State as Salesman

International Economic Engagement and Foreign News Coverage in China

Bibliographic Data

ID7971569
AuthorsChengyuan Ji (0000-0001-8892-3982, Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Hanzhang Liu (0000-0003-1003-1372, Pitzer College, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume39
Issue1
Pages122-145
Publication date2022-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1058-4609 • E-ISSN: 1091-7675
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10584609.2021.1960451
OpenAlexW3215529236
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited41

How does an authoritarian regime cover news about foreign countries for its domestic audience? What accounts for the variation in news coverage received by different foreign countries? While existing literature points to political concerns at home, in this article, we argue that a regime’s economic interests can also be a driving force: the desire to deepen its international economic engagement can motivate the regime to treat foreign countries differently in its news coverage. To test this argument, we examine foreign news coverage by China’s state-run television network between 2003 and 2018. Combining textual and quantitative analysis, we find that countries with stronger economic ties with China receive more favorable news coverage. Moreover, the manipulation of coverage favorability is achieved through selective reporting: negative events such as armed conflicts receive less coverage when taking place in a country with close economic ties with China. These findings contribute to our understanding of international news flow, especially in a non-Western setting. They also demonstrate a pragmatic rather than political use of information control by an authoritarian government

Argument (complex analysis · Authoritarianism · China · Economics · Foreign policy · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · State (computer science · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics