Alumnus Dr. Guolin Yi publishes book on a cultural study of the Cold War

History alumnus, Guolin Yi (Ph.D. with M. Small, 2013) recently published his book, The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963-1972 (LSU Press, 2020). Yi is currently an assistant professor at Arkansas Tech University.

Summary

An important new cultural study of the Cold War, Guolin Yi's The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963-1972 analyzes how the media in both countries shaped public perceptions of the changing relations between China and the United States in the decade prior to Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing.

This book offers the first systematic study of Cankao Xiaoxi (Reference News), an internal Chinese newspaper that carried relatively objective stories the Xinhua News Agency translated from world news media for circulation among Communist cadres... Yi's analysis demonstrates how people at different positions in the political hierarchy accessed varying types of information, allowing him to chart the development of Beijing's approach to the U.S. government.

With its comparative study of news outlets in the two countries, The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963-1972 presents a thorough and comprehensive perspective on the role of the media in influencing domestic Chinese and American public opinion during a critical decade.