| This thesis was a content analysis of the four Asian newspapers from March 12, 2003, to May 17, 2003, during the SARS crisis. Newspapers included Singapore's The Straits Times, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, Taiwan's The China Post, and South Korea's Chosun Ilbo.; This study measured whether the four Asian newspapers portrayed conflict or harmony between the powerful and powerless groups, and compared these with Hofstede's (2001) power distance and uncertainty avoidance index scores of the four Asian nations to illustrate how cultural differences affected media coverage during the SARS crisis.; This study found that there was a tendency to report negative or positive stories on the powerful and the powerless among the four Asian newspapers according to the extent of power distance and uncertainty avoidance dimension. These findings supported the significant relationship between cultural variables and crisis communication. |
