China and the United States press from 1949--1989: Critical events foreign policy analysis

This thesis is a content analysis of The New York Times and The Washington Post from 1949-1989 during nine critical events involving the United States and China. It examines Berry's (1990) perspective that the press is dependent on government officials at the outset of a critical event but becomes more independent in assessing foreign policy as time passes. Berry's perspective was not supported. Press coverage was fairly neutral on U.S. policy at both time periods. The press was also fairly neutral toward China, despite its threat to U.S. national security. These findings support Tuchman's (1972) concept of objectivity. The press was concerned with maintaining objective coverage, which involved reporting both sides of an issue. This balancing act produced neutral coverage toward both policy and China and therefore did not support Berry's perspective.