This volume explores the political impact of journalistic discourse on international -- and especially Canadian/American -- relations. In so doing, it provides a comparative analysis of American and international press accounts of selected Canadian/American issues such as free trade, cruise missile testing, and acid rain. The intention of the book is to enhance understanding of the political significance of journalists' interpretations of Canadian/American affairs, although the communication perspective and method of news analysis of the book are appropriate for the study of the United States' news-mediated relations with other countries. This study also examines the way people negotiate news-mediated political discourse and how that communication process can influence international affairs.

This book explores the political impact of journalistic discourse on international relations. Its main points, examples, and arguments are based on a comparative analysis of American and international press accounts of selected issues in Canadian/American relations. Although the intention of the book is to enhance our understanding of the political significance of journalists' interpretations of Canadian/American relations as a specific case of international politics, the communication perspective and method of news analysis of the book are appropriate for the study of the United States' news-mediated relations with other countries as well. This study also concerns itself with the way people negotiate news-mediated political discourse and how that communication process has the potential to influence international affairs.

The book is divided into two major sections; a theoretical framework is proposed and serves as the basis for the method of analyzing international news. The remainder of the book applies this method specifically to news about Canadian/American affairs.

Several assumptions about the nature of news-mediated political communications shape the book's process of inquiry. Among them is the belief that news reports about international affairs constitute a distinctive form of political discourse that has implications for the relations among nations. Both the successes and failures in America's history of dealing with Canada are, in large part, attributable to political communication processes that involve journalistic discourse.

The variety of political visions brought to international news discourse influences Canadian/American relations in profound ways. The partici-