Eris or Erinyes: Comparing news representations of anti-globalization movements.

摘要

This is a comparative study of media coverage of anti-globalization movements. The massive protests against the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Third Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999, known as Battle of Seattle, was an unprecedented marker in the anti-global capitalism movement. Subsequently, massive anti-globalization protests took place all over the world.; This study utilized critical theories to examine media representations of the anti-globalization movements in the United States and China. Although operating in different political, economical, social, and cultural contexts, the U.S. and Chinese mainstream press had strikingly similar views of globalization. They both took a neoliberalist perspective. Both the U.S. and Chinese news discourse justified globalization as beneficial and concealed or ignored inequalities caused and exacerbated by capitalist global expansion.; However, the U.S. and Chinese press did construct some aspects anti-globalization movements differently. The U.S. press represented the protesters as the character of Eris, the Ancient Greek goddess of discord or strife, who created trouble for others. According to the U.S. press, the protesters did not have a valid cause. They were nothing but troublemakers. They caused bad publicity for globalization, disrupted the social order, obstructed any real discussions, prevented the elites from helping the poor, and deprived corporations of opportunities for making profits. This discoursive construction justified globalization through containing anti-globalization protests.; In contrast to the U.S. press, Chinese news discourse constructed the protesters as Erinyes, the furious revenging goddesses of retributive justice in Greek mythology, who punished crimes beyond the reach of human justice. The Chinese press argued that the current form of globalization is not fair for developing countries, thus a new global economic order is needed. Anti-globalization activists took up this righteous cause to fight for justice on behalf of developing countries. This media representation called for equality only for developing countries but not for the people in China.; In conclusion, both the U.S. and Chinese press are serving the political and business elites in their countries. The press in these two countries should be democratized through establishing a participatory model of the media and cultivating critical media literacy. In the case of the Chinese press, measures also should be taken to resist cultural imperialism and preserve Chinese values and traditions.