Between global and local: The glocalization of online news coverage on the trans-regional crisis of sars

Alice Y L LEE*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper examines the role online news sites play in global catastrophic crisis and attempts to find out what factors influence the glocalization mechanism of the online news coverage. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic was used as a case for investigation. Seventeen news sites in seven regions with varying degrees of press freedom and social impact caused by SARS were examined. Findings indicate that during the SARS epidemic online news sites blended global reporting with local reporting. They were rooted in the local but facing the global—they became ‘glocal’. Social relevancy and Internet press freedom were found to be the two important determinants of affecting the glocalization of SARS coverage. Adopting different journalistic modes, some of the online news sites served as SARS interactive community bulletin boards, and others acted as global SARS monitors.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)255-273
Number of pages19
JournalAsian Journal of Communication
Volume15
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2005

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Communication
  • Education

User-Defined Keywords

  • Glocalization
  • Internet press freedom
  • Observatory reporting
  • Online news
  • Sars epidemic
  • Social relevancy
  • Trauma reporting

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