Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (February 3 - May 22):
Chester‘s dissertation project incorporates quantitative text analysis of Chinese media where he finds evidence that coverage of foreign countries differs across media institutions according to the regime type of the country being covered. However, he cannot say with any certainty what mechanisms drive this pattern without speaking with the people who produce news in China: journalists. Is foreign coverage mediated by journalists’ preferences and beliefs? If so, what journalist backgrounds and incentives are likely to mediate the tone of foreign news coverage? To better understand these mechanisms, he intends to perform interviews with journalists in China to gain a qualitative understanding of what factors influence their reporting behavior.