The Guiding Power of Media on Public Opinion in the Internet Age -- Focus on the Construction of National Image

Abstract

The change in media communication methods has led to a transformation in the audience and the subject and object of information. The diversity of information sources has made everyone become a producer and influencer, which has resulted in a multitude of voices and the multilateralism of public opinion on the Internet, posing a greater challenge to the media guidance power. The focus of this paper is on the impact of media guidance on public opinion, especially in how countries use public opinion to construct their national image. It begins with a literature review of previous researches on media changes, the relationship between media guidance power and public opinion, and the self-definition and other-definition of national images. Then, news articles from China and the United States are selected to analyze the performance of media in shaping their national images through content analysis and comparative analysis, and summarize the generality and feasibility of media guidance of public opinion. There is a problem of small sample size as quantitative analysis is unfeasible due to the timeliness and large number of news items. It is hoped that better solutions can be explored in future research.