WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/westminsterresearch The Reception of International News Channels in Hispanic Latin America: a Study on Audience Response to the Soft Power Endeavours of China, Russia and Iran Morales, P.S. This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © Mr Pablo Morales, 2019. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: ((http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] THE RECEPTION OF INTERNATIONAL NEWS CHANNELS IN HISPANIC LATIN AMERICA. A STUDY ON AUDIENCE RESPONSE TO THE SOFT POWER ENDEAVOURS OF CHINA, RUSSIA AND IRAN. By Pablo S Morales A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy London May 2019 i ABSTRACT With the aim of expanding their soft power and countering Western-led narratives in the news, China, Russia and Iran have devised a communicational strategy with news channels at the heart of it. This global media expansion has entailed the creation of a series of multilingual media outlets targeting different regions of the world. With Latin America being one of them, Spanish has arisen as a key language. Nevertheless, as the region is targeted by many competitors from Western countries and beyond, the new players face serious challenges in both trying to convey their message and earning the approval and acceptance of audiences. By looking at how Latin American viewers perceive CCTV’s Spanish language channel (now rebranded as CGTN), Russia’s RT and Iran’s HispanTV, this thesis seeks to evaluate what factors may be undermining the effectiveness of such a global media strategy targeting this particular region and how this affects these countries’ soft power ambitions. This study is based on a series of focus groups conducted in Mexico and Argentina between September and October 2016, whereby participants were shown video excerpts from the above-mentioned broadcasters and encouraged to discuss an array of different aspects. This thesis shows that changes in news consumption patterns, scarce availability and accessibility across Latin America and issues of credibility and trust in the media are some of the main challenges facing these broadcasters, thus undermining their effectiveness in creating soft power. [Keywords: soft power, CCTV, CGTN, RT, HispanTV, China, Russia, Iran, comparative] ii LIST OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................ II LIST OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ III LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................. VI LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ VII AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ........................................................................................................... VIII INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................1 1. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING AND SOFT POWER.......................................................6 1.1. INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND THE MEDIA ....................................................................................... 6 1.2. MEDIA EXPANSION OVERSEAS AND MEDIA IMPERIALISM.................................................................. 8 1.3. SOFT POWER AND THE MEDIA......................................................................................................... 14 1.4. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE AUDIENCE AND CULTURAL PROXIMITY.................................................. 18 1.5. PREVIOUS STUDIES ON INTERNATIONAL CHANNELS AND AUDIENCES ........................................... 18 1.6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 26 2. METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 28 2.1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................. 29 2.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................. 30 2.3. THE QUALITATIVE NATURE OF THIS STUDY ..................................................................................... 31 2.4. AUDIENCE RESEARCH AND FOCUS GROUPS .................................................................................. 34 2.5. SELECTION OF COUNTRIES ............................................................................................................. 35 2.6. SELECTION OF UNIVERSITIES AND RECRUITMENT OF PARTICIPANTS............................................ 38 2.6.1. El Colegio de México (Colmex) ......................................................................................... 40 2.6.2. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) .................................................... 41 2.6.3. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) ................................................................. 42 2.6.4. Universidad de Congreso (UC) ......................................................................................... 43 2.6.5. Universidad Torcuato di Tella (UTdT) .............................................................................. 43 2.6.6. Universidad Belgrano (UB) ................................................................................................ 44 2.6.7. Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) ................................................................................ 44 2.6.8. Demographics of participants in Summary ..................................................................... 45 2.7. SESSIONS STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................... 45 2.7.1. Structure of questionnaire and supporting material ....................................................... 46 2.7.2. Selection of video excerpts and criteria ........................................................................... 48 2.7.3. Analysis and discussion ..................................................................................................... 55 2.8. DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION ............................................................................................. 57 2.9. DIFFICULTIES AND SHORTCOMINGS ............................................................................................... 58 2.9.1. Universities and recruitment of participants .................................................................... 58 2.9.2. Questionnaire and supporting material ............................................................................ 59 2.9.3. Video excerpts ..................................................................................................................... 60 2.9.4. Discussion and group dynamics ....................................................................................... 61 2.9.5. Data analysis ........................................................................................................................ 61 2.10. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 62 3. MEDIA ENVIRONMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING ... 63 3.1. MEDIA LANDSCAPE IN HISPANIC LATIN AMERICA .......................................................................... 64 iii 3.1.1. Media concentration and television in Mexico ................................................................ 67 3.1.2. Media polarisation and television in Argentina ............................................................... 69 3.2. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING IN SPANISH AND LATIN AMERICA ............................................... 71 3.2.1. Broadcasters from Europe ................................................................................................. 71 3.2.2. Broadcasters from North America .................................................................................... 74 3.2.3. Broadcasters from East Asia ............................................................................................. 75 3.2.4. Broadcasters from the Middle East .................................................................................. 76 3.3. INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION CHANNELS AND LATIN AMERICA ....................................................... 77 3.3.1. News networks from the industrialised “West”................................................................ 78 3.3.2. Regional politics and broadcasting ..................................................................................