Borah P (2011) Conceptual issues in framing theory: A systematic examination of a decade's literature. Journal of communication 61(2): 246–263.
10.
Braun V and Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology 3(2): 77–101.
11.
BrewerPRGrafJWillnatL (2003) Priming or framing: Media influence on attitudes toward foreign countries. Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies65: 493–508.
12.
BrzezinskiZ (2013) Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power, Minneapolis, MN: HighBridge Company.
13.
CapellaJJamiesonJH (1996) News framing, political cynicism and media cynicism. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science546: 71–85.
ChernovGValenzuelaSMcCombsM (2011) An experimental comparison of two perspectives on the concept of need for orientation in agenda-setting theory. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly88: 142–155.
16.
China and the rules of trade (2011) The Wall Street Journal, 15 November, A14.
17.
‘China’s nationalist furies’ (2012) The Wall Street Journal, 25 September, A18.
18.
‘China’s nationalist wave’ (2012) The Wall Street Journal, 8–9 December, A16.
19.
‘China’s online thieves’ (2013) The Wall Street Journal, 20 February, A14.
20.
CiofaloATraversoK (1994) Does the op-ed page have a chance to become a public forum?Newspaper Research Journal15(4): 51–63.
21.
CiofaloA (1998) Survey probes status of op-ed journalism and practices of op-ed editors. Newspaper Research Journal19: 18–30.
22.
ChangTK (1988) The news and US-China policy: Symbols in newspapers and documents. Journalism Quarterly65(2): 320–327.
23.
Coe K, Domke D, Graham ES, John SL and Pickard VW (2004) No shades of gray: The binary discourse of George W. Bush and an echoing press. Journal of Communication 54: 234–252.
24.
Collier A (2011) How China’s banks break the rules. The Wall Street Journal, 29 June, A15.
25.
Congress and Taiwan (2011) The Wall Street Journal, 6 September, A26.
26.
DayAGGolanG (2005) Source and content diversity in op-ed pages: Assessing editorial strategies in The New York Times and the Washington Post. Journalism Studies6(1): 61–71.
27.
Dalton RJ, Beck PA and Huckfeldt R (1998) Partisan cues and the media: Information flows in the 1992 presidential election. American Political Science Review 92(1): 111–126.
28.
‘Dealing with an assertive China’ (2011) The Wall Street Journal, 18 January, A16.
29.
‘Dealing with China’s troubles’ (2011) The New York Times, 27 December, A18.
30.
Entman RM (1993) Framing: Towards clarification of a fractured paradigm. McQuail's reader in mass communication theory, pp. 390–397.
31.
EntmanRM (2003) Cascading activation: Contesting the White House’s frame after 9/11. Political Communication20: 415–432.
32.
EntmanR (2004) Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
33.
EntmanRM (2008) Theorizing mediated public diplomacy: The US case. The International Journal of Press/Politics13(2): 87–102.
34.
Etzioni A (2013) Who authorized preparations for war with China? Yale Journal of International Affairs, pp. 37–51.
35.
Friedman TL (2012) In China we (don’t) trust. The New York Times, 12 September, A31.
36.
FursichE (2009) In defense of textual analysis: Restoring a challenged method for journalism and media studies. Journalism Studies10(2): 238–252.
37.
Gamson WA and Modigliani A (1989) Media discourse and public opinion on nuclear power: A constructionist approach. American journal of sociology, pp. 1–37.
38.
GerbnerG (1964) Ideological perspectives and political tendencies in news reporting. Journalism Quarterly41(3): 495–508, 516.
39.
Goffman E (1974) Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Harvard University Press.
40.
GilboaE (2002) Global communication and foreign policy. Journal of Communication52(4): 731–748.
41.
Gitlin T (1980) The whole world is watching: Mass media in the making & unmaking of the new left. Berkeley: University of California Press.
42.
Golan GJ (2010) Editorials, op-ed columns frame medical marijuana debate. Newspaper Research Journal 31(3): 50–61.
43.
GolanGJ (2013) The gates of op-ed diplomacy: Newspaper framing the 2011 Egyptian revolution. International Communication Gazette75(4): 359–373.
44.
GolanGJCarrollTR (2012) The op-ed as a strategic tool of public diplomacy: Framing of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. Public Relations Review38(4): 630–632.
45.
Golan GJ and Wanta W (2004) Guest columns add diversity to NY Times’ op-ed pages. Newspaper Research Journal 25(2): 70–82.
46.
GolanGWantaW (2001) Second-level agenda setting in the New Hampshire primary: A comparison of coverage in three newspapers and public perceptions of candidates. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly78: 247–259.
47.
GriffinM (2004) Picturing America’s ‘war on terrorism’ in Afghanistan and Iraq photographic motifs as news frames. Journalism5(4): 381–402.
48.
Henry F and Tator C (2002) Discourses of domination: Racial bias in the Canadian English-language press. University of Toronto Press.
49.
HoffmanAJ (2011) Talking past each other? Cultural framing of skeptical and convinced logics in the climate change debate. Organization & Environment24: 3–33.
50.
Hook SW and Pu X (2006) Framing Sino-American relations under stress: A reexamination of news coverage of the 2001 spy plane crisis. Asian Affairs: An American Review 33(3): 167–183.
51.
Hua Y (2013) In China, power is arrogant. The New York Times, 9 May, A29.
52.
Huang Y (2011) Is China’s economy headed for trouble. The Wall Street Journal, 12 October, A19.
53.
HuckinT (2002) Textual silence and the discourse of homelessness. Discourse & Society13: 347–372.
54.
HyndsEC (1990) Changes in editorials: A study of three newspapers, 1955-1985. Journalism Quarterly67: 302–312.
55.
‘It’s not just the currency’ (2011) The New York Times, 16 October, 10SR.
56.
IyengarSSimonA (1993) News coverage of the Gulf crisis and public opinion: A study of agenda-setting, priming, and framing. Communication Research20(3): 365–383.
57.
IzadiFSaghaye-BiriaH (2007) A discourse analysis of elite American newspaper editorials: The case of Iran’s nuclear program. Journal of Communication Inquiry31(2): 140–165.
58.
KiousisSPopescuCMitrookM (2007) Understanding influence on corporate reputation: An examination of public relations efforts, media coverage, public opinion, and financial performance from an agenda-building and agenda-setting perspective. Journal of Public Relations Research19(2): 147–165.
59.
Kristof N (2012) A body, a scandal and China. The New York Times, April 21, A29.
60.
Krisch N (2005) International law in times of hegemony: Unequal powers and the shaping of the international legal order. The European Journal of International Law 16(3): 369–408.
61.
Lee CC, Pan Z, Chan JM and So CY (2001) Through the eyes of US media: Banging the democracy drum in Hong Kong. Journal of Communication 51(2): 345–365.
62.
LewisSCReeseSD (2009) What is the war on terror? Framing through the eyes of journalists. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly86: 85–102.
63.
LinC (2012) A textual analysis of the coverage of SARS and the image of China—A comparative analysis. Asian Social Science8(3): 49–62.
64.
Luther CA and Zhou X (2005) Within the boundaries of politics: News framing of SARS in China and the United States. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 82(4): 857–872.
65.
LuleJ (2002) Myth and terror on the editorial page: The New York Times responds to September 11, 2001. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly79(2): 275–293.
66.
MacFarquhar R (2012) In China, fear at the top. The New York Times, 21 May, A23.
67.
MatthesJ (2008) Need for orientation as a predictor of agenda-setting effects: Causal evidence from a two-wave panel study. International Journal of Public Opinion Research20: 440–453.
68.
McCombsMEShawDL (1972) The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly36(2): 176–187.
69.
McConnell M, Chertoff M and Lynn W (2012) China’s cyber thievery is national party—And must be challenged. The Wall Street Journal, 27 January, A15.
70.
McElroyK (2013) Where old (gatekeepers) meet new (media): Herding reader comments into print. Journalism Practice7: 755–771.
71.
Newspaper Editoral: ‘New leadership in China' (2012) New leadership in China (2012). The New York Times, 13 November, 11SR.
72.
NoelH (2012) The coalition merchants: The ideological roots of the civil rights realignment. The Journal of Politics74(1): 156–173.
73.
PapacharissiZOliveiraMF (2008) News frames terrorism: A comparative analysis of frames employed in terrorism coverage in U.S. and U.K. newspapers. The International Journal of Press/Politics13(1): 52–74.
74.
Peng Z (2004) Representation of China: An across time analysis of coverage in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. Asian Journal of Communication 14(1): 53–67.
Pin H (2012) China’s heir apparent. The New York Times, 13 February, A23.
77.
Powlick PJ (1995) The sources of public opinion for American foreign policy officials. International Studies Quarterly 39(4): 427–451.
78.
Prasad E (2012) Will China’s Yuan rival the dollar? The Wall Street Journal, 9 February, A11.
79.
PratteAWhitingG (1986) What newspaper editorials have said about deregulation of broadcasting. Journalism Quarterly63: 497–502.
80.
‘President Obama in Asia’ (2011) The New York Times, 20 November, 10SR.
81.
ReeseSD (2007) The framing project: A bridging model for media research revisited. Journal of Communication57: 148–154.
82.
Reese SD, Gandy Jr, OH and Grant AE (eds) (2001) Framing Public Life: Perspectives on Media and Our Understanding of the Social World. Routledge, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
83.
‘Reforms for Chinese banking’ (2013) The New York Times, 25 June.
84.
RichardsonJD (2005) Switching social identities: The influence of editorial framing on reader attitudes toward affirmative action and African Americans. Communication Research32(4): 503–528.
85.
RichardsonJDLancendorferKM (2004) Framing affirmative action: The influence of race on newspaper editorial responses to the University of Michigan cases. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics9(4): 74–94.
86.
Romney M (2012) How I’ll respond to China’s rising power. The Wall Street Journal, 16 February, A13.
87.
RosenfeldSS (2000) The op-ed page: A step to a better democracy. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics5(3): 7–11.
88.
RyanM (2004) Framing the war against terrorism: US newspaper editorials and military action in Afghanistan. Gazette66(5): 363–382.
89.
Salisbury H (1988) A Time of Change: a reporter's tale of our time. New York: Harper & Row.
90.
SaundersPC (2014) China’s rising power, the US rebalance to Asia, and implications for US–China relations. Issues & Studies50(3): 19–55.
91.
Scheufele DA (1999) Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication 49(4): 103–122.
92.
Scheufele DA and Tewksbury D (2007) Framing, agenda setting, and priming: The evolution of three media effects models. Journal of communication 57(1): 9–20.
93.
Shambaugh D (2013) Falling out of love with China. The Wall Street Journal, 19 March, A27.
94.
Shambaugh D (ed.) (2012) Tangled titans: The United States and China. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
95.
SheaferTGabayI (2009) Mediated public diplomacy: A strategic contest over international agenda building and frame building. Political Communication26(4): 447–467.
96.
SheaferTShenhavSRTakensJ (2014) Relative political and value proximity in mediated public diplomacy: The effect of state-level homophily on international frame building. Political Communication31: 149–167.
97.
SommerBMaycroftJR (2008) Influencing public policy: An analysis of published op-eds by academics. Politics & Policy36: 586–613.
98.
SongY (2004) Freelance op-ed pieces show newspapers’ political slant. Newspaper Research Journal25(3): 28–49.
99.
SorokaSN (2003) Media, public opinion, and foreign policy. The International Journal of Press/Politics8: 27–48.
100.
‘Splitting Taiwan’s baby’ (2011) The Wall Street Journal, 22 August, A12.
101.
Stern A (2011) China’s superior economic model. The Wall Street Journal, 1 December, A19.
102.
Sternberg J (2011) The phony success of China’s stimulus. The Wall Street Journal, 25 October, A19.
103.
StoneGCXiaoZ (2007) Anointing a new enemy: The rise of anti-China coverage after the USSR’s demise. International Communication Gazette69(1): 91–108.
104.
‘Talking to China’ (2011) The New York Times, 6 May, WK7.
105.
‘The wrong way to deal with China’ (2011) The New York Times, 5 October, A26.
106.
Van Dijk T (1996) Discourse, power and access. In: Caldas-Coulthard CR & Coulthard M (eds) Text and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis. London: Routledge, pp. 85–104.
107.
Wagner MW and Collins TP (2014) Does ownership matter? The case of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of the Wall Street Journal. Journalism Practice 8(6): 1–14.
108.
WangY (2008) Public diplomacy and the rise of Chinese soft power. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science616: 257–273.
109.
WangXShoemakerPJ (2011) What shapes Americans’ opinion of China? Country characteristics, public relations and mass media. Chinese Journal of Communication4: 1–20.
110.
WantaWGolanGLeeC (2004) Agenda setting and international news: Media influence on public perceptions of foreign nations. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly81: 364–377.
111.
WeaverDH (1980) Audience need for orientation and media effects. Communication Research7(3): 361–373.
112.
WooFJ (2010) America’s Response to China: A History of Sino-American Relations, New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
113.
Willnat L and Luo Y (2011) Watching the dragon: global television news about China. Chinese Journal of Communication 4(3): 255–273.
114.
Wu M (2006) Framing AIDS in China: A comparative analysis of US and Chinese wire news coverage of HIV/AIDS in China. Asian Journal of Communication 16(3): 251–272.
115.
ZhangJCameronGT (2003) China’s agenda building and image polishing in the US: Assessing an international public relations campaign. Public Relations Review29: 13–28.
116.
Zhang Y (2013) ‘China Anxiety’: Discourse and Intellectual Challenges. Development and Change 44(6): 1407–1425.
