Research On The Network Agenda Setting Between American Traditional Media And Social Media In The Sino-US Trade War

The governing idea of US President Donald Trump's protectionist tendency has made Sino-US trade frictions gradually strengthened since 2016.At the beginning of 2018,various media reports described the escalating trade conflict between China and the United States with the words " Sino-US trade war".Under the issue of the Sino-US trade war,mainstream media and social media have presented a more diverse picture of network agenda setting.This paper uses content analysis,social network analysis,and time-lag-related analysis to examine the interactive relationship between traditional media and social media attribute agenda in the United States,as well as the connection and difference between the two media types in the network agenda setting relationship in each time period of event development.It is found that the attribute agenda network between American traditional media and social media has correlation and obvious interaction,which conforms to the basis of the network agenda setting model."Tariff" is at the center of the two major media type attribute agenda networks in the United States,which represents that "tariff" issue is used to describe the most closely related central attribute with other attribute agenda in the Sino-U.S.trade war,whether in traditional media or social media.The study also further found that in the major international issues,traditional media in the United States has an unparalleled authority over social media,and the dominant ability of agenda setting in the early stage of the event was obvious.With the development of the event,in the following period,the dominant relationship between traditional media and social media in the United States began to change alternately.There is no media that has always occupied the dominant position in the network agenda setting.The reason is closely related to the audience's media usage habits,the diversification of news sources and related topics,and the fact that the political parties and their campaign teams have changed power relations with mainstream media and journalists under the American media system.The relationship between China and the United States is the most important relationship among major powers in the world.The research in this paper can draw a picture of the US media and the public's perception of the issue of the Sino-US trade war,and summarize the characteristics of the domestic and international communication behind it.In addition,this paper uses quantitative research methods to make up for the lack of empirical research in the current network agenda setting,which is also a specific application in the non-Western context.