Domestic Mass Media Research Articles

Chinese ENGOs and the Heavy-Metal Pollution of the Consumer-Electronics Industry: Exploring the Constraining Factors

The heavy-metal pollution of the consumer-electronics industry has been a serious environmental problem in China. Since 2010, Chinese ENGOs have taken a few measures to address this challenge. Under the influence of other stakeholders, Chinese ENGOs have only played a limited role. To further explore the potential of domestic ENGOs, it would be necessary to understand how they have approached the heavy-metal challenge and why their contribution has been moderate. By using the method of “process tracing,” this paper presents a preliminary attempt to trace and generate localized knowledge of Chinese ENGOs’ approach and the influence of other stakeholders. Specifically, this paper divides the actions of Chinese ENGOs into the following three phases: initial participation, progressive involvement of MNCs, and collaborative tracking and online disclosure. Then, it traces the participation of Chinese mass media, domestic suppliers, local governments, and communities. It argues that the following six constraining factors have contributed to shaping the limited role of those Chinese ENGOs: (1) the complexity of the consumer-electronics supplier network; (2) Chinese ENGOs’ lack of leverage on MNCs; (3) Chinese ENGOs’ shortage of financial and human resources under a broad agenda; (4) domestic mass media’s lack of long-term interest; (5) reluctant participation of Chinese suppliers and local governments; and (6) conflicting interests within local communities. Three policy options for further exploring the potential of Chinese ENGOs are discussed, including financial and technical support, further engagement of international ENGOs, and supportive policy-making and interregional coordination by local governments.

The Study on the Political Symbols of ‘Moon Jae-in Administration’ Policies in Domestic Mass Media : Analyzed focusing on major domestic papers’ editorials

The Study on the Political Symbols of ‘Moon Jae-in Administration’ Policies in Domestic Mass Media : Analyzed focusing on major domestic papers’ editorials

Bringing the War Home to the United States and East Germany: In the Year of the Pig and Pilots in Pajamas

In the late 1960s—at the height of the Vietnam War—two documentaries produced in opposition to the crisis were released in the United States and East Germany. Bridging the Cold War’s mythic cultural divide, In the Year of the Pig (produced by the American independent filmmaker Emile de Antonio in 1968) and Pilots in Pajamas (a 1967 joint effort by the East German state filmmakers Walter Heynowski and Gerhard Scheumann) represent parallel projects, in terms of both topic and commitment to critical mass-media practices. This article posits that in addition to their advocacy for the end of the war in Vietnam, the filmmakers used the crisis to critique domestic mass media and to model its alternative as a national, even patriotic, necessity.

A silver medal project: the partial success of Russia's soft power in Sochi 2014

This paper argues that the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, represented a soft power attempt to introduce a new conception of “Russian-ness” to both domestic and international audiences. Pre- and post-event attitudes regarding Russia were captured at the international, domestic, and local levels from popular opinion surveys, international and domestic mass media and social networks, interviews, and participant observation. The paper concludes that while the international aspirations failed, the domestic population – after some notable problems – accepted this new sense of Russian-ness. Though the Sochi Olympics did not change international perceptions, the games were instrumental in consolidating domestic power.

Beyond the Myth: Reassessing the Security Crisis on the Korean Peninsula during the Mid-1960s

have been a surprisingly high number of clashes between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since the signing of the Armistice Agreement in 1953. While it is well known that the brinkmanship strategy of the DPRK regime was a crucial cause of the clashes between the ROK and the DPRK, the ROK's role in provoking the DPRK has generally been ignored. Most incidents prior to the early 1990s could not have been thoroughly examined because the ROK government maintained a complete control over the domestic mass media, even though a few specialists on the NorthSouth relationship and newspapers in the ROK have begun to analyze the ROK's responsibility in very recent conflicts. More specifically, some scholars argued that the relationship between the ROK and the DPRK deteriorated significantly after the inauguration of President Lee Myung-Bak in February 2008, due to a new policy toward Korea in the Lee government.1 The so-called North Wind (Pukp'ung) incident shortly before the April 1 1 general election in 1996 is another case deserving attention. Since early April of that year, the DPRK's gunboats and heavily armed soldiers had darted in and out of South Korea. In particular, nearly 200 DPRK soldiers armed with machine guns and mortars repeatedly crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). After an investigation conducted by the Kim Dae-Jung government two years later, it became clear that the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) had been the instigator in the DPRK's violation of the Armistice Agreement. This was because the unstable security situation during the election would have benefited the conservative ruling party rather than the

The Political Impact of New Information Sources and Technologies in Indonesia

This article focuses on the explosion of international media coverage of Indonesia and the role of the Internet as two major factors in the unfolding of Indonesian politics at home and abroad during the last years of the New Order. Both international media coverage of Indonesia and the Internet had their primary impact at the level of elite politics, with the effect on the remainder of society being highly mediated by the local elites and the domestic mass media. The Internet served not only as a source of information, but also as a tool for activism and coordination among an increasingly disenchanted opposition.