| This dissertation examined, via five research questions and agenda-setting theory, whether the global Cold War's demise and resulting post-Cold War period led to more government-independent American press coverage of Sino-American relations. The study analyzed, during the Cold War's demise through the post-Cold War period, how American press coverage presents Sino-American news and how the press and government interact in Sino-American foreign policy making.; Although this study reviewed pre-Cold War to post-Cold War Sino-American press coverage to place this current topic into context, it focused on its quantitative analysis of nine years (1985 to 1993) of Sino-American coverage during three stages: the global Cold War's demise (January 1, 1985 to November 8, 1989), transitional (November 10, 1989 to December 24, 1991) and post-Cold War (December 26, 1991 to December 31, 1993).; In this dissertation, Sino-American relations coverage from two U.S. prestige press newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post, was compared to Sino-American relations coverage found in three government publications, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States and the U.S. Department of State Bulletin/Dispatch. Content analysis was used to analyze and compare press and government articles in a similar manner. The study's units of analysis were each article and each month during the study period. The sample consisted of a total of 1,576 articles, 1,177 press articles and 399 government articles.; The dissertation's main finding concluded, via basic descriptive statistics and time series analysis, that Sino-American press coverage from the Cold War's demise through the post-Cold War period was more government independent than its Cold War predecessor. Ever since the global Cold War containment paradigm began crumbling during the Cold War's demise, each administration has been unable or unwilling to substitute this out-dated Cold War paradigm with an adequate replacement. Accordingly, it seems that Cold War demise to post-Cold War administrations have been less successful at setting the press' agenda. In other words, the American press covered Sino-American relations more independently during the Cold War's demise and beyond than during the Cold War itself. |
