2. Literature Review
2.2 Domestication
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Taiwan Straits. The results showed that there is huge distinction between the coverage
of these two news agencies. Xinhua News Agency put more emphasis on
“government actions,” while Central News Agency covered more about “rescue
actions” and “funding.”
In contrast to the above studies, Tierney et al. (2006) took a different route by
examining the internal dynamics of the mass communication system in disaster. The
relationship of media framing and the public impression of Hurricane Katrina
happened in 2005 is examined. Media’s coverage of looting, social disorganization,
and deviant behaviors lead to “disaster myth,” affecting people’s perception toward
the disaster. Media’s employment of the “looting” and “social unrest” frames can
exaggerate the severity of accidents on people’s mind.
Although the divergent routes of research emphasis, it is important to note that
most of the studies are common in the case selection. With huger impact on people
and our living surroundings, disasters which are larger in scope and happened
suddenly are generally selected as the case to examine (Tsang & Chung, 2000).
2.2 Domestication
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster is an issue which is far away in distance
and foreign to the local viewers. In this regard, how to introduce the international
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news to the local audience becomes essential when media cover international news
(Hung, Liao, & Lin, 2007). If the media want the audience to pay attention to, or even
understand the stories which are far away from them, media workers will have to
“create the links between the stories and the history, culture, politics, society, etc. of
the viewers” (Cohen et al., 1996, pp. 174 - 175).
2.2.1 Definition of Domestication
Domestication, a word which was originally used to describe “the initial stage
of human mastery of wild animals and plants1,” is now referred to media’s logic of
selecting/reconstructing international news for local audiences. Eide and Ytterstad
(2011) define domestication as “a way of providing foreign (global) news with a
dominating national framework (P.56).” It is a way of reporting foreign news which
render news stories to become more relevant to, understandable for, and/or resonant
with local viewers (Lee et al., 2011). Gurevitch, Levy, and Roeh (1996) regard
domestication as a counter-conceptualization to globalization, and explained it as
follows:
Media maintain both global and culturally specific orientations - such as by
casting far-away events in frameworks that render these events comprehensible,
1 Cited from Merriam-Webster dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/concise/domestication)
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appealing and relevant to domestic audiences; and second, by constructing the
meanings of these events in ways that are compatible with the culture and the
dominant ideology of societies they serve. (Gurevitch et al., 1996)
Not all of the audience have the knowledge and ability to understand
international news (Chan et al., 2002). Domesticated news can facilitate target
audience’s comprehension toward international news since it is put under domestic
contexts (Cohen, 2002). For the media workers, by adapting international news into
relevant structure, foreign agendas are converted and put into home agendas (Lee,
2005).
2.2.2 Introduction of Domestication Strategies
Domestication is a way which can hype international news, and render local
audience to relate themselves to international issues (Chan et al., 2002). For media
workers, in order to effectively domesticate international news, some strategies are
employed.
Chan et al. (2002) identified several strategies for domesticating international
news, which are listed as follows: (1) rely on well-known figures, such as anchors,
critics, and experts to raise audiences’ interest and attention; (2) rely on high-ranking
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officials from their home countries to raise audiences’ interest and attention; (3) give
voice to general public from their home countries to tell the news story; (4) locate the
news story into domestic context to cover; and (5) narrate the news story to be vivid
with concrete words.
2.2.3 Strategy of Domestication: Selection of News Sources
Broadly speaking, news sources can be referred to any information used as
news materials, or narrowly referred to “the people” who provide information in the
news article (Cheng, 1991). Cross (2010) defines news sources as “those who provide
information and context to the news narrative, offer official or unofficial opinions,
and give eye-witness accounts of events.” News sources, such as well-known figures,
high-ranking officials, and general public, are often used to domesticate international
news (Chan et al., 2002).
With the fame and public familiarity, well-known figures can draw audience’s
attention. Fame is regarded as the result of development of industry and commodity
culture by Walter Benjamin. By wielding marketing strategies, fame is granted with
popular and novel characteristics in order to stimulate consumption. The fame
possessed by well-known figures therefore constructs a mysterious image and triggers
people’s curiosity, and it also corresponds with consumers’ needs to pursue popularity
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and novelty (Benjamin, 1999). Besides, cultural workers, such as experts, produce
commodities as valuable as their possession of knowledge and social reputation. The
possession of knowledge, social contact and fame are the characteristics of cultural
workers (Lin, 1996).
Besides, uncertainty of international issue renders authoritative government
officials to garner more chances to interpret the issue. Government officials’
interpretation can render the international news to be more relevant to the local
audience (Chan et al., 2002). In order to make news credible and authoritative,
sources that possess higher political and/or economic power are favored by journalists
(Bennett, 1990; Kim, 2006), especially when they cover international issues.
Moreover, media can domesticate the far-away issue by giving voice to general
public from our own country. With general public as the source, media provide
diverse viewpoints spoken by local people (Dimitrova & Strömbäck, 2012), and
audiences can perceive the authenticity and relevance toward the issue (Chan et al.,
2002).
Overall, the selection of news sources, including well-known figures,
high-ranking officials, and general public, can eliminate local audience’s resistance of
far-away news, and enhance the issue relevance to the local audience (Chan et al.,
2002).
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2.2.4 Strategy of Domestication: Locate the News into Domestic Context
Locating the news story into domestic context to cover is another strategy of
domestication. For example, CNN respondent Mike Chinoy proposed that, when
covering international news, such as Hong Kong’s handover to china in 1997, media
workers shouldn’t simply regard the issue as a regional politics (cited from Chan et al.,
2002).
Instead, media workers should connect the international issue with domestic
framework, or compare the international issue with domestic incidents that we are
familiar with so as to highlight the issue relevance, and illuminate the meaning of the
international issue and possible effect to the local audience (Hu, 2010).
2.2.5 Strategy of Domestication: Narrate the News to be Vivid with Concrete Words
When the media cover soft news, personal stories are frequently used. Media
workers colorize the news, and polish the texture of news story to be vivid by
narrating the news to be vivid with concrete words (Chan et al., 2002). Viewers are
accordingly transported into a narrative world with an integrative melding of attention,
imagery, and feelings (Green & Brock, 2000). Imagery is referred to “intrinsic
message characteristics that evoke mental images in the mind of a person” (Bone &
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Ellen, 1992). Imagery processing involves coding information in the form of sensory,
imagistic, and concrete representations (Epstein, 1994). Concreteness can be defined
as a measure of the extent to which "a material object as opposed to an abstract
quality, state, or action" (Hawkins & Allen, 1991, p. 303). Imagery is regarded as a
multidimensional construct which varies in terms of sensory modality (visual,
auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory), affective meaning or valence (negative or
positive), quantity (number of images evoked), and vividness (the clarity, intensity,
and/or distinctiveness of images) (MacInnis & Price, 1987). Comprehended and imagined by people’s mental process, news stories are personally relevant and
persuasive (Chang & Chang, 1997), so as to create the emotional linkage between the
news stories and the viewers.
To summarize, domestication is a way which can hype international news
(Chan et al., 2002)., so as to “create the links between the stories and the history,
culture, politics, society, etc. of the viewers” (Cohen et al., 1996, pp. 174 - 175). The
ways of employing domestication strategies include: selection of news sources
(including well-known figures, high-ranking officials, and general public), locating
the news story into domestic context to cover, and narrating the news to be vivid. This
study sets out to explore how these strategies are used to domesticate Fukushima
Daiichi unclear disaster, a disaster happened in Japan, by Taiwanese media.
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2.2.6 Related Studies of Domestication
Domestication is a rather new concept, and was first brought up by Cohen et al.
(1996). Domestication is deemed as a framing device or mechanism for the media to
connect the local audience to the importance of international news. Studies in the
domain of domestication usually take specific and huge international event as the case
in order to understand how domestication is employed.
Amid the studies in the domain of domestication research, of common way to
assess the extent of domestication for the researchers is to measure whose voices are
quoted in the coverage (Eide & Ytterstad, 2011). Concentration on national sources is
a domestication strategy generally used when covering international news. Eide and
Ytterstad (2011) measured which voices are quoted in the coverage of the Bali
summit by investigating two Norwegian newspapers, and found out Norwegian
national politicians are strategically selected as news sources. The strategy of
domesticating the foreign news by citing domestic sources can be seen.
Kuo (2005) explores how the Iraq War, which happened in 2003, is covered by
Taiwanese media by the examination of sources, themes and content of the news. The
results showed that “reporters affiliated to the newspaper” and “foreign news
agencies” are the most commonly used sources in constructing the issue.
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In addition to many studies in the domain of domestication addressing how
domestication is employed in the international news, Lee et al. (2011) conducted a
cross-national comparative study to examine the determinants which affect the degree
of domestication. The results showed that higher country’s level of participation in the
Olympic Games, and larger size of ethnic Chinese population within the country lead
to higher domestication of media coverage.