Xianwen Kuang (Guangzhou, 1980) has been employed at Xi'an Jiaotong - Liverpool University (XJTLU) since August 2014. He received a PhD degree in Journalism from the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in April, 2014 and a MSc in Asian Studies from Lund University in June 2010. His main research interests include journalism, media framing, online activism and Internet governance. He has published research papers and books on collective action and on news production. Before joining XJTLU, Xianwen Kuang has lived and worked in China, Sweden, Kenya, Denmark and the Netherlands as professional journalist and researcher. He has also taught UG and PG courses in journalism and research methods at both SDU and XJTLU.
Qualifications
Ph.D. , University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark - 2014
M.S. , Lund University, Lund, Sweden - 2010
B.A. , Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China - 2003
Experience
Visiting Researcher, Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), University of Amsterdam - 2013 to 2013
PhD Research Fellow, University of Southern Denmark - 2011 to 2013
Intern, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - 2009 to 2009
Journalist, HKSG Media Ltd. - 2004 to 2008
Research interests
Journalism
News production
News effects
Framing analysis
Online activism
Internet governance
Articles
Peng, Altman Yuzhu, Kuang, Xianwen & Hou, Jenny Zhengye (2022). Love NBA, hate BLM: Racism in China's sports fandom. International Journal of Communication (SSCI journal).https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/18993
Jiang, Yue & Kuang, Xianwen (Corresponding author). (2021). Selective Censorship on Rightists and Leftists? An Observation and Analysis of Censored Social Media Posts in China. Problems of Post-Communism (SSCI Journal). https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2021.1969249
Kuang, Xianwen & Wang, Hui. (2020). Framing international news in China: An analysis of trans-edited news in Chinese newspapers, Global Media and China (ESCI Journal). DOI: 10.1177/2059436420924947.
Kuang, Xianwen. 2020. 'Self-caging or playing with the edge? News selection autonomy in authoritarian China, SAGE Open (SSCI Journal). April-June 2020: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020922980
Kuang, Xianwen. (2018). Central state vs. Local levels of government: Understanding news media censorship in China, Chinese Political Science Review (ESCI journal), 3(2), 154-171.
Kuang, Xianwen & Wei, Rining (2018). How framing of nationally and locally sensitive issues varies? A content analysis of news from party and nonparty newspapers in China, Journalism (SSCI Journal), 19 (9-10): 1435-1451.
Kuang, Xianwen (2017). Negotiating the boundaries of news reporting: journalists’ strategies to access and report political information in China. MedieKultur: Journal of Media and Communication Research, 62, 35–51.
Kuang, Xianwen & Göbel, Christian (2013). Sustaining collective action in urbanizing China, The China Quarterly (SSCI Journal), 216, 850-871.
Books, monographs, compilations and manuals
Chen. T.C., Han, J., Kuang, X., Liu, X. (Forthcoming). Identity, Space, and Everyday Life in Contemporary Northeast China. Palgrave Macmillan: London. (Edited volume).
Garrisi, D. & Kuang, X. (2022). Journalism Pedagogy in Transitional Countries. Palgrave Macmillan: London. (Edited volume).
Kuang, X. (2014). How effective is political control over the news media? Political censorship and news production in authoritarian China, University Press of Southern Denmark, Odense
Kuang, X. (2011). Collective Resistance of Chengzhongcun Villagers in China: A Case of Guangzhou, Guandong Province, Working Paper Series, Centre of East and Southeast Asian Studies, Lund University, Lund
Chapters, cases, readings and supplements
Wu, K. & Kuang, X. (Forthcoming). From Mythologicalization to Stigmatization of Dongbei? An Analysis of North-East China’s News Media Representations. In Chen. T.C., Han, J., Kuang, X. & Liu, X (Eds.) Identity, Space, and Everyday Life in Contemporary Northeast China. Palgrave Macmillan: London.
Kuang, X. Forthcoming. Research on the Communication of Suzhou's Urban Image. In Song, Yu & Xiaoxi Zhu (Eds.) Social, Economic, and Cultural Development in Suzhou: Policies and Practices. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Kuang, X. (2023). Media type and framing of the Sino-US Trade War: An analysis of articles from party and nonparty news organizations in China. In Zhang, Shixin Ivy & Altman Yuzhu Peng (Eds.) China, media and international conflicts. London: Routledge.
Kuang, X. (2023). Political control, media marketization and news production. In Talmacs, Nicole & Altman Peng (Eds.) Communications in China: Orchestrating Thinking, London: Routledge.
Kuang, X. (2022). Optimising Information Communication and Mobilising Mass Cooperation in Pandemic Prevention. Suzhou Social Sciences 1(1), 2022. (Policy paper)
Garrisi, D., Kuang, X. & Reis, C. (2022). Introduction. In Garrisi, D. & X. Kuang (eds.) Journalism Pedagogy in Transitional Countries. Palgrave Macmillan: London.
Garrisi, D., & Kuang, X. (2022). Conclusion. In Garrisi, D. & X. Kuang (eds.) Journalism Pedagogy in Transitional Countries. Palgrave Macmillan: London.
Kuang, X. 2021. Sustaining state legitimacy and image of local government in the punch of political scandals: A case study of local newspapers in China. In Liu, Nancy X., Candace Veecock & Shixin Ivy Zhang (Eds.) Chinese News Discourse: Perspectives from Communication, Linguistics, Translation and Pedagogy. London: Routledge.
邝献文.对苏州城市形象传播工作的策略性建议. 《西浦智库报告》2019年12月刊。
Conference presentations
Kuang, X. (2022). Traditional Chinese Medicine as cultural heritage or science? An analysis of the China’s overseas promotion and communication strategies. IAMCR Pre-conference titled A World of Narratives: Structuring, re-membering and re-claiming the world through communication (Online). July 10, 2022.
Kuang, X. (2022). Warm in 2008 vs. cold in 2022? A comparison of China-related news in the American media during the Beijing Summer and Winter Olympics IAMCR Pre-conference titled A World of Narratives: Structuring, re-membering and re-claiming the world through communication (Online). July 9, 2022.
Kuang, X. & Fu, S. (2022). Are social media users in China both ideologically and affectively polarized? An analysis of Sina Weibo’s tweets and comments on the Myanmar 2021 Protests. IAMCR 2022 Annual Conference (Online). July 11-15, 2022.
Kuang, Xianwen & Mai, Yuhan (2021), Mobilizing patriotic collective action online: A story of the “Fangirl Expedition” in China'. Paper presented at the 2021 International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Annual Conference, Narobi, Kenya.
Kuang, Xianwen (2020), Framing Sino-US Trade War: A Content Analysis of News from Chinese and American Media Organizations. International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Annual Conference (Online)
Kuang, Xianwen & Jiang, Yue (2020), Selective Censorship on Rightists and Leftists? An Observation and Analysis of Censored Social Media Posts in China. International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Conference (Online).
Kuang, Xianwen (2019), Framing Traditional Chinese Medicine A content analysis of news from organizations of 7 countries. Paper presented at the 2019 International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Annual Conference, Madrid, Spain (Peer Review).
Kuang, Xianwen (2018), Framing international news in China An analysis of trans-edited news in Chinese newspapers. Paper presented at the 2018 International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) Annual Conference, Eugene, USA (Peer Review).
Kuang, Xianwen (2016). Central state legitimacy vs. the image of the local state: Understanding news media censorship in China. Paper presented at the International Communication Association (ICA) 2016 Annual Conference, Fukuoka, Japan (Peer Review).
Kuang, Xianwen (2015). Issue framing within political boundaries: A content analysis of news from six newspapers in China. Paper accepted for the International Communication Association (ICA) 2015 Annual Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico (Peer Review).
Kuang, Xianwen (2012). Self-Caging or Playing with the Edge?: News Selection Autonomy of News Media in Authoritarian China. Paper presented at the International Communication Association (ICA) 2012 Annual Conference, Phoenix, USA (Peer Review).
Grants
Co-Investigator (PI: Jun Liu). 2022. Danish Sapere Aude: DFF-Forskningsleder Fund (Project: To Use or Not to Use? A Relational Approach to ICTs as Repertoire of Contention; Sub-project: Framing Activism in the Digital World; Project No. 1055-00011B). Awarded amount: DKK6,000,000.
Principal Investigator. 2021. XJTLU Summer Undergraduate Research Project (SURF). Project title: Portrayal of Chinese maid in the media: A reflection of the social tensions between domestic workers and the rising middle class in China. Awarded amount: CNY8,000.
Co-Investigator (PI: Min Xu of Donghua University). 2021. The National Social Science Foundation (NSSF). Research on the mobilization mechanism and innovation pathway of local media in the context of rural revitalization 乡村振兴背景下的基层媒介动员机制及创新路径研究. Awarded amount:CNY200,000.
Co-Investigator （PI: Liu, Xi). 2021. XJTLU Teaching Development Fund. Project Title: Enhancing Research-Led Teaching & Learning for Postgraduate Research Students through Interdisciplinary Research. Awarded amount: CNY50,000.
Co-Investigator (PI: Wei, Rining). 2020. XJTLU Research Enhancement Fund (REF) [Grant Number: REF-19-02-01]. Project title: Effect Size Reporting and Interpreting Practices in Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Academic Journals: A survey of two disciplines. Awarded amount: CNY50,000.
Co-Investigator (PI: Lefeng Lin). 2020. HSS Research Start-up Fund. Project Title: Labour and Rural Industrialization in Contemporary China. Awarded amount: CNY10,000.
Principal Investigator (PI). 2020. 2020 Suzhou Science and Technology Development Planning Project, Soft-Science Research Project (General Programme). Project Title: Communicating Public Health Emergencies in Suzhou: A Case of COVID-19.
Principal Investigator (PI). 2020. XIPUI SSF Short-Term Grant. Project title: Cultural soft-power, city branding and international promotion strategies of Suzhou. Awarded amount: CNY17,400.
Principal Investigator (PI). 2020. Research Grant under the China Outside Project of HSS, XJTLU. Project title: The international framing of Traditional Chinese Medicine: A content analysis of news reports from 10 countries. Awarded amount: CNY10,000.
Principal Investigator (PI). 2019. XJTLU Research Development Fund (RDF): RDF-19-01-25. Project title: Framing Sino-US Trade War: A Content Analysis of News from Chinese and American Media Organizations. Awarded amount: CNY49,100.
Principal Investigator (PI). 2019. XJTLU Summer Undergraduate Research Project. Project title: How Chinese and American News Media report on the Sino-US Trade War. Awarded amount: CNY7,650.
Co-Investigator (PI: Xu, Min). 2019. Humanities and Social Science Programme of MoE, Youth Programme. 教育部人文社会科学研究项目青年基金项目《网络社群中非理性社会行动的媒介动员机制及引导路径研究》. Awarded amount: CNY80,000.
Co-Investigator (PI: Xu, Min). 2019. “Construction of urban cultural brand and communication strategies in Shanghai: A study on the case of cultural and creative industry parks,” Shanghai Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science, China上海市人民政府决策咨询研究项目《上海文化创意产业集聚与文化品牌提升国际影响力研究》. Awarded amount: CNY30,000.
Co-Investigator (PI: Bergman, Tabe). 2018. XJTLU Summer Undergraduate Research Project. Project title: The commentary in People’s Daily on presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Co-Investigator (PI: Wang, Hui). 2015. Jiangsu Bureau of Education Philosophy and Social Sciences Programme [Grant Number: 2015SJD616]. Discursive Mediation in News Translation (新闻翻译中的语篇斡旋). Project Value (33%). June, 2015 – June, 2017.
Co-Investigator (PI: Wang, Hui) . 2015. XJTLU Summer Undergraduate Research Project. Project title: News translation in Party and Non-party news agencies in China and its Inspiration to Journalism Translation Training. Awarded amount: CNY8,400.
Co-Investigator. Danish Research Council [Grant Number: 94-556-85013]. One of the five PhD projects under the Mobility Research Grant “Beliefs in Politics: Actors and Determinants (Elites, Frames, and Personalities)” (3 Years) Project Value (95%), 1 Research Assistant involved. January, 2011 – December, 2013
Professional service activities
Reviewer for the Internaitonal Journal of Press/Politics
Reviewer for the Journal of Political Communication
Courses taught
COM261 Qualitative Research Methods
COM221 Research Methods in Media and Communication
COM406 Research methods in Communication
COM401 Global Media Cultures
COM112 Investigative Journalism
COM105 Journalism Theory and Practice
COM108 Global Journalism
Professional memberships
Frontiers: Review Editor of the Editorial Board of Political Communication
Awards and honours
Creativity Award, 2018, Dentsu Innovation Laboratory, Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges，Ministry of Education， People's Republic of China
HS305(SIP Campus-Humanity & Social Sciences Building) Suzhou Dushu Lake Science and Education Innovation District Suzhou Industrial Park Suzhou P.R.China 215123
