Cultural otherness and disaster news: The influence of western discourses on Japan in US and UK news coverage of the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster

Authors: Matthews, J.

Journal: International Communication Gazette

Volume: 81

Issue: 4

Pages: 372-392

eISSN: 1748-0493

ISSN: 1748-0485

DOI: 10.1177/1748048518774982

Abstract:

The Great East Japan Disaster of 2011 provides an important case study to evaluate how western media cover Japan. Employing a critical discourse analysis of coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian and The Observer this article seeks to examine how Japan and the disaster-affected communities of Tohoku were represented through the context of this disaster. The analysis revealed the presence of a cultural framework, enacted during the response phase of the disaster news cycle to explain how people in Japan were coping in the aftermath of the disaster, which was premised on a discourse of cultural otherness. The textual elements that underwrote this discourse included a tendency to draw on stereotypes and in the way culture was employed to provide context to individual stories. The analysis also acknowledges how forms of bias circulated through other discourses, in particular when covering the nuclear crisis at Fukushima. The article argues that this discourse of cultural otherness is, in part, attributable to the features of disaster journalism, rather than a lack of familiarity on the part of journalists with the cultural context.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/30533/

Source: Scopus

Cultural otherness and disaster news: The influence of western discourses on Japan in US and UK news coverage of the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster

Authors: Matthews, J.

Journal: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION GAZETTE

Volume: 81

Issue: 4

Pages: 372-392

eISSN: 1748-0493

ISSN: 1748-0485

DOI: 10.1177/1748048518774982

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/30533/

Source: Web of Science (Lite)

Cultural otherness and disaster news: the influence of western discourses on Japan in US and UK news coverage of the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster

Authors: Matthews, J.

Journal: International Communication Gazette

Publisher: SAGE Publications

ISSN: 1748-0485

DOI: 10.1177/1748048518774982

Abstract:

The Great East Japan Disaster of 2011 provides an important case study to evaluate how western media cover Japan. Employing a critical discourse analysis of coverage in The New York Times, the Guardian and The Observer this article seeks to examine how Japan and the disaster-affected communities of Tōhoku were represented through the context of this disaster. The analysis revealed the presence of a cultural framework, enacted during the response phase of the disaster news cycle to explain how people in Japan were coping in the aftermath of the disaster, which was premised on a discourse of cultural otherness. The textual elements that underwrote this discourse included a tendency to draw on stereotypes and in the way culture was employed to provide context to individual stories. The analysis also acknowledges how forms of bias circulated through other discourses, in particular when covering the nuclear crisis at Fukushima.

The article argues that this discourse of cultural otherness is, in part, attributable to the features of disaster journalism, rather than a lack of familiarity on the part of journalists with the cultural context.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/30533/

Source: Manual

Cultural otherness and disaster news: the influence of western discourses on Japan in US and UK news coverage of the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster

Authors: Matthews, J.

Journal: International Communication Gazette

Volume: 81

Issue: 4

Pages: 372-392

ISSN: 1748-0485

Abstract:

The Great East Japan Disaster of 2011 provides an important case study to evaluate how western media cover Japan. Employing a critical discourse analysis of coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian and The Observer this article seeks to examine how Japan and the disaster-affected communities of Tohoku were represented through the context of this disaster. The analysis revealed the presence of a cultural framework, enacted during the response phase of the disaster news cycle to explain how people in Japan were coping in the aftermath of the disaster, which was premised on a discourse of cultural otherness. The textual elements that underwrote this discourse included a tendency to draw on stereotypes and in the way culture was employed to provide context to individual stories. The analysis also acknowledges how forms of bias circulated through other discourses, in particular when covering the nuclear crisis at Fukushima. The article argues that this discourse of cultural otherness is, in part, attributable to the features of disaster journalism, rather than a lack of familiarity on the part of journalists with the cultural context.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/30533/

Source: BURO EPrints