Culture and comparative media research: Narratives about Internet privacy policy in Chinese,U.S., and UK newspapers |
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| Authors: | Ronald N Jacobs Muyang Li |
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| Institution: | Department of Sociology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA |
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| Abstract: | This article compares American, British, and Chinese news coverage of Internet privacy policies. Specifically, we examine media discourse about the “real-name” policies established by Facebook and Weibo. We find that U.S. and UK news coverage of Internet privacy policy is broadly similar, when compared with the more authoritarian–corporatist media system in China. British and U.S. newspapers were much more independent from state control, and were able to maintain a more critical stance than the Chinese newspapers. But there were additional factors that shaped the patterns in news discourse in complicated ways, which are related to (a) the difference between domestic and international news genres, (b) specific narratives about national identity, and (c) more general discourses about civil society, democracy, and the public good. We suggest that the range of comparative media research can be extended by paying attention to how these cultural factors interact with media system dynamics. |
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| Keywords: | China comparative media research cultural sociology Internet media policy |
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