INTERNATIONAL NEWS AND LOCAL CONTEXTS: FRAMING OF THE EU’S COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY IN NEW ZEALAND NEWSPAPERS (2004-2005)

Abstract

This chapter continues one of the core themes of this book, by looking at perceptions of Europe, and of the European Union (EU), from the outside. The section offers a framework which helps to analyse selected news reporting surrounding European integration and the European Union in New Zealand. It investigates the ways in which the presentation of European Union related topics in New Zealand news media helps to shape public opinion relating to the conceptualisation of the EU as an international actor. The piece is based on an investigation of dominant media framings and angles of reporting of the European Union and of perceptions and representations of Europe in New Zealand. The chapter sits in a wider context of mutual perceptions – and misperceptions – across Asia and Europe. The focus of the argument lies on the ways in which meanings and understandings are formed and conveyed, in the context of the visibility of the European Union in selected New Zealand print media.