A Test Of The Third-Person Effect Among American Correspondents In Shanghai

In year 1983, Journalism and Sociology Professor Walter Philips Davison from Columbia University proposed the famous Third-Person Effect (TPE) hypothesis in his paper The Third-Person Effect in Communication, since then a number of studies have found evidence consistent with the basic perceptual phenomenon stipulated by the Third-Person Effect hypothesis. It concluded that the Third-Person Effect shows the tendency of people to estimate greater impact of media messages on"other people"than on themselves.While the Third-Person Effect research has flourished over the past decades overseas, however, domestic research of the Third-Person Effect is still in early stage. Based on previous research literature, the present study looks into the theory origins of the Third-Person Effect, summarizes its development systematically, thus to explore its research characteristic in detail, including the First-Person Effect and behavioral intentions of the Third-Person Effect.This study is the first study in China focusing on"American correspondents in Shanghai", attempting to apply the Third-Person Effect theory to study the possible impact of China-related news reporting. Results are obtained based on e-mail questionnaires as well as face to face interview. This study furthermore investigates several variables, including demographic variables, issue involvement and professional identification, and their influence on American correspondents'perception of China. A relationship of exposure of China-related news reporting and their behavioral intentions is analyzed at the same time.A survey mainly based on China-related comments on blogs like ESWEN (www.zonaeuropa.com) and DANWEI which foreign journalists rely on was conducted to learn how China-related news reporting influence on American correspondents in Shanghai. Results show that American correspondents generally expect China-related news reporting to be more effective on other person than on themselves. Evidence shows the Third-Person Effect has significant influence on behavioral outcomes. From the aspect of professional identification, the more the correspondent held, the more she/he tends to consider that there will be greater influence on others. It is concluded that there is much similarity between the research result of new media and the findings of traditional media when using Internet as basic research method of testing the Third-Person Effect. With its dramatically increasing importance, China now has a higher level of participation in global events which inspire more American journalists to come to China and report more about China. Instead of doing online research and obtaining information based on comments, American correspondents nowadays prefer to get news facts by conducting in-depth investigation, talking with scholars as well as interview government officers.