A Time-Series Analysis of Public Diplomacy Expenditure and News Sentiment: A Case Study of the U.S.–Japan Relationship

Authors

  • Byung Wook Kim University of Iowa
  • Suman Lee University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • Hwalbin Kim Kangwon National University

Keywords:

public diplomacy, international news, sentiment analysis, time series analysis

Abstract

This study tested a lagged correlation between Japanese public diplomacy expenditure in the United States and U.S. news sentiment about Japan from 1996 to 2018. We conducted a sentiment analysis to measure news sentiment of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal for 45,822 news articles with 30,197 unique bigram tokens. Using a time-series analysis, this study found that Japanese public diplomacy expenditure was positively related to U.S. news sentiment after controlling for Japanese exports to the U.S. and Japanese real GDP. In our test for the opposite direction, U.S. news sentiment was also positively associated with public diplomacy expenditure, after controlling for Japanese exports to the U.S. and Japanese real GDP.

Author Biographies

Byung Wook Kim, University of Iowa

Byungwook Kim (Ph.D., University of Iowa) recently received his Ph.D. in Mass Communications from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. His research interest includes international news, international communication, public diplomacy, and media framing. His methodological interests are a time series analysis and text analytics. He received his master’s degree in Mass Communication from Iowa State University, master’s degree in Communications from Korea University, and bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Korea University. ORCiD (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8408-7136). Phone number: 515-212-0240

Suman Lee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Suman Lee (Ph.D., Syracuse University) is associate professor at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on international public relations, public diplomacy, and international newsworthiness. He received his Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Syracuse University, master’s degree in Communication from San Diego State University, and bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Yonsei University. Before joining academia, he worked for Samsung as a public relations professional. Phone number:  919-962-4077

Hwalbin Kim, Kangwon National University

Hwalbin Kim (Ph.D., University of South Carolina) is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kangwon National University, South Korea. His research focuses on science and health communication, public relations, and new media. He received his Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of South Carolina, master’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University, and bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Korea University. ORCiD (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3905-9646). Phone number:  82-01-3669-7193.

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Published

2020-10-13

Issue

Vol. 14 (2020)

Section

Articles

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