| Summary: | 碩士 === 世新大學 === 傳播管理學研究所(含碩專班) === 93 === Following the 2004 presidential election, the country’s focus of attention has been on the Ministry of National Defense’s budget request for the procurement of three major weapon systems from the US, which include the P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, the Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile system and the diesel-electric submarine. The budget request has caused much controversy, not just between the ruling and opposition parties but also between the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and civilian groups skeptical about the arms procurement. The MND positions the case as a matter of national security, which supposedly leaves no room for public debate, while quite a few scholars argue that the case is debatable either in terms of the total amount of the budget or the MND’s plan to pay the bills on loan. They even suspect the procurement to be aimed as a “protection fee” for the US. The argument has produced a spill-over effect among the public.
To rally support from the public for the arms procurement, the MND has fielded a series of promotional campaigns. This thesis is to discuss only one of them, which is entitled “Love Taiwan and Defend Motherland.” The discussion will cover not only different aspects of the campaign, which range from content, design and to appeal, but also the strategy and effectiveness of the campaign as a promotional tactic special to the print media.
This study provides a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis of news reports during a given period about the MND’s planned procurement of the three major weapon systems. It takes a deep look into these reports from different angles, which include subject matter, sources of information and news categorization. An in-depth analysis of news statements relevant to the subject is to be made to identify the framework under which they were made and to unveil meanings hidden behind them. The discussion will also probe into the influence that the MND’s promotional campaign has to the media and the persuasive power that it can wield over groups or individuals opposed to or skeptical about the procurement.
Samples of the study are to be taken from five major newspapers, which are the United Daily News, the China Times, the Liberty Times, Central Daily News and Apple Daily. They were reports made during a one-month period between Sept. 16 and Oct. 15, 2004, about the MND’s promotional campaigns for the arms procurement.
The objective of the study is to find out:
1. What differences are there between news reports on the same subject in the five major newspapers?
2. What is the framework for reporting on the subject for each of the newspapers?
Research findings:
1. The relevant news reports and their writers are under the influence of the political leanings of the printing newspapers.
2. The five newspapers get a better and wider response by covering opinions opposed to the arms procurement, while the MND’s promotional campaigns receive disproportionate treatment and even become the mere background against which the opponents vent their disagreement.
3. Working under the framework of “critical reporting” and the stance of “soft objection,” these newspapers provide much greater coverage of the opposing opinions than that of the MND’s counter-campaigns. This greatly reduces the intended effect of the promotional campaigns.
4. As the MND tries to respond to the anti-arms procurement argument with a new round of promotional campaigns, it fails to make its case by calling attention to too many subjects at the same time. It serves only to distract the readers, rendering them incapable of choosing, receiving and handling the intended news topics. The MND has thus lost the chance to turn the public opinion to its favor.
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