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Whose Voices Shape China’s Global Image? Links Between Reporting Conditions and Quoted Sources in News about China

Abstract The global public’s growing interest in China and the controversial debates around international media’s coverage of the country make it vital to investigate how China is represented in such reports. The existing literature, however, only examines which topics international China coverage addresses. This article assesses how the country is covered focusing on the use of quotes. Besides showing who is quoted in articles from the leading weekly publications, The Economist (UK), Newsweek (US), Der Spiegel and Die Zeit (Germany) as well as Le Monde Diplomatique (France), it links local reporting conditions with the types of sources that are quoted. Methodologically, the article combines quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles and qualitative expert interviews with foreign correspondents based in Beijing. Key findings are that reflecting the Chinese government’s controls and public relations (PR) efforts, the Chinese central government is by far the most frequently quoted state institution, while others, such as local government or the police, hardly appear at all. Because of Chinese scholars’ growing reluctance to speak to them, foreign journalists rely heavily on experts working abroad. Lastly, Chinese news products are heavily drawn upon, both for direct quotes and story ideas, mainly because they are easily accessible.