중국 웨이보의 소프트 선전 확산 메커니즘 연구: 후쿠시마 핵오염수 방류 담론의 네트워크 게이트키핑과 의제설정

초록

This study analyzes the structure and dissemination mechanisms of soft propaganda discourse formed on China’s Weibo during the 2023 Fukushima nuclear wastewater release. While previous research has focused on the softening of propaganda content, this study examines how soft propaganda is actually constructed and received in the diffusion process, drawing on network perspectives and agenda-setting theory. A total of 259,494 posts were collected, and four types of disseminators-gatekeepers, broadcasters, opinion leaders, and the general public-were identified. Using LDA topic modeling, Spearman correlation analysis, and cross-temporal comparison, the study finds that the dominant agendas centered on event reporting and opposition to the releasewith emotional agendas becoming more pronounced during the second release. Structurally, agenda attributes emphasized by elite accounts(gatekeepers) were transmitted into public discourse through broadcasters, forming a structural chain of propagation. In this process, broadcasters played a key role in translating emotional narratives into widely accepted public agendas. In contrast, opinion leaders were found to be relatively isolated in agenda formation. Based on these findings, the study proposes a “network gatekeeping-based soft propaganda model” and discusses the cooperative coordination among actors in the structured diffusion of digital propaganda.

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