Content-Type: text/html Representation of China: A Longitudinal Analysis of Coverage in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Abstract This study examined the coverage of China in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times between 1992-2001. Across time comparison were made both within and between the two newspapers in terms of total number of stories, media frames used and favorability differences. Findings show that coverage on China has increased significantly over time, but the overall tone remained negative. Political frames and ideological frames were more likely to be unfavorable. No significant differences were found between the two newspapers. Zengjun Peng* Doctoral Student School of Journalism University of Missouri at Columbia 1000 Hospital Dr. Apt 1J Columbia, MO65201 (573)- 771-0077 [log in to unmask] Paper Submitted to the International Communication Division of AEJMC *The author thanks Prof. Wayne Wanta for his valuable advices and generous help. Representation of China: A Longitudinal Analysis of Coverage in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Abstract This study examined the coverage of China in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times between 1992-2001. Across time comparison were made both within and between the two newspapers in terms of total number of stories, media frames used and favorability differences. Findings show that coverage of China has increased significantly over time, but the overall tone remained negative. Stories presented in political frames and ideological frames were more likely to be unfavorable. No significant differences were found between the two newspapers. Paper submitted to the International Communication Division of AEJMC Spring 2003 Representation of China: A Longitudinal Analysis of Coverage in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times National image is the product of a complex historical process involving the interplay of many factors, such as the political and social realities of a particular country, diplomatic relations, and changes in the international political and economic spheres as well as symbolic representations in the mass media and popular culture. Among these factors, news media play a vital role in constructing and shaping the image of a country (Adoni & Mane, 1984; Wolfsfeld, Avraham, & Abu Raya, 1988) in the sense that events are framed within ideological, political and cultural contexts to produce representation of images from which individuals picture the world in their heads (Lippmann, 1922) and construct their conception of "us" and "them" (Kellner, 1995). Media make a nation real and tangible by relaying to audiences a range of images and symbols, events and ceremonies, often live (Scannnel & Cardiff, 1995). To a certain extent, even the concept of a nation is merely a symbolic referent, an "imagined community" (Anderson, 1991). China, a geographically distant country drastically different in almost every aspect—history, culture, political system, lifestyle—from the United States, had been a mystery until recent years for the American public, who consciously or sub-consciously tend to associate the country with pigtails, concubines, chopsticks, red guards, Mao caps, and of course, the Great Wall and pandas. Although great changes have taken place in the last 20 years or so since the implementation of the opening and reform policy, and China has received increasing international media exposure, its national image has been largely at the mercy of mainstream American media. Historically, China has been framed as red China, Communist China, the Tiananmen Square China, and a developing and threatening China. While the American media claim objectivity and balance in their reporting, the Chinese official media accused the American media of demonizing China's international image, spreading anti-China notions and portraying depressing and concocted versions of the China threat theory (Beijing Review, 1997). This study, while making a brief review of media images of China as a context, concentrated efforts on studying the representation of China in the mainstream American news media. Based on sample news articles drawn from two major American newspapers, namely the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, a quantitative content analysis was conducted within the theoretical frameworks of framing to (1) examine the characteristics of media representation of China and (2) explore if there are differences in their news coverage by comparing the news frames put on China and favorability across time. The two years 1992 and 2001 were chosen for comparison for several considerations: First, the year 1992 was crucial in Chinese political and economic history. In that year, the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping made the important South China Tour Talks, which redirected the country back to the reform and opening track after about two years of setbacks resulting from the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. That year was chosen as the starting point for this study also out of a technical consideration: roughly three years of time after the Tiananmen Massacre might provide the U.S. media some time to "normalize" its reporting and calm down from the purely event-driven condemnation and public outrage. Since 1992, China has registered rapid economic progress with its GNP increasing more than 7 percent annually. Relatively speaking, the top leadership headed by President Jiang Zemin remained stable and secure, and there have not been major political and social turbulences. And China's domestic and foreign policies were consistent through the years. Second, during this period, the Chinese authorities expended unprecedented efforts in international image building, including two extensive PR campaigns, one in France in 1999 and the other in the United States in 2000. This time period also saw China's successful hosting of several major international events such as the World Expose in Kunming and the Fortune 500 Forum in Shanghai. The 1997 Hong Kong handover to China was also historically significant. Most recently, China successfully gained entry to WTO and won the bid for hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. All of these have greatly increased China's exposure to the world media, and it is reasonable to expect some effects on media coverage of China. The New York Times and Los Angeles Times were chosen because of their prominence and influence. In the case of the New York Times, it is generally believed that it not only sets the agenda for other U.S. news media but also exerts strong influences on American leaders and U.S. foreign policies (Cohen, 1961; Davison, 1976; Weiss, 1974; Graber, 1980). In the case of the Los Angeles Times, geographical and readership factors are also important considerations, in addition to its prominence as an influential newspaper. In their study of Los Angeles Times' international reporting, Beaudoin and Thorson (2001) suggested that the Los Angeles Times, with its international focus and "international" local community, provided an excellent model for other metropolitan dailies. Media, Government Policy and Public Perception Media are believed to be a fourth branch of the government, or cooperating part of the total national establishment, and an instrument expressing and promoting national perspectives in international relationships (Lent, 1977; Merrill, 1983). Many studies (Chang, 1989; Dorogi, 2001; Yu & Riffe, 1987) found that the U.S. mainstream media's agenda in reporting international news has been consistent with the U.S. government shifts in foreign policy. Politically, national interest seems to be a dominant reason to keep in line with the state policy; Technically, the limitation in newsgathering resources often force the news media to rely on government sources for international reporting. Studies show that the American public is dependent on the news media for news about the outside world. Media construct the social reality for the American public who from news coverage transform the world outside into pictures in their heads (Lippmann, 1922). It is fair to say that for average American citizens, foreign affairs are often beyond direct experience and involvement, and hence their involvement and perception of the world outside depend heavily on how the issues and consequences are framed by the policy makers and the news media (Chang, 1988). It is the news media that are creating and destroying images (Merrill, 1995). The public, noted by Merrill, hoped that a truthful and unfettered press would serve the public interest, and a free press can mend differences among nationalities, classes, and groups. However, in practice, the American public is more likely to have distorted perceptions of the other parts of the world through the news coverage of the American media (Galtung & Ruge, 1965; Perlmutter, 1998). Media Image of China National image is a complex issue involving the interaction of many factors through a long period of time. Any attempt to study the media representation of a particular country has to be put in a historical context. Therefore, a brief review on the media images of past and present China is necessary. As John Fairbank (1976) pointed out: "Unless we recognize the old images when they pop into our minds we may mistake them for the new China. Similarly, in looking at Chinese life today we can hardly guess where it is going if we have no picture of where it used to be (p.xvii)." Recent history can be categorized into four eras since 1949. 1. The Red China (1949—1979). During the four decades from the founding of "New China" in 1949 to the establishment of Sino-U.S. diplomatic relations in 1979, ideological biases had dominated the media coverage of China. Chang (1989) found that in this period, news coverage of China seemed to reflect the shifts of Sino-American relations, and representation of China in American newspapers shifted from the use of ideological and emotional symbols (Red China, Communist China) to that of legal and precise symbols (PRC, Mainland China) after the establishment of formal U.S.-China diplomatic relations in 1979. Chang explained that underlying such a clear shift of symbols from Communist China to PRC or China was the U. S. desire to improve relations with China. Chang also found significant differences between the two periods before and after the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations in the amount of news space, type of items, subject matter, sources and attitude directions in Chinese news in the New York Times. Hao (1990) found in his study on Time's coverage of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) that the general direction of the magazine's attitudes towards the People's Republic of China became less unfavorable in the 1970s than in the 1960s. 2. The "Green" China (1979—1989). Green is here used to symbolize American media's image of a promising China. The establishment of formal diplomatic ties lessened the political and ideological tensions between the two countries, and China's reform and opening policies encouraged the American media to cover China in a more objective and favorable way. Ge (1999), in his study of Time's coverage of China, found substantial changes in media coverage of China, paralleling the shifts of U.S. China Policy. During 1980-85, favorable and neutral paragraphs became more common and unfavorable paragraphs declined compared to 1960-65. Dorogi (2001) argued that the news reports in this specific period concentrated on the reformist nature of the Deng regime while de-emphasizing the political constraints that were characteristic of Chinese political culture in this era. 3. The Dark China (1989-1992). The Tiananmen Massacre marked an end to the era of American idealism with regard to American expectations of political and social liberalization in the PRC (Madsen, 1990). The massacre in Tiananmen Square badly damaged China's image in the U.S. The webs of wishful thinking spun by China's reformers and their foreign admirers had been swept away. 4. The Grey China (1992--Present). Disillusioned by the Tiananmen crackdown but impressed by the economic progress China has made, the American media found themselves facing a complicated and unpredictable China (Mosher, 1990). Media attitudes were mixed. On the one hand, the less than objective formulation of cross-cultural images by the American press resulted in the dissemination of highly negative images and impressionistic stereotypes about the socio-political evolution of China (Dorogi, 2001). On the other hand, American economic ties with China have been closely connected and strengthened. In the past decade, the core of American's China policy had centered on the fundamental financial benefits of the Sino-American commercial contact. China is regarded both as a strategic partner and a potential rival. As a result, the emphasis of the media coverage of China was increasingly placed on a greater global context, and the themes have been greatly extended from economic development, the nature of the communist regime, human rights, to Chinese expansionism, and relations with Hong Kong and Taiwan (Dorogi, 2001). Media Frames on China "News is a socially created product, not a reflection of an objective reality" (Shoemaker & Reese, 1996, p.121). Behind the social construction of news, one of the most important factors in news coverage is framing. Norris (1995) defines news frames as cognitive schemata, and journalists commonly work with news frames to simplify, prioritize and structure the narrative flow of events. Framing is inevitable in the process of news production. It is the stage at which journalists define problems, diagnose causes and make moral judgments (Akhavan-Majid & Ramaprasad, 2000). News frames are embodied, not in overt evaluative statements, but rather in "key words, metaphors, concepts, symbols and visual images emphasized in a news narrative" (Entman, 1991. p.7). In the case of China, three news frames are consistently salient in U.S. media's coverage: the political frame, the ideological frame, and the economic frame. Political Frame Political frames refer to the news frame of the media chiefly reflecting the American government political agenda and foreign policy. Past studies have shown that with regard to China reporting, there were strong parallel relationships between the American press and the government policies (Chang, 1989). The news frame followed a common foe or friend orientation. An "us" versus "them" Cold War mentality prevailed. For instance, political unrest in the Communist countries is news, but similar kinds of unrest in other countries are not. Less developing countries' national image was often distorted and mispresented, mostly reflecting the negative side of their societies. The prevailing image of Communist countries was characterized as an aging, inept leadership that cannot change or make policy, but can only manipulate it; a crisis-ridden, decaying system composed of a stagnant, inefficient economy; a corrupt, bureaucratic elite; and a sick cynical and restive society (Cohen, 1984). Ideological Frame Ideological, cultural and social values combine to form this frame. The American news media portrayal of foreign countries often reflects the dominant ideology of the host country. (Yu & Riffe, 1988). News reporting is often motivated by ideology rather than newsworthiness. The emotional overtone of many news articles, in this regard, are often highly critical of selective aspects of the Chinese domestic environment, particularly when domestic circumstances that emerge in China conflict with American cultural principles of individual liberty, democracy, and human rights. More than simply a group of facts represented in a sequential manner, the treatment of events by the mainstream media are carefully arranged, in order to convey specific and well-defined pictures of modern China in terms of their emotive and ideological quality (Dorogi, 2001). Economic Frame Economic frames emphasize the economic development of a country other than political and ideological conflicts. This frame is largely the result of the globalization of American economy. Rather than simply covering international affairs by country or region, there is an emphasis on economics, the environment, health, and scores of unifying themes that seek to make sense of the world relevant to the domestic agenda (Dennis, 1993). With China's international position as an economic powerhouse expected to substantially increase and the growth of large-scale American investment in China, the American media tend to cover China more with this economic frame. From the above discussions, we may conclude that in general, newspaper coverage of China has reflected the dominant political agenda of the U.S government and the ideological framework of the American media. Although the American government foreign policy may shift from time to time, the underlying principles remain consistent, as they constitute the fundamental differences concerning the nature of a political system. Ideology is a deeply rooted set of philosophical beliefs and social and cultural values that are not easily changed over time. Therefore, we would expect little changes concerning the political and ideological frameworks of the American media. However, as China is vigorously developing its market economy and becoming an integral part of the global economy, we have reasons to predict that the American media will increase their coverage on China and use the economic frames more often in their China reports. Based on the above discussion, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: There is a significant increase in the number of stories on China in both the newspapers across time. H2: There are no significant differences in the favorability of the two newspapers' coverage of China across time. H3: There are no significant differences in the favorability of the coverage on China between the two newspapers. H4: Stories presented in political frames are more likely to be negative. H5: Stories presented in ideological frames are more likely to be negative. H6: There is a significant increase in the number of stories presented in economic frames across time. Method The method of content analysis was used in this study. Content analysis has been defined as a "research technique for the objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication" (Berelson, 1952, p.13,). Content analysis is frequently used in foreign news coverage research because it can help researchers "learn about news reports' underlying attitudes, biases or repeat themes (Rubin & Spiele, 1986),) As this study is mainly designed to explore the across-time differences in the New York Time and the Los Angeles Times' coverage of China, including the prevailing tone and the news frames used, content analysis was decided as the appropriate and valid method. Unit of Analysis Different units of analysis such as the single word, symbols, the theme, the character, sentence or paragraph and the item are generally used in content analysis. Among them, item is commonly used in exploring differences in coverage characteristics of different periods. Therefore, single story is the unit of analysis for the study. Sampling The sample population here refers to all the news stories and editorials covering China by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times at two different time periods. The first time period was the entire year of 1992 and the second time period was the entire year of 2001. The sample population was generated by a key word search (China, Chinese or PRC) through the two newspapers' archives in the online Nexis and Lexis database. Although researchers have shown repeated concerns about the missing of visual elements of the database, this possible problem is less relevant here as this particular study deals only with textual presentations. Ideally, systematic random sampling is desirable for quantitative studies. However, in this particular study, the method of systematic random sampling, in which "every nth subject or unit is selected from a population" (Wimmer & Dominick, 2000, p.87) would most probably result in problems of typicality, as news content distribution will not be randomly disseminated over years, months and days. Therefore, a stratified sampling seems to be more appropriate. Thus, two constructed weeks were used to represent the stories of each year for each paper. Sampling Validity Although the use of online databases is fairly common for retrieving newspaper items (Roberts, 1997), there is often the risk of sampling errors caused by (a): the problems of not all editions of a newspapers are included in the database, (b): the problem of semantic validity. These problems may lead to two common errors: the error of omission (the exclusion of relevant content items) and the error of commission (the inclusion of irrelevant content items). To address these concerns, a pre-sampling test was conducted. First, articles of one randomly selected week for each of the newspapers were retrieved from Nexis and Lexis. Second, articles of the same week were recorded from the microfilmed newspapers archives. An adapted precision test method initiated by Yanovitzky and Bennett (1999) was used to measure the precision. That is, the number of relevant articles retrieved online was divided by the number of articles of the same period recorded from the microfilm archive. The results showed a high precision (precision=0.95 for the New York Times, and precision=0.96 for the Los Angeles Times). Hence, the concern of sampling errors was removed. Coding Scheme Favorability refers to the overall tone manifested in the individual stories, which was determined by a modified index originally proposed by Budd, Thorp, and Donohew (1967, p.53-54). The index was created as a quantitative content analysis tool to judge how news reporting reflects prevailing impressions toward a social actor and its positive, negative, or neutral range. A positive story was operationally defined as the overall tone or prevailing elements in the story that suggest political, social and economic stability/strength, and progress and improvement, which tend to contribute to a favorable image of China. A negative story was operationally defined as the overall tone or prevailing elements in the story that suggest political, social and economic instability/weakness, conflicts, and human rights, religious and other problems, which tend to contribute to a unfavorable image of China. A neutral story was operationally defined as the overall tone or prevailing elements in the story is either a balance of negative or positive, or mixed. Favorability and unfavorability were rated on a Likert-type scale from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive). The use of a Likert-type scale enabled flexibility in judgment, including providing guidance for coding stories as neutral: "Clearly, the mathematical "middle point" along such a scale will be an arbitrary outcome (depending on the specific channels and content chosen and the criteria applied for judging value implication) and not an absolute standard. However, the method serves quite well for comparative and relative assessment" (McQuail, 1992, p.227). In using the Likert-type scale, coders were instructed to follow McQuail's (1992) aforementioned tradition to decide based on a "speculation of a common-sense kind on the likely impression made on an average audience" (p.227). Media frames were operationally defined by (1) the context in which the stories are constructed, which is chiefly reflected by the subject and theme matters; (2) the value sets or judgment system used for problem definition, moral evaluation and treatment recommendation, etc. Three news frames used in this study are political frames, ideological frames, and economic frames. A political frame will be recorded if the story is presented in a political context and framed in line with the American government political agenda, e.g. depicting China as "Communist regime," "undemocratic decaying political system," "crisis ridden," etc. An ideological frame will be recorded if the story is presented in an ideological context or defined in line with cultural bias or moral evaluation. For instance, emphasizing birth control as a human rights issue while ignoring other aspects of the problem often reveals an ideological bias. An economic frame will be recorded if the story is presented in an economic context, or with emphasis on the financial and economic aspects. Although there might be strong connections between topic domains and the three frames suggested in this study, the major differences between them lie in the context and cultural norms and values in which the story is framed. For instance, a topic on China's communication industry might be framed as an issue of freedom of speech, market place of ideas, etc. Therefore, a story in the economic domain may have a political or ideological frame. Intercoder Reliability Two independent coders, both journalism graduate students, were involved in the coding work. A coding manual was discussed and agreed upon by the two coders. Then 10 percent of the stories were both coded by the two independent coders. The results were tested with the Holsti reliability formula (Holsti 1969, p. 140). In this study, reliability coefficient was found at 0.90 for the overall average, with 0.91 for the favorability rating, and 0.89 for the frames categories. Statistical Tests Chi-square was employed to see whether there would be significant increase in the newspapers' coverage of China, particularly if there were more economic frames used in their coverage. T-tests were used to determine whether any significant differences existed across time and between the coverage of the two newspapers in terms of favorability. Results A total of 189 articles were analyzed: N=39 for the year 1992, and 65 for 2001 for the New York Times, and N=33 for the year 1992, and 52 for 2001 for the Los Angeles Times. Specific distributions of news stories and favorability ratings by the two newspapers in the two time periods are summarized in Table 1. Favorability is rated on a Likert scale from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive). [Insert Table 1 about here] This study also proposed to identify three news frames (political frames, ideological frames and economic frames) suggested by previous studies in analyzing media coverage of international events and issues. The results are presented in Table 2: [Insert Table 2 about here] H1 predicted that there was a significant increase in the number of stories on China across time. Chi-square test on the distribution of the number of stories of two different time periods shows a significant result (72 to 117 stories). Therefore, H1 is supported. H2 predicted that there were no significant differences in the favorability of the two newspapers' coverage on China across time. Based on the result of the two-tailed t test on the means of the two time periods (Table 1), the null hypothesis is accepted. H3 predicted there were no significant differences between the two newspapers in their favorability of China. This too is supported by the result of the two-tailed t test (Table 1). H4 stated that politically framed stories on China were more likely to be negative. As shown by the favorability means in Table 2, the stories in political frames are consistently negative, with means below the neutral mean index of 3. H4 is supported. H5 predicted that ideologically framed stories on China were more likely to be negative. The average mean of 1.24 for all the stories with ideological frames offered support for the hypothesis. H6 predicted that there is a significant increase of stories presented in economic frames. The result of Chi-square test indicates no significant differences across time. Thus, H6 is rejected. Discussion This study examined the China coverage in two major U.S. newspapers by chiefly comparing the total number of stories, the dominant media frames used, and favorability differences across time and between the two newspapers. The results of the longitudinal content analysis show several important findings. First, this study found a significant increase in the number of stories on China. Both newspapers demonstrated more than 50 percent increases over time (from 33 to 52 for the Los Angeles Times, and 39 to 65 for the New York Times). This might be due to several important factors. One is the remarkable social and economic changes in China resulting from its continued reform and opening efforts in the past 20 years or so. Related to this is China's growing international influence and consequently increased international media exposure. Another important factor is the relatively stable and strengthening diplomatic relations and economic ties between the United States and China. Ahern (1984) found that economic and political factors exerted a strong influence on international news coverage in U.S. newspapers. He particularly pointed out that a country's gross national product trade and political relations with the United States could be important predictors of the amount of coverage the country received. This study provided further evidence to Ahern's conclusion. This finding is especially noteworthy and impressive that such increase was recorded against a general sharp decline of foreign news coverage in the American news media (Emery, 1989; Stepp, 1999). Although this study failed to support the hypothesis that there was an increase in economic frames, the stories with economic frames showed a higher favorability rating ( mean index=3.1). Second, the results of this longitudinal content analysis show that the overall tone of the stories on China remains consistently negative across time and there are no significant differences between the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The results also show that political frames and ideological l frames are predominantly negative. These findings corresponded with results of previous studies (Dorogi, 2001; Emery, 1989; Goodman, 1999; Perlmutter, 1998;) that the American mainstream news media tend to frame international news stories with political and ideological biases, and these biases remain persistent despite the dramatic political, social and economic changes that have taken place in the countries being covered. Throughout the history of American international journalism, there has been a "strong ideological inclination toward interpreting foreign cultures via domestic standards of evolutionary progression" (Dorogi 2001, p.79). In the case of China, although there has been fluctuation of media frames during different historical periods, the prevailing themes in covering the socio-political climate in China were "tainted with an ethnocentric negativity" (Dorogi 2001, p. 79). Apart from the political and diplomatic factors, ideological and cultural differences may account for a great deal of the negative frames on China. For instance, birth control is more likely to be framed as a human rights issue in the American news media despite the fact there are other related issues such as population pressure versus economic development. The consistent political, ideological and cultural biases in U.S. media's China coverage might also be explained by some of the practical problems that journalists faced in their China reporting. First of all, the historical, cultural and political complexity of the Chinese society posed great challenges for American journalists to put news event in accurate and proper contexts. Without adequate, reliable and easily accessible official Chinese sources, most of the journalists have to develop and use alternative sources for their news stories. For instance, American embassy, American businessmen and students in China often are sources frequented by the American journalists. Even if they extend their efforts to local sources, their pools of candidates are likely to be intellectuals, particularly political dissidents, who can communicate in English and often have a pro-American orientation and are critical of China. Secondly, the field reporters' frames are constantly affected and shaped by the editorial decisions made by their editors--gate-keepers back home. Addressing the problems of U.S. media coverage of China, Oksenberg (1994) discussed the existing gap between correspondents in the field and editors at the headquarters. He stated that set images of China—both favorable and unfavorable—have taken hold of the public, including editors, and "dispatches that have not accorded with mood have been more prone to rejection, heavy editing, or being accompanied by a misleading headline" (p.213). Such editorial gate-keeping has pressed upon the journalists in the field certain frames in their routine coverage. This perhaps explained the persistent negative political and ideological frames despite the many changes taking place in reality. The above factors may also provide reasons why there are no significant differences between the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times in their overall favorability toward China. Nonetheless, results of this study suggested positive signs in U.S. media's coverage of China as shown by the significant increase in the total number of news stories, and the slightly lesser negative stories, though not statistically significant, in both newspapers across time. Limitations This study only sampled stories at two time points. This might limit the study from identifying possible fluctuations of media frames within this time period and offering a more comprehensive picture. Also, as often found in framing analysis, the definition of frames and favorability ratings are largely the researchers' subjective, arbitrary inferences from the texts. Although this study has paid particular attention to sampling validity and intercoder reliability, there are still possible cultural and personal biases in coding and interpreting the findings. Finally, in doing content analysis, there is often the risk of "missing the substance while counting the numbers." Therefore, it is advisable for future studies to use both qualitative content analysis and qualitative textual analysis to examine both the trends and characteristics of framing in international coverage. Nonetheless, findings of this study do provide some insights into the most recent patterns and trends in U.S. news coverage of China. Overall, the American news media have remarkably increased their China coverage, and the generally tone appeared to be slightly less negative. All these are positive signs both reflecting and promoting the healthy development of U.S.-China relations and the understanding between peoples of the two countries. 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Table 1: Distribution of News Stories and Related Favorability Means 1992 2001 Total N Favorability N Favorability N Favorability NYTimes 39 2.31 65 2.57 104 2.47 LATimes 33 2.48 52 2.40 85 2.44 Total 72 2.38 117 2.50 189 2.46 1. Chi-square test on the distribution of total number of stories by year: X2=10.7 with df=1 p=0.001 2. Two tail t tests on the favorability means by year and by paper show no significant results at p< 0.05 Table 2: Distribution of Frames and Related Favorability Means Frames 1992 2001 Total Mean N Mean N Mean Political 31 2.33 52 2.57 83 2.45 Ideological 22 1.21 33 1.27 55 1.24 Economic Other Total 13 6 72 3.2 2.34 2.39 23 9 117 3.1 2.35 2.50 36 15 189 3.15 2.32 2.46 Chi-square test on the distribution of economic framed stories by year shows no significant result at p<0.05.