U.S. MEDIA & CHINA.   Term Paper ID:26432 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines L.A. Times & N.Y. Times reporting of China-related news for April, 1999.... More...

7 Pages / 1575 Words 14 sources, 11 Citations, MLA Format $28.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines L.A. Times & N.Y. Times reporting of China-related news for April, 1999. Paper Introduction: This research will examine United States media coverage of the People’s Republic of China for the month of April 1999. The research will set forth the context in which media coverage of China has become relevant to an understanding of how American press organizations function and then discuss the amount, placement, point of view, level and kind of bias, and general themes that can be discerned in the coverage given China by newspapers of record. The visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to the United States in April 1999 provides a contextual hub for examination of China coverage by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Zhu visited the White House and President Clinton on April 8, and in the weeks both before and after the visit both newspapers dealt with U.S.-China relations from a variety of perspectives. The first Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The research willset forth the context in which media coverage of China has become relevantto an understanding of how American press organizations function and thendiscuss the amount, placement, point of view, level and kind of bias, andgeneral themes that can be discerned in the coverage given China bynewspapers of record. What such placement suggests isthat the focus was on public relations rather than fractious politics,except where the fractiousness was between Americans (i.e., Democrats andRepublicans). (Drogin A1). "Expatriates' Long March Through China's History." Los Angeles Times 31 March 1999: A1, A16.Drogin, Bob. The principal interpretation of the story came in theform of a comment that "much of China's espionage effort remains amystery," although that was attributed to the failure of governmentanalysts to come to conclusions about the role the suspected spy, Wen HoLee, had played in the whole matter. The story's focus is on opposition to formalizing anyagreement with china because of a "bipartisan coalition of Democrats whoare concerned about human rights and protection for American manufacturersand Republicans who are interested in punishing China for allegations ofespionage and theft of United States weapons technology" (Mitchell andBroder). .Kosovo" (Plate B7). "Dim Prospects for China Premier's Trip." Los Angeles Times 31 March 1999: B7.Risen, James, and Jeff Gerth. This focus can be set beside Newton and Liu's report (B8)that Zhu "managed a smile and a laugh" when asked about allegations ofChinese spying at Los Alamos and that trade negotiators were elsewhereironing out their differences. and whose left-wing "radical fire has cooled" in thecontext of "improving Sino-U.S. On page 4 of the news section,the Times story was that Republican critics of Clinton's China policy had"urged" Clinton to discuss clandestine contributions to Democrats byChinese military intelligence (Miller A4). What is missing from thedisparate stories of American disagreements about how U.S.-China relationsshould be structured is a coherent account of the relative importance ofvarious stories to the geopolitical encounter. Based on coverage of this topic, together with the fact that China'sprotest of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia gradually disappeared from thepapers as America's concern with China's possible espionage appeared, itwould seem that the media are serving the status quo. Thevisit provided a rationale for a variety of stories dealing with contestedissue fronts between the U.S. This is surveillancereporting, although Kahn can be said to interpret of Zhu's great interestin acquiring technology that might improve the country's industrial andagricultural production and support from American farmers as evidence ofChina's economic needs. and Chinese governments on one hand, and onthe other with what could be called the story behind the story or theeditorial positions behind the story. Broder. Another factor of presentation of the stories istheir focus on conflict as opposed to meaning. However, the New York Times's China-related editorial of the same day focused not on the breaking story but onreporting on a peaceful sit-in demonstration in Beijing by a Buddhist sect.The element of interpretation, combined with a version of culturaltransmission, came in the form of explanation of the history of the Qigongsect, which in Chinese history from the Middle Ages to the Boxer Rebellionin 19 1 had fomented social unrest, and in the form of a reminder that theChinese Communist Party had appropriated aspects of ancient Chinesedoctrines in the 198 s. 1 April 1999. These are not technically difficult issues, but they doappear to be highly charged. In the week before Zhu's arrival, thefocus in both papers was on the conflicts and problems associated with thevisit. Congress all but on the warpath overChinese human-rights violations and spying allegations, a suspiciousAmerican press gradually but inexorably souring on President Clinton'sChina engagement policy, and a U.S. "Clinton Urged to Confront Zhu on Funds." Los Angeles Times 6 April 1999: A4.Mitchell, Alison, and John M. In the weeks after Zhu's visit, more coveragewas given to allegations of spying on the part of an employee who had beendismissed from Los Alamos Laboratories in early March for transferringnuclear-bomb technology codes and other data in unsecure computer files.New York Times reportage that Clinton and Richardson had ordered areprogramming of computer security procedures was accompanied by reportsthat members of Congress intended to amplify investigations already underway into how the Energy Department and the FBI handled their investigationsof the matter (Risen and Gerth A8). .Chu, Henry. and China failed toannounce an agreement that would facilitate China's entry into the WorldTrade Organization, together with the fact that the week after Zhu's visitAmerican negotiators had left for Beijing to attempt to work out anagreement to open China's markets, is an index of this (Mitchell andBroder). suggeststhat the principal reason he made the trip was economic in general andtrade-related in particular. Works Cited"China's Muffled Protesters." The New York Times 28 April 1999: A26)."China Premier's Visit Still On." New York Times on the Web. This coverage can be described as surveillance,although the placement in the human-interest pages suggests that this wasmeant to be surveillance that interpreted the human face of China and itsgoodwill toward its good friend Los Angeles. Inthe background of the visit were issues of differences on trade, diplomacy,politics, and even accusations of espionage. Wants China To Open Market." New York Times on the Web. The fact that the U.S. "Chinese Guest Visits Broncos and Other Mysteries." The New York Times International 12 April 1999: A4.Miller, Alan C. The Los Angeles news organization's leadmight be attributed to a commitment to giving a local hook to a nationalstory, which also cites comments from Congressional members who disagreewith Cox's characterization or who have ideas of their own about Chineseespionage in the U.S. "Let the Pendulum Swing a Little." Los Angeles Times np. president . . It is difficult to determinefrom context whether the reporters failed to query the Republicans quotedin the story on that issue or those members of Congress refused to go onthe record about whether the traditional Republican-business coalition wasthreatened. The conclusion of the interpretation was that thePRC "wants to avoid responding harshly [as opposed to Tiananmen in 1989],which could alienate millions, ad is trying to befriend the sect's leadersand use its support to increase the party's legitimacy" ("China's A26).Undoubtedly the ideological bias of the piece, which is against the notionthat the CCP has governance legitimacy in China, can be inferred from thispresentation of information about the protest. relations" since that time (Chi A16). While the story mentions protests from Zhu and from Americanbusinesses against cutting off negotiations and protests from trade unionswho complain about labor-related human rights violations in China and the$6 -billion trade deficit with China that opening markets would not solve,what is not mentioned is the historic coalition between business interestsand market-oriented Republicans that Republican Congressional opposition toa trade agreement with China might threaten. The ideological biasin favor of the American view of China's behavior is to be presumed notleast because it can so readily be contrasted with the point of view putforward by Yong Wang. 6 April 1999. In any event, there is little evidence of muchimpulse toward social change in the U.S. Media coverage of the fallout from what must be taken as China'sunsuccessful attempt to be admitted to the World Trade Organization seemson the whole straightforward inasmuch as discussion of the impasse on theissue generally includes mention of reasons why the U.S. Placement of major coverage of Zhu's American visit in the Los AngelesTimes, unlike placement of coverage of the ex-pats, was not on page one butrather on page one of the Times's Metro section, though a feature of Zhu'spresence in Los Angeles was political protest against China's human rightsviolations, including denial of Tibetan independence (Newton and Liu B1).The large color photograph of Zhu showed a toast at a luncheon hosted byMayor Riordan of Los Angeles, and a smaller photo inset showed picketersoutside the luncheon venue. Wants"), as well as on the public-relations uneasinessowing to American leadership in the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, to whichChina had objected ("China Premier's"). "Spying by China Ongoing in U.S., Panel Chief Says." Los Angeles Times 28 April 1999: A1, A12.Kahn, Joseph. to admitChina as a full international trading partner and to relax its vigilance onChina's internal policies when all the government is trying to do is keepthe country from falling into chaos (Wang np). In Denver, meanwhile, Zhu reportedly asked local farmers to "callPresident Clinton personally and relate how much they [the farmers] wantChina to join the world trade body" (Kahn A4). The day of Zhu's arrival in Los Angeles, the Times editorial citedChina's protest of the NATO bombing, trade policy differences, and humanrights abuses, then congratulated Zhu for "making the trip at all in theseturbulent times" ("Tough" B6). Los Angeles Times coverage of the spy story had as its lead theCongressional angle, explaining that Representative Christopher Cox ofNewport Beach, Calif., alleged that Chinese espionage against Americannuclear facilities was ongoing and of much greater proportion than hadthusfar been reported (Drogin A1). "FBI Plans Arrest of Scientist in China Spy Case." Los Angeles Times 29 April 1999: A1, A1 .---. .Wang, Yong. . 2 April 1999: .Newton, Jim, and Liu, Caitlin. as a consequence of China-relatedstories in April 1999. "U.S. On the day following, the Los AngelesTimes's report of the imminent arrest of Wen as well as report of measurestaken by government officials to shore up Los Alamos computer security, issurveillance reporting (Drogin A1). That same week, a visiting professor from Beijing, whose ideologicalbias in favor of the PRC can readily be inferred, urged the U.S. Congressional criticism ofExecutive China policy owing to human-rights violations, allegations ofnuclear espionage, allegations of improper campaign contributions,counterallegations of NATO's improper bombing all receive coverage, but theissues remain largely unconnected because it is unclear from the coveragewhether the main meaning is in the geopolitical relationship or in thepersistent declarations by partisan Democrats and Republicans that seemmeant more to achieve political advantage rather than to resolve issuesunambiguously. preoccupied with . . opposes China'sadmission, and why China's admission would result in political warfareinside the U.S. The first thing to notice is that visit, though the first ofits kind since 1984, was not the sole focus of coverage ("U.S. This research will examine United States media coverage of thePeople's Republic of China for the month of April 1999. Some of the coverage appearsto have achieved a high profile on account of Zhu's visit, even though thevisit was not the focus of coverage: During that time, allegations ofChinese espionage against the U.S. In Los Angeles, the first stop forZhu's American journey, the Times one week before his arrival ran a page-one story on two aging American expatriates, one a nuclear scientist whodefected and one a Korean War POW, who relocated to China in the 195 sbecause they preferred its political and communal societal organization tothat of the U.S. The further negotiations were a consequence of complaints by thebusiness community, which desires to do business with China, potentially amajor world markets. Zhu visited the White House andPresident Clinton on April 8, and in the weeks both before and after thevisit both newspapers dealt with U.S.-China relations from a variety ofperspectives. The New York Times described policy differences concerning U.S.perception of China's closed-market trade policies toward Americanexporters and China's desire to be formally admitted to the World TradeOrganization ("U.S. The visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to the United States in April1999 provides a contextual hub for examination of China coverage by the NewYork Times and the Los Angeles Times. The New York Times that day, in an exampleof surveillance reporting, described difficulties that American and Chinesetrade negotiators were having in coming to an agreement on internationaltrade because of differences on other issue fronts, notably China'ssuppression of dissidents, allegations of election-funds abuse by Chinese,and allegations of spying ("U.S. Says Suspect Put Code On Bombs in Unsecure Files." New York Times 28 April 1999: A1, A8."A Tough List for Zhu." Los Angeles Times 6 April 1999: B6."U.S. were made that, by the end of April,resulted in the arrest, at the end of April, of a Chinese Americanscientist employed at the nuclear weapons research laboratory at LosAlamos, N.M. "Praisse, Protest Greet Chinese Premier." Los Angeles Times 7 April 1999: B1, B8.Plate, Tom. On the other hand, an op-edpiece by a columnist cited differences apparently irreconcilable, at leastin the near term: "a cranky U.S. Wants"). A careful review of the coverage of Zhu's visit to the U.S. Wants"). In amount, coverage of China by both the New York Times and the LosAngeles Times seems to have increased in scope during Zhu's visit. Thishuman-interest piece is an example of culture transmission, meant toprovide a window on and a human face to the Chinese world through Americaneyes. "White House Tangles With China Now, With Congress Later." New York Times on Web. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.