Media and Government

Media and Government 1 COM/225 Version 5

University of Phoenix Material

Read the following two short articles about air quality at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Links to the articles may be found on the Electronic Reserve Reading for this week. Answer the questions in the chart with complete sentences.

China can't fully fix air quality problem for Olympics. (2008, July 16). Space Daily.

Beijing able to honor Olympic commitments: City party chief. (2008, July 21). Xinhua News Agency.

According to Each Article American Source Chinese Source

What is the cause of the poor air quality?

What steps is the Chinese government taking to improve the air quality?

How effective have these steps been?

What is the stance—attitude and tone—of the article? Provide examples to support your interpretation.

In what way may the differences between these articles be attributed to governmental influence on the media?

In describing libertarian perspectives, Vivian states that “human beings (can) come to know great truths by applying reason” (2011, p. 399). How is this attitude reflected in the American article?

Vivian states that the premise of authoritarian media systems is

Copyright © 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2008 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Media and Government 2 COM/225 Version 5 that “the government is infallible, which places its policies beyond questioning” (2011, p. 397). How is this attitude reflected in the Chinese article?

Vivian, J. (2011). The media of mass communication (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.