Bilateral Relations Between Countries and the Complexity of Newspaper Editorials surprising (Porter & Suedfeld, 1981; Suedfeld, 1981, 1985); but the current findings are novel in implying a broad domestic effect of relatively minor changes in the intercourse between pairs of nations. The low intensity of these international transactions was reflected in the mean ratings assigned to events. The high positive mean score for Canada may reflect the absence of serious confrontations between Canada and the other countries studied, at least since the end of the Korean War. International events involving the United States and the Soviet Union averaged closer to the neutral point, with the U.S. slightly on the positive side and the U.S.S.R. slightly on the negative. This is not surprising: during the years involved, Canada and the United States generally agreed on a wide range of issues while the Soviet Union was in opposition to both of them as well as, for much of the period, to the People's Republic of China. Presumably, the results would have been different had we included more Warsaw Pact countries or if we had extended the study past 1989. The association between international relations and newspaper editorials was similar in Western and communist countries. Although editorials in Pravda were essentially official statements of the government (Roxburgh, 1987), the tie between governmental and editorial policy is a controversial issue in the West. Both the Globe and Mail and the Times are generally considered "establish- ment." They are not radical opponents of the system of government of their country. At times (particularly in crisis situations), they cooperate with the government by suppressing or delaying the publication of some item or even by sharing information (e.g., Salisbury, 1980). In turn, government figures frequently take their cue from these newspapers (Tataryn, 1985). On the other hand, both the Times and the Globe and Mail have a record of vigorously and frequently dissenting from governmental policies and positions. Perhaps the most dramatic example in recent history was the publication of the Pentagon Papers in the Times; but the paper also opposed many other aspects of domestic and foreign policy through successive administrations. Similarly, the Globe and Mail (like many other Canadian newspapers) often expresses its opposition to current policies (see, e.g., Rutherford, 1978; Westell, 1977). Thus, another surprising finding was the close association between governmental ac- tions and the treatment of such actions in even independent print media. The finding that all three papers show editorial changes in complexity consonant with international events may be a reflection of the direct or indirect influence of the government on the media. Another interpretation is that government officials and editorial writers share a set of viewpoints that evokes similar reactions in response to particular events. These hypotheses, of course, are not mutually exclusive. Pravda was consistently lower in complexity than the Western newspapers. Until very recently, the same pattern has characterized Soviet diplomatic state- 609
Suedfeld ments compared to those of various other governments (Suedfeld et al., 1977; Tetlock, 1988; Tetlock & Boettger, 1989; Wallace & Suedfeld, 1988). These differences may reflect (a) a greater need on the part of Soviet sources to seek clarity and avoid ambiguity, (b) dogmatic ideological or defensive attitudes, (c) different rhetorical and linguistic traditions, or (d) different goals in impression management. The last of these may involve the wish to project an image of high complexity (considering all sides of an issue, tolerance for uncertainty and dis- agreement) by Western sources and/or to project low complexity (party unity, decisiveness, certainty, lack of ambivalence) by Soviet ones (Tetlock, 1988; Tetlock & Manstead, 1985). As mentioned earlier, another factor could be the relatively high chronic tension that existed in the period under study between the U.S.S.R. and the two Western countries, as compared to relations between the latter two. Among topics for future research are comparisons of such prestigious publications as those in our sample with more mass-oriented print and electronic media; the relation among official policy statements, private commentary by national leaders, and the media; and comparisons between newspapers associated with governing versus opposition parties. The study of editorial complexity of Eastern European and Soviet publications in the glasnost era would also be interesting. The findings demonstrate the pervasive interaction among governmental actions, political climate, and the media, as well as the sensitivity of the complexity measure to even low-key shifts in international tension. Because of this sensitivity, complexity may be a particularly good variable to use in future research on mass media. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was made possible by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The assistance of Gloria Baker-Brown, Susan Bluck, Luzbea Piedrahita, Wendy Ross, and Alistair B. C. Wallbaum in various aspects of the research is gratefully acknowledged. Correspondence should be addressed to the author at Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, V6T 1Z4. REFERENCES Axelrod, R. (Ed.) (1976). The structure of decisions: The cognitive maps of political elites. Prince- ton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. Baker-Brown, G., Ballard, E. J., Bluck, S., de Vries, B., Suedfeld, P., & Tetlock, P. E. (1992). 610
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