Contrasts in the Coverage of Korea and Japan by US Television Networks

Abstract

The present article examines the frames utilized in the US television news coverage of Korea and Japan. The research question was how American television news stories frame Korea and Japan. The study performed frame analysis of the videotaped news stories with following topics: International relations with the USA; Economics; Demonstrations and protests; and Disasters. News stories about the two countries' political relations with the USA generally utilized a cooperative frame. However, the Japanese economy was heavily framed as a rival, while Koream economy was generally framed as cooperative. The demonstration and protest stories showed a clear contrast between Korea and Japan. While networks framed demonstrations and protests in Korea in a chaos frame, they framed the majority of stories about demonstrations and protests in Japan in a democracy frame. The frame analysis of disaster stories showed a dominance of a sympathetic frame for both countries.