國立虎尾科技大學 |

When Global Conspiracy Theories Become Local Propaganda : = The Influence of China and U.S. Right-Wing COVID-19 Narratives on Taiwan.

Record Type:	Language materials, manuscript : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	When Global Conspiracy Theories Become Local Propaganda :/
Reminder of title:	The Influence of China and U.S. Right-Wing COVID-19 Narratives on Taiwan.
Author:	Li, Wei-Ping.
Description:	1 online resource (317 pages)
Notes:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-04, Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International85-04A.
Subject:	Journalism. -
Online resource:	click for full text (PQDT)
ISBN:	9798380583503

When Global Conspiracy Theories Become Local Propaganda : = The Influence of China and U.S. Right-Wing COVID-19 Narratives on Taiwan.
Li, Wei-Ping.

When Global Conspiracy Theories Become Local Propaganda :The Influence of China and U.S. Right-Wing COVID-19 Narratives on Taiwan. - 1 online resource (317 pages)

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 85-04, Section: A.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Maryland, College Park, 2023.

Includes bibliographical references

This dissertation examined how foreign conspiracy theories propagated by authoritarian countries traverse national borders and are transformed into "news" in domestic media systems. Through the lens of strategic narrative and hybrid media theory, it also assessed the impact of these conspiracy theories incorporated into the transnational information campaign as propaganda tools. Using the controversial COVID-19 virus-origin theory as a case study, this dissertation examined how COVID-19 virus-origin conspiracy theories were constructed as propaganda by Chinese state media and how these conspiracy theories influenced the media in Taiwan, which has historically been the main target of China's information influence activities.Through content analysis, the study found that the Chinese state media constructed its narratives about the origin of the COVID-19 virus by repeating consistent themes, recurrent terms, and assigning distinctive personalities to key protagonists in news events. The Chinese state media portrayed China as a team player that collaborated with the international community by sharing data openly. However, the United States and other Western countries attempted to contain the rise of China by attacking it with conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus. These Chinese narratives were mostly rejected by mainstream Taiwanese media. Although Taiwanese media mentioned some conspiracy theories promoted by Chinese state media, Taiwanese media were aware of Chinese propaganda and disinformation. They also viewed the disputes between China and the United States regarding the origin of the virus as a struggle for power between the two countries. Even though Taiwanese media and Chinese state media used identical terms to describe the same news events about the origin of the COVID-19 virus and highlighted the same protagonists, Taiwanese media presented narratives that were in stark contrast to Chinese media. The research concluded that Chinese state media had limited influence on Taiwanese media in the case of COVID-19 virus-origin narratives. Nonetheless, this study also uncovered a concerning trend: a number of Taiwanese media articles amplified conspiracy theories disseminated by right-wing American media outlets, such as the War Room, Newsmax, or overseas Chinese media organizations notorious for spreading disinformation. The use of disinformation from foreign media as news sources is one of the vulnerabilities of Taiwanese media in the battle against foreign propaganda and conspiracy theories.This dissertation adds to the understanding of the influence of conspiracy theories propagated by authoritarian regimes and identifies elements crucial to their success or failure as propaganda tools. It establishes a way of operationalizing strategic narrative through content analysis. Moreover, it sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of media systems in democratic nations when battling against foreign propaganda. The findings of this study are useful not only to Taiwan but also to democratic and open societies worldwide.

Electronic reproduction.
Ann Arbor, Mich. :
ProQuest,
2024

Mode of access: World Wide Web

ISBN: 9798380583503Subjects--Topical Terms:

659797
Journalism.
Subjects--Index Terms:

ChinaIndex Terms--Genre/Form:

554714
Electronic books.

When Global Conspiracy Theories Become Local Propaganda : = The Influence of China and U.S. Right-Wing COVID-19 Narratives on Taiwan.
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