© 2013 Jing Ning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CCTV-9’S COVERAGE OF THE IRAQ WAR AND THE EVOLUTION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TELEVISION NEWS IN CHINA by JING NING A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Communication, Information and Library Studies Written under the direction of Dr. Montague Kern And approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey MAY, 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION CCTV-9’s Coverage of the Iraq War and the Evolution of English Language Television News in China By JING NING Dissertation Director: Professor Montague Kern This research aims to find out how China Central Television (CCTV) International (CCTV-9) news programs shaped the presentation of the 2003 Iraq War, specifically how news making processes in China’s English-language TV channel influenced the content of the news. It examines how the news production team negotiated with its upper management and the Chinese government in producing TV news. By drawing on the visuals from Western news sources such as Reuters, Associated Press Television News (APTN) and CNN and targeting an English-speaking audience, CCTV-9’s presentation of foreign news is quite different from the CCTV domestic channels, all of which are controlled by the Chinese government. ii The research methods used in the study include in-depth interviews with the news production team together with textual analysis of the news line-ups and transcripts of news stories and semiotic analysis of promotional spot visuals. The research finds that the CCTV-9 news team developed concepts of “objectivity” and “balance reporting” different from those of the Western media channels. This research also finds that despite its position in a top-down hierarchy within the CCTV operation, the channel’s news production team sought to achieve both its and the government’s goal of producing news stories which would challenge BBC and CNN. They were, however, able to employ the “tactics” delineated in Michel de Certeau’s resistance model and conceptualized by the researcher as “color adaptation,” based on the processes used in the Chinese English-language newsroom. Thus, it is feasible for the weaker party in the hierarchy to successfully confront the higher power, a task that proved difficult yet not impossible. From a broader international politics perspective, this dissertation examines CCTV-9 and its subsequent relaunches after the Iraq War in 2003. In conclusion, government control would constrain the English-language channel’s potential to be positioned as a competitor of BBC or CNN. Based on its pioneering example as an instrument of building up China’s “soft power,” the researcher develops a new model of regulated system, referred to as Special Media Zone (SMZ), which guarantees the news channel’s independence from the government interference. Keywords: CCTV-9; TV news; relaunch; soft power; Confucianism; benevolence and hegemony; Chinese media coverage of 2003 Iraq War iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The entire process of writing this dissertation has been a truly bittersweet experience for me. I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to my advisor, Dr. Montague Kern, for her consistent efforts to offer me insightful instructions. These instructions range from the early stage of discussing how to broach the topic and narrow it down, to recommending relevant literature to explore, to explaining how to revise each chapter and editing them devotedly. My thanks also go to the rest of my committee members, Dr. Susan Keith, Dr. Regina Marchi, and Dr. Simei Qing, for their guidance during the research and writing of this dissertation, especially their continuous encouragement, without which I could not have improved myself and relished my Ph.D. study at Rutgers. My gratitude goes to Joan Chabrak, who always brightens up my sky with her cheerful smiles. The Asian Languages and Cultures Department of Rutgers has generously offered me teaching opportunities as a part-time lecturer since 2006, thus supporting me financially through my doctoral student years. I would like to express my appreciation to Guo Chun, chief editor in the CCTV-9 newsroom, for sifting through heavy loads of news program archives to retrieve the ones I intended to study and for granting me access to interview my research participants. The same appreciation also belongs to my other friends and colleagues at CCTV-9 who became my research participants. Without them, this study would not have been possible. I offer my gratitude to my beloved husband, Kenith M. Conover, who so willingly proofread my dissertation in his busy schedule, with a heart filled with love and patience. iv I also extend my thanks to Charles E. Kern, whose witty remarks and sharp eyes helped make the editing process enjoyable. I am gratefully indebted to my loving parents, Shiying Ning and Yanping Liang, for their undying love and belief in me. My father, the most honorable man in my life, taught me to understand the importance of knowledge and endowed me with the persistence to face up to challenges and overcome difficulties. My loving mother, the inexhaustible source of comfort and peace in my mind, offered me care and emotional help whenever needed. They are never too far from my thoughts during my educational years, particularly in my writing of this dissertation. My younger sister, Ning Ning, provided timely and valuable suggestions in mapping out the format of my writing. Many people have contributed to and participated in this research and improved the quality of this dissertation. The remaining flaws are my own responsibility. For all those I love and respect, my thanks to all of you once more. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS............................................................................................xi ABBREVIATIONS..........................................................................................................xii NOTE ON CHINESE LANGUAGE SOURCES............................................................xiii CHAPTER I: Making English News in China: A Case Study.......................................... 1 Multi-language Coverage by CCTV................................................................. Overview of CCTV-9....................................................................................... Politics and CCTV-9: the Challenge of Making English News in China......... Rationale for Dissertation.................................................................................. Outline of Chapters............................................................................................ CHAPTER II: Literature Review, CCTV-9 in Theoretical Context and Research Questions............................................................................................................................20 Shoemaker and Reese’s Model of Influences on Media Content...................... International Journalism and the Role of Global TV News Practitioners......... Confucianism and the Role of Journalists in China........................................... A New Model to Understand CCTV-9— Serving the public and pushing boundaries…. Outline of Research Questions........................................................................... Discussion and Summary................................................................................... CHAPTER III: Methodology.............................................................................................48 Case Study Methodology........................................................................................ Interviews................................................................................................................ Textual and Semiotic Analysis................................................................................ Reflexive Journaling and Memory of the Past?....................................................... vi Self-distancing the Researcher While “Going Native”........................................... CCTV-9 News Archival Data Collection and Analysis.......................................... Ethical Issues & IRB............................................................................................... Limitations of the Methods...................................................................................... CHAPTER IV: Media’s Soft Power and CCTV-9 During the 2003 Iraq War..................66 War Rhetoric and Propaganda: the “Soft Power” of Media Discourse.......................... A Cross National Perspective: Comparing Various Countries’ Presentation of the 2003 Iraq War........................................................................................................ Building up China’s “Soft Power”: Iraq War News on CCTV-9................. Three Key News Events during the Iraq War.................................................. Discussion and Summary..............................................................................