3 Research Methods
3.2 Choices of Newsmagazines for Study
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
3.2 Choices of Newsmagazines for Study
Magazines were chosen for the following reasons: first, magazines have permanence (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000), that is they are more easily preserved, archived, and widely cited (Cheng, 1995; Chen, 2007). Second, magazines have more in-depth coverage than their news counterpart (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000; Eisenhart, 1994). For example, if an earthquake strikes in Los Angeles, news media such as TV news channels and newspapers will give the information on the size and effect of the earthquake. Magazines, on the other hand, tend to dig in deeper by presenting background information and analysis on the history of earthquakes in California, the geological formation that caused them, and future architectural developments to make earthquakes less disastrous (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000). Newspaper and broadcasting journalists are often under pressure to meet deadlines; therefore, they do not have time to do in-depth research on a given issue, whereas magazines are published weekly, hence, magazine journalists have more time to develop their articles.
Third, magazines are highly specialized in content and audience (Johnson &
Prijatal, 2000). They provide readers information on subjects and areas of their lives that reflect their values and aspirations, which is a reason why the average reader spends 45 minutes reading each issue of a magazine (Frank, 2004). In fact, the time an individual spends on accessing the contents of a magazine has no limitation, which is referred to as ―random access‖, since readers can reread a page as often as they like and whenever they want (Frank, 2004). Today, there are different types of magazines ranging from finance, fashion, cars, sports…and so on, readers can enjoy absorbing knowledge via this medium according to their interests. There will always be a magazine for readers that match their interests (Frank, 2004). McKay (2000) in The Magazines Handbook states that magazines produce publications for groups of people with shared interest. It is like a club, with one of its functions being to provide readers
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
with a sense of community and pride in their identity (McKay, 2000). As Frank (2004) states in ―Magazine,‖ the fundamental difference between magazines and most other media is the fact that readers pay for magazines, creating a relationship built on trust.
Readers trust that the editors of a magazine will provide them with a quality product that satisfy their tastes and is worthy of their investment (Frank, 2004).
Fourth, the most important influence of magazines to the society is its political influence, for they are agenda setters and advocates who influence change by calling public attention to an issue (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000). Agenda setting refers to the idea that media do not tell people what to think, but what to think about (Baran &
Davis, 2003). Magazines then act as agenda setters when they identify and frame the issues on which the society focuses (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000). They convey to the public that something is important and should be discussed and be paid attention to.
As agenda setting theorists believe, magazine journalists do not directly cause social change; instead, they provide information that may motivate others to enact change (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000).
Fifth, magazine readers, on average, are better-educated (Gans, 2004; Johnson
& Prijatal, 2000; Frank, 2004) and are more likely to be in prestigious jobs (Gans, 2004). Studies have found that college graduates occupying professional or managerial jobs with household incomes of $60,000 or more read an average of 13.9 issues a month (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000). Another study of American business, political, media and other leaders by Weiss in 1974 found that Time and Newsweek were their preferred magazines (Gans, 2004).
Sixth, the issue of peer review makes the print publishers, as guardians of selection criteria and standards, a necessary arbiter in the world of scholarly information (Eisenhart, 1994).
Other reasons for focusing on magazines are that they provide opinions and
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
interpretations regarding a specific issue (Johnson & Prijatal, 2000). They are portable and accessible in terms of allowing consumers to read them anywhere (Wharton, 1992;
Eisenhart, 1994; Frank, 2004).
In sum, magazines were chosen because of their permanence, in-depth coverage, specialized content and audience, agenda setting feature, better-educated readers, influence through providing opinions and interpretations, and accessibility and portability.
3.2.1 Choices of Time and The Economist
Time was chosen because it is the largest-selling newsmagazine in the United States of America (Perlmutter, 2007) with a circulation of 3,389,166 copies in 2008 (Audit Bureau of Circulations, 2008). Apart from national affairs, its coverage of issues includes Politics, World News, Business & Technology, Health & Science, and Entertainment. It is recognized to be influential as an ―agenda-setting‖ and ―opinion leading‖ publication (Perlmutter, 2007). According to a study by Weiss (1974), Time ranks number one as the most read magazines among American leaders, which includes intellectuals, economic, political, voluntary association, and media leaders (Ou, 1997). Besides the U.S. edition, Time has three other international editions: Time Asia, Time Europe, and Time South Pacific (Time, 2008). With a coverage of a variety of issues, Time is the first international newsmagazines that American leaders read (Weiss, 1974), and can reflect their views towards government policies. Even former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt admitted that Time is a must read newsmagazine in order to understand the far eastern political situation (Ciao, 2006). The magazine sets the agenda for what is news, hence can influence the elites‘ and eventually the
―ignorant‖ individuals‘ (Baran & Davis, 2003) perceptions about China. Further, Time was seen to take more liberal stands in covering China after founder of Time Henry
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Luce stepped down as editor-in-chief (Gans, 2004). The news weekly took the stand of favoring the right wing and the Republicans when Luce was editor-in-chief of the news weekly due to his origins with China (Ou, 1997).
The Economist was founded by James Wilson in 1843, with a worldwide circulation of 1,390,780 copies in 2008 (Audit Bureau of Circulations, 2008). It covers main events of the week around the world such as business, world politics, finance and economics, markets and data, science and technology, books and arts.
Further, it offers analysis and opinion towards events, as well as comparing different ways nations react to global challenges, such as epidemics (The Economist, 2010).
According to Herd (1952), its readers include heads of States and governmental officials and ministers. According to The Economist (2010), Los Angeles Times has once said The Economist to be ―one of the world‘s most influential news magazines,‖
while Newsweek has said the British magazine is ―required reading at the pinnacles of power. In the US The Economist is a weekend habit on Wall Street and in the White House‖ (The Economist, 2010), indicating its influence not only in the economics sector but also the politics sector.
One great feature about The Economist is that it speaks with a collective voice, and that journalists often cooperate with each other in composing the articles. All the articles are composed by ―Anonymous‖ for the company believes in ―what is written is more important than who writes it‖ (The Economist website, 2009).
The Economist takes the stand as the extreme center, and considers itself as ―the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability‖ (The Economist website, 2009). It has backed conservatives such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, supported the Americans in Vietnam, endorsed Bill Clinton and Harold Wilson, as well as a variety of liberal causes such as opposing capital punishment from its earliest days, favoring penal reform and decolonization, gun control and gay marriage (The
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Economist website, 2009).
As for its writing style, The Economist believes in plain language, putting things in ―the most direct and picturesque manner, as people would talk to each other in common speech, to remember and use expressive colloquialisms‖ (The Economist website, 2009).
As of today, The Economist offers the North America edition, Europe edition, and Asia Pacific edition besides the UK edition, with bureaus in London, New York, and Hong Kong.
The Economist was chosen to be analyzed as a representative publication in the United Kingdom because of its economic and political influence, feature as a worldwide publication, central extreme position and its belief of anonymity, providing its readers unbiased information.
According to previous studies (Gerbner & Marvanyi, 1977), elite print media emphasize more on international news than non-elite print media. They not only reflect social reality but also provide opinions, as well as placing importance on interpersonal and interstate relationships. Moreover, they have the characteristics of seriousness and having wide effects on the public. Thus, these two international elite media—Time (Asia edition) and The Economist (Asia Pacific edition)—were chosen for analysis of their coverage on China and the Beijing Olympics.