In news reporting, journalists usually consult with and cite certain information sources, such as officials, scholars, businessmen, corporations, other news organizations, and citizens' or civil society organizations. These important information sources were counted numerically according to the different categories to determine who are considered as experts and whose ideas and discourses are considered the most important. There were 4 major categories of information sources, state officials (politicians and bureaucrats), scholars, corporations (businessmen, company, industry association), and media organizations (newspapers, journals, TV stations). Each major category was divided into three sub-categories based on the nationality of the source. The Other countries category included nations other than China and the U.S. The total categories are 13, including a category called ‘others’. Some individual information sources with the highest citations were counted separately because I decided to highlight those specific information sources, mostly officials and scholars, which were considered as the most
important ones. The following tables show the total number of each category in both sets of national media.
Table 11: the information sources in the U.S. media.
No. No. No.
Chinese Officials 78 The U.S. Officials 160 Other countries’ Officials 8 Chinese Scholars 35 The U.S. Scholars 98 Other countries’ Scholars 17 Chinese Corporations 21 The U.S. Corporations 82 Other countries’ Corporations 0 Chinese Media Organization
8 The U.S. Media Organization
4 Other countries’ Media Organizations
1
Others 15
Table 12: the information sources in Chinese media
No. No. No.
Chinese Officials 74 The U.S. Officials 138 Other countries’ Officials 9 Chinese Scholars 90 The U.S. Scholars 98 Other countries’ Scholars 27 Chinese Corporations 31 The U.S. Corporations 29 Other countries’ Corporations 0 Chinese Media Organization
2 The U.S. Media Organization
164 Other countries’ Media Organizations
203
Others 17
First of all, the author found that in reporting economic issues, the reporters only consulted the opinions of elite groups. The most frequently consulted information sources in these reports are officials, scholars, and corporations. Neither the U.S. nor Chinese newspapers cited information from common citizens or civil society organizations or NGOs.
Secondly, the Chinese media cited significantly more foreign media sources than the U.S media did. The three Chinese newspapers cited the U.S. media 164 times and 203
times from other country’s new media, such as Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Economist, the Financial Times, Yomiuri Shimbun and so on. In contrast, the U.S. media rarely sourced media organizations outside of the U.S. In addition, although both sets of media used officials and scholars as stable information sources, more U.S. officials and scholars were regularly cited by both the U.S. and Chinese media, with the U.S. press far less likely to cite Chinese and other country’s officials and scholars. This observation provides a perfect example demonstrating the important role of media in establishing hegemony.
China was more likely to cite opinions and ideas from other countries, including the U.S. This data may show that China is more willing to listen to the voice from the rest of the world, or that the Chinese news media cares more about the views of other countries than the U.S. news media. This phenomenon is consistent with Chinese culture in which “saving face” or maintaining people’s reputation is very important; therefore Chinese people usually care about other people’s opinions more than themselves to avoid “losing face” in front of others. This cultural phenomenon was reflected in the Chinese news reporting. For example, a news report appeared on the front page of the Global Time on April 27th 2011 called “Is it possible for China to surpass the U.S. in five years?” This article reported a prediction from the IMF that China probably would exceed the U.S. economically by 2016. This report did not analyze the reliability of this prediction from an economic angle; instead cited opinions from 10 foreign media to reveal the reactions of other countries.
In addition, the author also took note of the most frequently cited individuals from both the U.S. and Chinese media, shown in the following two tables.
Table 13: The most cited individual sources in the U.S. media
Name Title No.
Barack Obama The president of the U.S. 12
Timothy Geithner United States Secretary of the Treasury 20
Ron Kirk United States Trade Representative 7
Eswar Prasad Professor of Trade Policy at Cornell University. Former head of the IMF’s China division.
17 Mitt Romney Nominee of the Republican Party for the 2012 presidential
election
12
Table 14: The most cited individual sources in Chinese media
Name Title No.
Hu Jingtao The former president of China 20
Xi Jinping President of China 5
Shen Danyang Spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce of China 8
Barack Obama The president of the U.S. 15
Timothy Geithner United States Secretary of the Treasury 7 Mitt Romney Nominee of the Republican Party for President of the
United States in the 2012 election
11 Zbigniew
Brzezinski
Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.
6
Unsurprisingly, the political leaders of China and the United States and several scholars are the major information sources in both sets of news media. Secondly, although the Chinese news media cited U.S. officials, politicians and advisors as individual information sources the Wall street journal and the New York times rarely cited Chinese leaders. Third, the Chinese media cited Mr. Brzezinski several times, possibly because Brzezinski’s perspectives are more consistent with the Chinese newspapers’ media frames. According to the Global Times, Brzezinski raised some arguments about the Sino-U.S. economic relationship, such as the U.S has to get used to the economic rise of China quickly; and the U.S. should not demonize China or wish China bad luck. These arguments showed some degree of criticism towards the U.S. That
is precisely why the Chinese media, especially the Global Times, are more willing to cite this kind of scholar.