Individual frames of Australia in the Engaging Chinese Media Project

The Australia-China Council (ACC) funded an action research project in 2011 that had social (cultural diplomacy) as well as research objectives, employing questionnaires and focus groups in tandem, to find out how Chinese media personnel broadened their knowledge of Australia during a two-week visit to an university and a media organization in Sydney. The ACC-guided cultural diplomacy objectives were to foster varied and positive frames of Australian society, in relation to Australian science, technology, education, economy and culture in selected influential Chinese journalists and program makers, encouraging flow-on effects to colleagues and readers/audiences; and to increase the capacity of Australian academics, journalists and program makers to engage with Chinese journalists and program makers. This article reports on the project and research results.