Journalism and Foreign Policy

This edited collection brings together critical and up-to-date assessments of how mainstream American and British media cover their respective foreign policies, paying special attention to ‘official enemies’.

In the age of the internet and social media, the reporting and commentary on world events by mainstream Western media remains tightly bound by the way in which Western governments promote their framing. This book explores the extent to which historical and recent Western media coverage has reflected and continues to reflect the foreign policies of the United States and the United Kingdom towards ten non-Western countries: Afghanistan, China, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, Palestine, Russia, Serbia, Syria, and Vietnam. Chapters analyse media coverage before, during and after war and geo-political and economic conflicts. Drawing from diverse perspectives and methods, including historical analysis, content analysis, critical discourse analysis, and critical linguistics, Journalism and Foreign Policy offers original insight into the Western media’s representation of important global events and developments, as well as the key scholarly issues of propaganda and digital media, across a wide range of recent coverage.

This volume is key reading for academics and students in the areas of foreign policy and international politics, international communication, media content analysis, and journalism.

Jesse Owen Hearns-Branaman is Associate Professor of International Journalism and Head of the Department of Media and Communication at Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College. His research interests include post-structuralism, ideology, critical linguistics, political economy of news, comparative journalism, tourism, and epistemological theory. He has published two books, Journalism and the Philosophy of Truth: Beyond Objectivity and Balance (2016) and The Political Economy of News in China: Manufacturing Harmony (2015).

Tabe Bergman is Director of the MSc Media and Communication and the Deputy Head of the Department of Media and Communication at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, in Suzhou, China. His research focuses on global media and journalism. He has published over 15 refereed articles and book chapters, and is the author of The Dutch Media Monopoly (2014). Before entering academia, he was a freelance journalist, a web editor, and a global news editor with the Associated Press.