Discursive diversion: Manipulation of nuclear threats by the conservative leaders in Japan and Israel
Open Access
- 2 June 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in International Communication Gazette
- Vol. 84 (7-8), 721-748
- https://doi.org/10.1177/17480485221097967
Abstract
We study how leaders of parliamentary democracies attempt to trigger the "rally-around-the-flag" effect through the mass media. We have collected news articles on North Korea and Iran published by liberal and conservative newspapers in Japan and Israel from 2009 to 2018 and analysed them in terms of their emphasis on threats, employing semi-supervised quantitative text analysis techniques. We find that both Japanese and Israeli conservative newspapers overemphasised nuclear threats before important political events (enactment of Japan's National Security Laws and Israel's 2014 General Election). We argue that leaders of countries that lack opportunities or capabilities often attempt to manipulate perceived threats through the mass media, calling such actions discursive diversion. We explain the similarity between the Japanese and Israeli cases by the following factors. Firstly, the diminishing political gains from the successful economic reforms in the earlier years; Secondly, the increasing opposition in the legislature or competition in the elections; Thirdly, the lack of the countries' ability to solve the security issues unilaterally; Finally, the diplomatic and military relationship with the United States.Keywords
Funding Information
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JP19H01450)
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Affective News: The Automated Coding of Sentiment in Political TextsPolitical Communication, 2012
- The International Two-Step Flow in Foreign News: Canadian and U.S. Television News Coverage of U.S. AffairsThe International Journal of Press/Politics, 2010
- Scapegoating Strategically: Reselection, Strategic Interaction, and the Diversionary Theory of WarInternational Interactions, 2009
- Foreign News and Public Opinion: Attribute Agenda-Setting Theory RevisitedEcquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 2009
- Domestic-Level Diversionary Theory of WarJournal of Conflict Resolution, 2008
- International Agenda-Building and Agenda-SettingInternational Communication Gazette, 2008
- Rivalry and Diversionary Uses of ForceJournal of Conflict Resolution, 2004
- Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign PolicyThe International Journal of Press/Politics, 2003
- Domestic Structures and the Diversionary Use of ForceAmerican Journal of Political Science, 1995
- Toward an Understanding of "Rally" Effects: Public Opinion in the Persian Gulf WarPublic Opinion Quarterly, 1995