China’s Image in Western Media: An Agenda-Setting Study of News about China in 2013

What is the image of China? How do western media portray China in its routine coverage of the world’s rising economic powerhouse? To address those questions, this study scrutinizes the reporting of China, including Shanghai, the country’s largest city, from an agenda-setting perspective. Specifically, the study examines the western media’s first-level and second-level agenda building in reporting about China in terms of selecting issues with varying quantity, prominence and salience, and the prevailing valence of the issues in 2013. Findings reveal the close relationship in the media agenda of China and the media agenda of Shanghai. Also, findings show the agenda-setting effects of the elite press on business press in shaping the image of China, illuminating the dynamic agenda-setting process within the Western media. More importantly, this study finds the western media attempted to balance the positive with the negative valence toward China, which commands increased media attention on the world stage. Findings are discussed in the context of culture and soft power as well as national image in the era of globalization.