Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: "Times Mirror"/Pew Research Center polls between 1994 and 2006 allow us to explore the seeming contradiction between declining exposure to traditional news media and essential constancy in how much people say they enjoy keeping up with the news.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper analyzes newspaper coverage of immigration reform in mainstream English-language newspapers prior to, and following passage of immigration reform legislation by the US House of Representatives in December, 2005. The purpose of this project is twofold: 1) To illuminate the media’s participation in the social construction of the policy “problem” and acceptable “solutions” to it; 2) To illuminate how the social construction of the policy problem and solution contributes to the social construction of a particular group of people in America, namely Latino immigrants. The analysis presented here is based upon a qualitative analysis of a large random sample of newspaper articles published in the northeast and southwest United States during August 2005, April 2006, and October 2006. The analysis reveals both consistency and significant changes in the news coverage of immigration reform between April 2005 and October 2006. I discuss two key findings at length. First, changes in coverage between August 2005 and October 2006 portray an expansion in the terms of the debate about immigration reform that has proven significant in the course of the policy’s development. Second, while many articles fail to explain the need for immigration reform, the coverage generally portrays the problem as “illegal immigrants” from south of the US-Mexican border. This portrayal contributes to the social construction of Latinos as the Other. This project therefore enhances our understanding of the social construction of immigration policy and its subjects, and the print media’s contribution to this process.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Despite the deepening economic interdependence between China and Japan, their political relationship is deteriorating, which is frequently described as ?cold politics, hot economics? during recent years. Several incidents regarding Sino-Japanese relations had shown that Chinese netizens exercised their influence on Chinese foreign policy decision-making. This paper argues the April 2005 anti-Japanese demonstration held in China can be regarded as an exercise of brinkmanship by the Chinese government, which pacified the growing anger among the netizens on one hand, and tried to ask for Japan?s concession on the other hand. Because of the growing Chinese popular nationalism, Chinese government can no longer make its foreign policy totally free from public scrutiny. When the traditional state-centric realist and state-interdependent liberalist theories are inadequate to address contemporary Chinese foreign policy due to the increasing consideration of the anti-Japanese sentiments among the Chinese netizens, strategic approach can be another way.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: For the past three decades, more and more states have experienced democratic transition and are increasingly facing the issue of transitional justice ? a question of how to seek to address gross and systemic human rights violations committed by past regimes. Among 90 countries that experienced democratic transition, 35 countries have adopted truth commissions between 1974 and 2004. Truth commission which is a policy option containing an international norm of transitional justice and human rights is increasingly and steadily adopted by governments worldwide. Students of constructivism are interested in understanding how international norms influence state behavior and norm diffusion is an essential element for their explanation. However, few studies focus and examine the actual process of norm diffusion. This study was designed to explain the global norm diffusion of a truth commission. By examining previous studies and my cross-national statistical analysis of 90 countries between 1974 and 2004, I learned that regional precedents, domestic groups, international involvement, and culture have an important influence on truth commission adoption. I explored this further in this research by looking at a very specific case of South Korea. During 1948 and 1954, communist-led uprising in Jeju Island and subsequent suppression by ultra anti-communist government led to a massacre of 15,000 civilians. Tragic incident has been hidden under anti-communist regime for about 50 years until the enactment of the special law in year 2000 by democratized regime. I examined the process of adopting truth commissions in Korea by different phases focusing on the actor, process, motive, and result in each phases. I also examined the working or truth commissions and the cause and impact of adopting truth commissions. The methods I applied is archival research as well as in-depth interviews with government officials, activists, journalist, and victims.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: The current study examined the third person effect (TPE) in relation to media coverage of the shooting incident at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly known as Virginia Tech. This study investigated whether three groups (non-Korean Americans, Korean Americans, Koreans living in the US) differed from one another in the amount of media influence they perceived on the American public and on the Korean American public compared to themselves. Additionally, the current study examined the extent to which individuals’ focus on the shooter and their perceptions of media bias were related to TPE. The results showed support for TPE in terms of media coverage resulting in negative feelings toward Korean Americans and Koreans. Individuals’ focus on the shooter and their perceptions of media bias against Korean Americans were positively related to the extent to which individuals perceived greater media influence on the American public than on themselves for media coverage of the incident generating negative feelings about Koreans and Korean Americans (i.e., American TPE for Koreans and Koreans Americans).