Soft Power Runs into Popular Geopolitics: Western Media Frames Democratic Taiwan

Sullivan, Jonathan; Lee, Don S.

Abstract

How does the Western media frame Taiwan? Analysing a large set of Western newspaper reports over the past two decades, this article provides the first systematic assessment of global coverage of Taiwan. Seeking to explain why Taiwan has been framed in the way it has, the article reports the views of journalists and editors and puts forward a framework based on popular geopolitics. The article concludes with a discussion of why media framing matters, and the implications for Taiwan’s public diplomacy and ‘soft power’ efforts.

Citation

Sullivan, J., & Lee, D. S. (2018). Soft Power Runs into Popular Geopolitics: Western Media Frames Democratic Taiwan. International Journal of Taiwan Studies, 1(2), 273-300. https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00102003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 22, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Aug 2, 2018
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 27, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: May 27, 2020
• Journal: International Journal of Taiwan Studies
• Print ISSN: 2468-8797
• Electronic ISSN: 2468-8800
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 273-300
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00102003
• Keywords: media; framing; Taiwan; China; popular geopolitics; journalism; soft power
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4487040
• Publisher URL: https://brill.com/view/journals/ijts/1/2/article-p273_273.xml