The IAFOR Journal of Asian Studies
Volume I – Issue I – Winter 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Asian Studies
Volume I – Issue I – Winter 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Asian Studies
Volume I – Issue I – Winter 2014

Mass media and social media shape public perceptions, and in turn, this brings about
an increasing level of public awareness and citizen participation in the flow of news
and information. The impact of Japan’s recent economic policy shift, Abenomics, set
off an avalanche of national and international news stories throughout 2013 in both
print and social media.

A quantitative content analysis of the print and social media coverage of the
Abenomics news story is explored using the comparative approaches of Galtung and
Ruge (1965). Print publication data from 12 countries were analyzed for content and
classified into Positive, Neutral and Negative categories. Comments and discussion
were drawn from news aggregators and blogs then classified into a taxonomy partially
derived from Warner (2010), Churches (2009), Jin (2012) and Cardon and Prieur
(2007).

The conceptual design guiding this research focuses on the interplay between
previously separated channels of news communication (print and social media),
resulting in a technological convergence. This integration creates a new dialogic
model of news dissemination.

While the parameters of this evolving dialogic model of news dissemination have yet
to be rigorously defined, it suggests a new paradigm for public awareness and
understanding of complex issues through the news media.

Keywords: Abe, Abenomics, Japanese economy, content analysis, social media, news
reporting

Seiko Yasumoto
Jason Bainbridge