The State of Asian Communication Research and Directions for the 21st Century

The 21st century has been called ?the Asian Century? by Eastern and Western academics, largely due to the economic and cultural rise of China and India. This volume explores both what this means for communication research, and the implications of Asia?s rising global power for communication scholars in Asia and from around the world. Hot topics and emerging trends are explored, encapsulating the new opportunities as well as the challenges for Asian communication scholars.

Asia represents diverse cultural, economic, social and political systems that shape different media systems in various countries with fertile contexts for communication research. The scope of the chapters in this book includes mass communications, mobile technology, intercultural and political communication, news and entertainment, health communication, public relations, and comparative analyses of mainstream mass communication theories. The articles in this book were originally published in the Asian Journal of Communication.

Introduction: Taking stock and showcasing communication research on Asia for a global audience1. The Pivotal Role of AJC in the Growth of Communication Research in Asia: A semantic network analysis2. Mapping the field of communication technology research in Asia: content analysis and text mining of SSCI journal articles 1995–20143. Asian mobile communication research: current status, enduring issues and future trends4. A retrospective overview of health communication studies in Asia from 2000 to 20135. Mapping public relations scholarship in Asia: a longitudinal analysis of published research, 1995–20146. East meets West: a new contextual perspective for crisis communication theory7. Is the agenda set? State of agenda-setting research in China and Korea8. Theoretical and methodological patterns of third-person effect research: a comparative thematic analysis of Asia and the world9. Effectiveness of entertainment education in communicating health information: a systematic review10. A content analysis of research on China in top-ranked communication journals from 1995 to 2014: a comparison with other Asian countries11. Mass communication research on China from 2000 to 2010: a meta-analysis

Ran Wei is the Gonzales Brothers Professor of Journalism in the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina, USA.