About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

9 J. Radio Stud. 317 (2002)
Are They Still Listening - Reconceptualizing the Chinese Audience of the Voice of America in the Cyber Era

handle is hein.journals/jradstud9 and id is 333 raw text is: Are They Still Listening? Reconceptualizing the Chinese Audience of the Voice of America in the Cyber Era Lena Liqing Zhang The Voice of America now faces a significant challenge in China-its top priority territory: VOA listenership has dramatically declined in recent years. This study employed 51 face-to-face field interviews to investigate the role the Internet has played in the declining listenership in China for Western shortwave radio broadcasts like the VOA. Findings suggest that the Internet has become a functionally primary information source for the VOA target audience in China. The growth of the Internet has led to a new pattern of media consumption, in which the audience's demands and preferences for information are better addressed. The continuing evolution of media liberalization and globalization in China forced by the Internet has also reduced the audience's demand for foreign media. The perceived image of the VOA as a Western value purveyor is challenging its role in the cyber era. INTRODUCTION Previous studies of international radio broadcasting indicated that Western shortwave radio services, including the Voice of America (VOA), reached a sizeable audience group in China and had a significant influence on this target audience (Zhang & Dominick, 1996). This study provided support for a basic assumption that people in isolated societ- ies such as China seek out information from external sources to get a complete picture of the entire world, including China itself, which they cannot get from purely internal sources due to various political and nonpolitical reasons. However, according to recent audience surveys sponsored by the International Broadcasting Bureau, there has been a significant and consistent decline in listening to the VOA in particular Lena Liqing Zhang (Ph.D., University of Georgia, 1996) is an Assistant Profes- sor of Communication at San Francisco State University. Her primary re- search interests are intercultural communication and new media.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most