Image of a city in the local and global media: Suzhou as a case

Abstract

Suzhou City in East China is well known within the country for its booming economy and rich culture but less so internationally. This study focuses on a comparative analysis of the construction of Suzhou's image in different cities and countries through multiple media platforms to explore the variations in themes, narrative styles and promotion strategies. Adopting the quantitative approach, the authors selected 1265 texts from 2015 to 2020 for a content analysis. Findings show that both the local and global media often report on Suzhou as a tourist city. However, Suzhou's local media report more on the city's history and lifestyle than their global counterparts, while the global media more on the city's culture and arts. Moreover, Suzhou's local media preferred adopting narrative styles that created visual symbols and used corporates, brands and activities for place branding, while the global media would use personal storytelling more for interaction with its target audiences.