Presenting the People's Republic: what drives images of China in the press?

Abstract

Citizens’ views of the political, social and economic character of foreign countries is largely based on the valence frames – positive, neutral or negative – established in newspaper articles consumed directly from the press or indirectly through republication. Looking at stories on China's one-child policy in the Australian press, the study used a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology to investigate together all extrinsic factors that might drive the tone of articles on foreign countries. An analysis of factors including newspaper ownership, format, audience, market reach and reporter gender or location suggests a primary driver might be the newspaper audience – owners provide stories that retain their audience (and advertisers).