National Identities, Structure, and Press Images of Nations: The Case of Japan and the United States

• Published in: Mass communication & society Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 57 - 85
• Main Author: Luther, Catherine A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01-02-2002
• Subjects: Editorials; International Relations; Japan; National Identity; News Coverage; United States of America
• ISSN: 1520-5436; 1532-7825
• DOI: 10.1207/S15327825MCS0501_5

The main theoretical supposition of this study is that press disseminated images of nations are largely manifestations of national identities. It is assumed that even with structural changes in objective political economic conditions, coterminous changes in images may not take place. To examine this supposition, samples of press writings in the United States and Japan were qualitatively analyzed. U.S.-Japan relations from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s were used as the study's context and time frame. The findings show that, although national identities appear to be playing a role in image formations, structural conditions also appear to be influencing the form of the images.