The Global Citizen and the International Media

Abstract

/ This article uses cosmopolitanism as a theoretical basis for the investigation and analysis of the global corporate and state media’s normative roles in human rights and democracy. Through the case studies of CNN and Xinhua’s reportage of the Tibetan protests in 2008, the article observes patterns of ideological coalescence between western capitalist hegemony and the big western media conglomerates such as CNN. It argues that, as a good global corporate citizen, CNN undoubtedly made contributions in exposing human rights abuses in Tibet, but also unwittingly worked to advance the interests of a manipulative and unjust neoliberal international order that uses human rights as a political tool. This is demonstrated not only through CNN’s selective articulation of human rights, but also the worrying coincidence between its ideological construction of the Tibet story and the rebuke of China’s human rights record by the western governments and other western institutions. While Xinhua provided an alternative discourse to that of human rights, it was observed that whereas nationalism arguably protects China’s revolutionary legacy and its modernization project, the discourse was also largely authoritarian and acted in contradiction to some of the constitutionally entrenched civil and political liberties of minorities while also raising cynicism about the Chinese government’s commitment to international human rights laws that it ratified and acceded to.

Strengthening nationalism and love of homeland in the global era through citizenship education as national defense education

“…The behavior of loving the homeland provides benefits in protecting the sovereignty of the country. Moyo (2010) asserted that theoretically, as a global corporate citizen, a citizen has a building of knowledge that is not only an ideological construction but is also involved in solving it in society. Therefore, nationalism and love for the homeland, it will relate well to the interests of the nation and state.…”

Constructing (Il)Legitimate Democracy: Populism and Power Concentration in Newspaper Discourse on Venezuela

“…This is important to keep in mind a post-Chávez context where the new socialist president Nicolás Maduro was elected by a close margin in 2013, in contrast to Chávez's landslide victories. Conversely, if neglecting such contexts of political and economic power, discourses on democracy instead risk serving to legitimize the existent power-balance of global capitalism (see Moyo 2010;also Duncan 2012). In this respect, the news media does little to act as a watchdog against power, but instead serves to limit the critique of neoliberalism and capitalism in the name of democracy.…”

“…This research has stressed the importance of elite ideology in how the media constructs foreign political subjects and events as compatible with democracy (Garyantes and Murphy 2010;Herman and Chomsky 2002, 87-142;Kim 2000); it has given insight into how discourses on democracy, among others, are intertwined with the legitimization of a neoliberal world order (Moyo 2010) and of US national interests (Duncan 2012).…”

Differentiated “Others”: Representations of the European Union and the United States From Chinese State Media in COVID-19-Related News Reports

“…Though there is literature suggesting China’s image has seen a slight improvement a decade ago (e.g., Moyo, 2010), but that did not stop the mounting Sinophobic discourse in the US media’s representations of China (Lams, 2016), which is often fueled by the stories on human right abuses and political suppression (Lee, 2002; Liss, 2003; Stone & Xiao, 2007; Syed, 2010). Moyo (2010) compared the reports of CNN and Xinhua news agency’s reports on the Tibetan protests and pointed out that the CNN intended to advance a manipulative and unjust neoliberal international order through its selective articulation of human right and use it as a political tool. As Hall (2000) suggested, the US media has always used political and ideological frames to depict China’s event, and the recurring themes of human right issues in US media’s representations of China, which partly derive from the longstanding anti-Communist and Sinophobic sentiments in the West, are still present in the US media’s coverage of China.…”

“…Although China has emerged as a rising power with political and economic influence across the globe, “a Sinophobic dimension remains a constitutive aspect of the discourse” (Ono & Yang Jiao, 2008, p. 409). Though there is literature suggesting China’s image has seen a slight improvement a decade ago (e.g., Moyo, 2010), but that did not stop the mounting Sinophobic discourse in the US media’s representations of China (Lams, 2016), which is often fueled by the stories on human right abuses and political suppression (Lee, 2002; Liss, 2003; Stone & Xiao, 2007; Syed, 2010). Moyo (2010) compared the reports of CNN and Xinhua news agency’s reports on the Tibetan protests and pointed out that the CNN intended to advance a manipulative and unjust neoliberal international order through its selective articulation of human right and use it as a political tool.…”