Media coverage and public perceptions of the THAAD event in China, the United States, and South Korea: a cross-national network agenda-setting study

Abstract

Based on original data gathered from China, the United States, and South Korea, this study explores the relationship between media representations and public opinions concerning the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea. Further, this study validates the network agenda-setting (NAS) model in multiple social contexts. This study’s supportive results confirm the NAS effects on both implicit and explicit public agendas, further expanding current NAS research. From a cross-nationally comparative perspective, this study investigates how NAS effects vary across countries, which is particularly important in the age of globalization, offering valuable contributions to an improved understanding of the NAS model. The study’s findings illustrate substantial differences between media agendas and variations in the NAS effects across countries, providing empirical evidence of national traits as potential contingent agenda-setting conditions.

Keywords:

• Network agenda-setting
• cross-national comparative research
• network analysis
• THAAD
• data visualization

Acknowledgement

Supported by Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (2019THZWJC59).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Qiaolei Jiang

Qiaolei Jiang is an associate professor at Tsinghua University, China. Her research interests include media psychology, the uses and implications of new communication technologies, globalization, and popular culture. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, and she has won awards and honors from international conferences and institutions.

Yang Cheng

Yang Cheng is an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA. Her research interests include social media effects, relationship management, crisis communication, and agenda-setting and agenda-building research.

Sung Kyum Cho

Sung Kyum Cho is a professor at Chungnam National University, South Korea. His research interests include quantitative social research and political communication.