Newspaper portrayal of Chinese outward foreign direct investment in Latin American newspapers: A content analysis

Abstract

The current study is a content analysis of international economic news about Chinese outward foreign direct investment in Latin American countries from corresponding Latin American newspapers. We studied the portrayal of Chinese outward foreign direct investment among 14 different Latin American newspapers. The study aims at illustrating differences between newspaper portrayals of Chinese outward foreign direct investment in the region, with a special focus on the possible factors that influence the editorial selection of relevant news frames on international economic news. We found that the use of conflict and economic consequence frames corresponds to the editorial distinct focuses on either geopolitical interpretations or economic interpretations of international economic news in the case of Chinese outward foreign direct investment in Latin America. We also found attitudes and perspectives adopted in the portrayals are different both on a national basis and on an editorial basis.

Mundo China: The media partnership reframing China's image in Brazil

“…Examining five news outlets from Colombia, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, Ospina Estupinan (2017) revealed how China's image is often negative in Spanish-speaking countries. Zhu and Wang (2018) focused on how Chinese outward foreign direct investment is portrayed in 14 newspapers across eight countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. With this paper, we contribute to the understanding of China's image in Brazil, by examining news co-production between media organisations from both countries.…”

Nuances of Public Diplomacy: China in Chilean Op-Eds (2018-2021)

“…In comparison, coverage on this topic in newspapers in other countries tended to be more negative (e.g., Argentina, Colombia) or neutral (e.g., Brazil, Mexico). Zhu & Wang (2018) also found that national differences influenced the differences in journalistic tone rather than the political stances of the newspapers analyzed. In addition, their content analysis shows that both mainstream outlets El Mercurio and La Tercera favored economic consequences over conflicts in their coverage of Chinese investments in Latin America and that the consequences of these investments were mostly portrayed as mutually beneficial.…”

“…Furthermore, many have argued that Chile is an interesting case study for understanding the Chinese geopolitical and economic strategy towards Latin America (Gachúz, 2012) since Chile may work as a demonstration of Beijing's benign influence in the region (Labarca, 2013). While this article focuses on elites as political actors and not on the state, following Zhu and Wang (2018), we believe that the examination of editorials and opinion columns allows for the understanding of the attitudes of a country's elite class and/or government towards Chinese presence in the region.…”

Assessing China's news coverage and soft power in Latin America in the wake of the Belt and Road Initiative (2013–2021)

“…Cardenal (2017) explains that negative environmental aspects of China's economic projects in Peru have been played down or suppressed in the Peruvian news media. On the other hand, the frames of “conflict” and “economic consequences” were also found in stories about Chinese investments in Latin America (Zhu and Wang, 2018). Most news flow studies have focused on news agencies or media sources (at the macro-level).…”