Elite Asian Newspaper Coverage of Agricultural Biotechnology

• Main Authors: CHONG, Mark, Shanahan, James, Brossard, Dominique, Ngo, Nhan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2004
• Subjects: Business and Corporate Communications
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/2486
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This is possibly the first cross-national study on media coverage of agricultural biotechnology in Asia using quantitative content analysis of elite newspapers. Specifically, we analyze elite newspaper coverage of the issue in China, the Philippines and Hong Kong and assess how differences in journalistic values, roles and practices influence coverage of the issue. Using quantitative content analysis, we compare the thematic focus, journalistic tone and news sources used in three English-language dailies "of record" - China Daily (China), The Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines) and The South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) - for the five-year period from 1998 to 2002. Our findings suggest that elite Asian newspaper coverage of the issue is influenced both by local journalistic values and practices as well as universal characteristics of science news coverage.