Media dependencies in a changing media environment: The case of the 2003 SARS epidemic in China

New Media and Society

Volumn 9, Issue 6, 2007, Pages 987-1009

  Tai, Zixue ^a   Sun, Tao ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY   (United States)

^b PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Chinese media; Health communication; Internet; Media dependency; SARS; SMS

Indexed keywords

EID: 36048989638     PISSN: 14614448     EISSN: 14617315     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1461444807082691     Document Type: Article

References (95)

1. A (2004) ' News Summary: Chinese Mobile Phone Users Surpassed 300 Million ', 22 June, URL (consulted June 2005). http://www.8080.net/html/200406/ m221044580.html
2. Associated Press (2003) ' Chinese Government Figures Show SARS Outbreak in Southern Province May Be Slowing Down ', wire news, 3 April.
3. Ball-Rokeach, S.J. (1985) ' The Origins of Individual Media System Dependency: A Sociological Framework ', Communication Research 12 (4). 485 - 510.
4. Ball-Rokeach, S.J. (1998) ' A Theory of Media Power and a Theory of Media Use: Different Stories, Questions and Ways of Thinking ', Mass Communication & Society 1 (1 - 2). 5 - 40.
5. Ball-Rokeach, S.J. and M.L. DeFleur (1976) ' A Dependency Model of Mass-media Effects ', Communication Research 3 (1). 3 - 21.
6. Ball-Rokeach, S.J. and M.L. DeFleur (1979) ' A Dependency Model of Mass-media Effects ', in Gary Gumpert (ed.) Inter/Media, pp. 81 - 96. New York: Free Press.
7. Ball-Rokeach, S.J., M. Rokeach and J.W. Grube (1984) The Great American Values Test: Influencing Behavior and Belief through Television. New York: Free Press.
8. Ball-Rokeach, S.J., G.J., Power, K.K. Guthrie and H.R. Waring (1990) ' Value-framing Abortion in the United States: An Application of Media System Dependency Theory ', International Journal of Public Opinion Research 2 (3). 249 - 73.
9. Ball-Rokeach, S.J., M. Hale, A. Schaffer, L. Porras, P. Harris and M. Drayton (1999) ' Changing the Media Production Process: from Aggressive to Injury-sensitive Traffic Crash Stories ', in D. Demers and K.Viswanath (eds) Mass Media, Social Control and Social Change: a Macrosocial Perspective, pp. 229 - 62. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
10. Beech, H. ' Unmasking a Crisis. Time Investigates: As SARS Rages in China, Officials Seem More Intent on Saving Face than Saving Lives ', Time, 21 April, p. 62.
11. Bezlova, A. (2003) ' Health - China: Anti-SARS Drive No Less than a People's War ', inter-press service, 2 May.
12. Black, J. and J. Bryant (1995) Introduction to Mass Communication (4 th edn). Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.
13. Cantor, M.G. (1980) Prime Time Television: Content and Control. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
14. Chen, H. and H. Jiang (2003) 'Guangzhou kangji buming bingdu' ['Guangzhou Fights against an Unknown Virus'), Nanfang Weekend Daily Online, 13 February, URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/zm/20030213/xw/tb/ 200302130499.asp
15. China Daily (2002) ' Domestic Cell Phone Users Hit 170 Million, the World's Most ', 22 June.
16. China Daily (2003) ' Minister: Epidemic under Control ', 13 April.
17. China Internet Network Information Center (2005). The 15th Internet Development Statistical Report. URL (consulted June 2005). http://www.cnnic.org. cn/download/2005/2005011801.pdf
18. Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2003) ' Internet Development Report in Twelve Chinese Cities in 2003 ', URL (consulted June 2005). http://www.wipchina.org/index.php/download/4
19. Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response (CDSR) (2003) ' Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) ', World Health Organization, URL (consulted October 2004). http://www.who.int/csr/media/sars_wha.pdf
20. Congressional Executive Commission on China (2003) ' Information Control and Self-censorship in the PRC and the Spread of SARS ', URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.cecc.gov/pages/news/prcControl_SARS.php
21. Cunningham, P.J. (2003) ' Constraints on China's Coverage of SARS: For a Variety of Reasons, Neither the Government Nor the Press Handled the Medical Crisis Well ', Nieman Reports 57 (2). 50 - 3.
22. DeFleur, M.L. and S. Ball-Rokeach (1989) Theories of Mass Communication (5 th edn). New York: Longman.
23. Deutsche Presse Agentur (2003) ' Magazine Investigation Reveals "Truth" Inside Beijing's SARS Wards ', press agency, 14 April.
24. Donald, S.H., M. Keane and Y. Hong (eds) (2002) Media in China: Consumption, Content and Crisis. New York: Routledge Curzon.
25. e11th Hour (2003) ' SARS Country Breakdown ', Sources from BBC News, Centers for Disease Control, CNN, ReliefWeb, Reuters, World Health Organization, July, URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.e11th-hour.org/resources/timelines/ sars.countries.html
26. Financial Times (2003 a) ' Pneumonia "under control" in China's Guangdong Province after Five Dead ', Global News Wire, 12 February.
27. Financial Times (2003 b) ' Beijing Mayor Says SARS under Control, Denies 60 Cases Detected in Army Hospital ', Global News Wire, 14 April.
28. Financial Times (2003 c) ' China: Politburo Standing Committee Meets to Discuss SARS Control ', Global News Wire, 17 April.
29. Financial Times (2003 d) WHO Experts in China Praises "Unique" SARS Surveillance System', Global News Wire, 13 May.
30. Financial Times (2003 e) ' WHO Lifts SARS Advisories against Chinese Capital ', Global News Wire, 24 June.
31. Foreman, W. (2003) ' China Fires Health Minister and Beijing Mayor, Cancels Massive Holiday after New Jump in SARS Deaths ', Associated Press, 20 April.
32. Forney, M. (2003) ' Stalking a Killer: How Did a Deadly Virus Find Its Way from Southern China to the Rest of the World? ' Time Online, 14 April, URL (consulted July 2004). http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501030421/tictoc. html
33. Gittings, J. (2003) ' Beijing Is Losing the People's War in Cyberspace ', 21 July, YaleGlobal, URL (consulted June 2005). http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/ display.article?id=2133
34. Grant, A.E., K.K. Guthrie and S.J. Ball-Rokeach (1991) ' Television Shopping: A Media System Dependency Perspective ', Communication Research 18 (6). 773 - 98.
35. Halpern, P. (1994) ' Media Dependency and Political Perceptions in an Authoritarian Political System ', Journal of Communication 44 (4). 39 - 52.
36. He, B. (2004) ' SARS and Freedom of Press: Has the Chinese Government Learnt a Lesson? ', in J. Wong and Y. Zheng (eds) The SARS Epidemic: Challenges to China's Crisis Management, pp. 181 - 98. River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing.
37. Herring, S.C. (2004) ' Slouching Toward the Ordinary: Current Trends in Computer-mediated Communication ', New Media & Society 6 (1). 26 - 36.
38. Hirschburg, P.L., D.A. Dillman and S.J. Ball-Rokeach (1986) ' Media System Dependency Theory: Responses to the Eruption of Mount St Helens ', in S. Ball-Rokeach and M. Cantor (eds) Media, Audience and Social Structure, pp. 117 - 26. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
39. Hoenig, H. (2003) ' SARS Virus Attacks State Control of the News ', New Zealand Herald, 26 April, URL (consulted March 2004). http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ feature/story.cfm?c_id=619&objectid=3451301
40. Huang, J. (2003) ' SMS Triggers the Economy of the Thumb: Secret of its Instantaneous Success ', Sina.com, 14 July, URL (consulted May 2004). http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/t/2003-07-14/1522209178.shtml
41. Huang,Y. (2004) ' The SARS Epidemic and its Aftermath in China: A Political Perspective ', in S. Knobler, A. Mahmoud, S. Lemon, A. Mack, L. Sivitz and K. Oberholtzer (eds) Learning from SARS: Preparing for the Next Disease Outbreak, pp. 116 - 36. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
42. Jakes, S. (2003) ' Beijing's SARS Attack ', Time Online, 8 April, URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/daily/0,9754,441615,00. html
43. Jiang, C. (2003) ' SMS in China ', URL (consulted May 2004) http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/chinadn/en/archives/SMS%20in%20China.doc
44. Jiang, X. (2003) ' Perspective: A Periscope of SMS in China ', BBC News (Chinese version), 6 June, URL (consulted May 2004). http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/ chinese/china_news/newsid_2993000/29935721.stm.
45. Kang Lim, B. (2003) ' Panicking Crowds Flee Chinese Capital ', New Zealand Herald, 24 April, URL (consulted March 2004). http://www.nzherald.co.nz/ feature/story.cfm?c_id=619&objectid=3450925
46. Kim,Y.C., J.Y. Jung, E.L. Cohen and S.J. Ball-Rokeach (2004) ' Internet Connectedness Before and After September 11, 2001 ', New Media & Society 6 (5). 611 - 31.
47. Kuhn, A. (2003) ' Chinese Learn True Scope of SARS from the Internet ', USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review, 5 May, URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.ojr.org/ojr/world_reports/1053657288.php
48. Lievrouw, L.A. (2004) ' What's Changed about New Media? Introduction to the Fifth Anniversary Issue of New Media & Society ', New Media & Society 6 (1). 9 - 15.
49. Loges, W.E. (1994) ' Canaries in the Coal Mine: Perceptions of Threat and Media System Dependency Relations ', Communication Research 21 (1). 5 - 23.
50. Loges, W.E. and S.J. Ball-Rokeach (1993) ' Dependency Relations and Newspaper Readership ', Journalism Quarterly 70 (3). 602 - 14.
51. Lynch, D.C. (1999) After the Propaganda State: Media, Politics and 'Thought Work ' in Reformed China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
52. McQuail, D. and S. Windahl (1993) Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communication (2 nd edn). New York: Longman.
53. Ma, J. (2003 a) ' Party Leaders in Emergency Talks on SARS ', South China Morning Post, 18 April, p. A1.
54. Ma, J. (2003 b) ' Shanxi Medical School Sealed Off ', South China Morning Post, 2 May, p. A3.
55. Ma, J. (2003 c) ' Virus Spreads Panic among Beijing Students: The Education Ministry Remains Silent as Two Leading Universities Halt Classes after Lectures Are Infected with SARS ', South China Morning Post, 17 April, p. A2.
56. Merskin, D. (1999) ' Media Dependency Theory: Origins and Directions ', in D. Demers and K.Viswanath (eds) Mass Media, Social Control and Social Change: A Macrosocial Perspective, pp. 77 - 98. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
57. Morton, T.A. and J.M. Duck (2000) ' Social Identity and Media Dependency in the Gay Community:The Prediction of Safe Sex Attitudes ', Communication Research 27 (4). 438 - 60.
58. Pesce, M. (2000) The Playful World: How Technology is Transforming Our Imagination. New York: Ballantine Books.
59. Pomfret, J. (2003) ' Outbreak Gave China's Hu an Opening ', Washington Post, 13 May, p. A1.
60. Power, J.G. (1995) ' Media Dependency, Bubonic Plague and the Social Construction of the Chinese Other ', Journal of Communication Inquiry 19 (1). 89 - 110.
61. Rainie, L. and P. Bell (2004) ' The Numbers that Count ', New Media & Society 6 (1). 44 - 54.
62. Rubin, A.M. and S. Windahl (1986) ' The Uses and Dependency Model of Mass Communication ', Critical Studies in Mass Communication 3 (2). 184 - 99.
63. Saiget, R.J. (2003) ' China Gags SARS Talk on Internet Chatrooms ', Agence France Presse, 6 April.
64. SARS Expert Committee (2003) ' SARS Expert Committee Report ', 2 October, URL (consulted June 2005). http://www.sars-expertcom.gov.hk/english/reports/ summary/files/e_sumprt_fulltext.pdf
65. Shedletsky, L.J. and J.E. Aitken (2004) Human Communication on the Internet. New York: Pearson Education.
66. Sina.com (2003 a) ' SMS Has Become the "Fifth Medium?'' ', 24 February, URL (consulted May 2004). http://tech.sina.com.cn/it/t/2003-02-24/ 1454167580.shtml
67. Sina.com (2003 b) ' Weekend: Opinion Survey on Atypical Pneumonia in Five Big Cities ', 1 June, URL (consulted May 2004). http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2003- 06-01/19521123697.shtml
68. Skumanich, S.A. and D.P. Kintsfather (1998) ' Individual Media Dependency Relations within Television Shopping Programming: A Causal Model Reviewed and Revised ', Communication Research 25 (2). 200 - 19.
69. Skynge, J. (2003) ' Admission on SARS Fractures Beijing's Wall of Secrecy: Rare Apology from Top Official Could Herald New Openness ', Financial Times, 22 April, p. 1.
70. Song, W., X. Zhan and W. Cheng (2005) ' Five Years of SMS: The Fifth Medium - SMS or Internet?', Xinhuanet.com, URL (consulted June 2005): http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2005-05/12/content_2949495.htm
71. Sun,T., T.K. Chang and G.Yu (2001) ' Social Structure, Media System and Audiences in China: Testing the Uses and Dependency Model ', Mass Communication and Society 4 (2). 199 - 217.
72. Tai, Z. (2006) The Internet in China: Cyberspace and Civil Society. New York: Routledge.
73. Tang, J. and L. Liu (2004) 'China Builds a Net of Safety on the Internet', News Weekly (China), 5 April, URL (consulted May 2004). http://my.cnd.org/modules/wfsection/ print.php?articleid=6610
74. Taylor, D.S.E. (1992) ' Application of the Uses and Dependency Model of Mass Communication to Development Communication in the Western Area of Sierra Leone', unpublished PhD thesis, Kent State University.
75. Thiers, P. (2003) ' Risk Society Comes to China: SARS, Transparency and Public Accountability ', Asian Perspectives 27 (2). 241 - 51.
76. Thomson, E. and C.H.Yow (2004) ' The Hong Kong SAR Government, Civil Society and SARS ', in J. Wong and Y. Zheng (eds) The SARS Epidemic: Challenges to China's Crisis Management, pp. 199 - 220. River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing.
77. Tuchman, G. (1978) Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality. New York: Free Press.
78. Turkle, S. (1997) Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York: Touchstone.
79. United Press International (2003) ' Analysis: China in Continued SARS Denial', 8 April.
80. Wade, C.M. (2003) ' Analysis: China in Continued Denial ', United Press International, 8 April.
81. Wall, D. (2003) ' SARS Set Off Power Struggle in Beijing ', Japan Times, 19 May, URL (consulted March 2004). http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ eo20030519a1.html
82. Waring, H.R. (1996) ' Media System Dependency and Identity: The Development of America's Gay and Lesbian Alternative Media and the Transformation of Homosexuality', unpublished PhD thesis, University of Southern California.
83. Wong, J. and S.L. Nah (2001) China's Emerging New Economy:The Internet and e - Commerce. Singapore / River Edge, NJ: Singapore University Press / World Scientific Publishing.
84. Xiao, Q. (2003 a) ' Testimony Before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission ', URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.uscc.gov/ researchreports/2000-2003/reports/qiates.htm
85. Xiao, Q. (2003 b) ' Cyber Speech: Catalyzing Free Expression and Civil Society ', Harvard International Review 25 (2). 70 - 5.
86. Xinhuanet.com (2005) ' SMS Spreads like an Erupting Volcano: An Overview of SMS in China ', URL (consulted June 2005). http://news.xinhuanet.com/ newmedia/2005-05/12/content_2949398.htm
87. Xinhua News Agency (2003 a) ' Pneumonia Outbreak under Control in Guangzhou ', 11 February.
88. Xinhua News Agency (2003 b) ' Wen Jiabao Chairs State Council Exe Meeting, Discusses SARS, State Council Work ', 2 April.
89. Xinhua News Agency (2003 c) ' Chinese President in Tianjin Calls for 'People's War' Against SARS ', 1 May.
90. Yu, X. and J. Zhang (2003) ' Guangzhou: Five Days of Crisis ', Southern Weekend, 20 February, URL (consulted May 2004). http://www.nafangdaily.com.cn/ zm/20030220/cs/csfm/200302200863.asp
91. Zhang,Y. (2000) ' From Masses to Audience: Changing Media Ideologies and Practices in Reform China', Journalism Studies 1 (4). 617 - 35.
92. Zhao,Y. (1998) Media, Market and Democracy in China: Between the Party Line and the Bottom Line. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
93. Zhao,Y. (2000) ' From Commercialization to Conglomeration: The Transformation of the Chinese Press within the Orbit of the Party State ', Journal of Communication 50 (2). 3 - 26.
94. Zheng,Y. and L.F. Lye (2004) ' SARS and China's Political System ', in J. Wong and Y. Zheng (eds) The SARS Epidemic: Challenges to China's Crisis Management, pp. 45 - 75. River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing.
95. Zhou, X. (2004) ' A Transformation of Communication: A Social Psychological Analysis of Rumors in Relation to SARS ', URL (consulted June 2005). http://www.folkcn.com/news/Class/xssy/ztyj/25623313.htm