Discourse Interaction in The New York Times and China Daily: The Case of Google's Departure

This paper argues that significant differences between China and the USA manifest in the models of discourse interaction utilised in news reporting. Focusing on Google's departure, the paper compares the processes of interaction found in The New York Times and China Daily in reporting on the event. The approach of critical discourse analysis is adopted for the analysis, in which layers of both textual and contextual analysis are performed. It is found that the two newspapers utilise distinct discourse strategies which employ quite different models of discourse interaction, and that these different interaction models may bring about further conflicts and misunderstanding between China and the rest of the world. The paper concludes by advocating a multiculturalist approach in building better dialogue and interaction models for future communication between different cultures.