Contributing to the broader debate on the nature and identity of the European Union (EU), this thesis is a study of the EU from the outside looking in: an examination of how this novel process of integration among the nations of Europe is viewed by its partners around the world, in particular in New Zealand through its television news media. While there are many studies which examine how the EU is understood and represented within its borders, there is an absence of parallel studies which consider the image of the EU from an external perspective. Recognising that the television news media plays a particularly important role in influencing the knowledge and perceptions of people on foreign matters, the thesis presents an analysis of the entire EU television news coverage in New Zealand's two prime-time television news bulletins throughout 2004. The primary research question that the thesis investigates is, how is the EU framed in the television news media of New Zealand, an external 'Other' of the EU? The study was multi-methodological in nature and analysed each of the relevant news items using content analysis, as well as undertaking deeper analysis of the metaphorical categorisations and the visual images of the EU, to detect the entire range of EU representations and the overall image of the EU these created for New Zealand television news audiences. These findings were then compared against corresponding research from Australia, South Korea and Thailand, as well as to the perceptions of New Zealand's leading newsmakers, in order to account for the most important trends in EU image formation in New Zealand. In particular it was found that the EU was often entirely absent from the New Zealand television news space, and when it was visible, was often presented in a way which ignored the extensive domestic relevance of the Union for New Zealand and its immediate region.

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This thesis explores textual and visual images of the EU in South Korea's three prestigious popular newspapers - Chosun Ilbo, Dong A Ilbo and Joong Ang Ilbo - and compares them to the imagery created by the internet versions of these newspapers. In recent years, much scholarly work has been done on the topics of EU imagery in print media, but no systemic attempt has yet been made to EU imagery in internet media. The thesis analyses EU news monitored daily in 12 months of 2008 (a year of the first G20 Summit in Washington and the 6th and 7th rounds of EU-Korea FTA negotiations). This study is interdisciplinary. The thesis draws on several significant theories and concepts from the media studies and linguistics. On top of this, a wide range of approaches of content and visual analysis were reviewed. The study then considers and adopts a multimethodological approach of content analysis (studies by Chaban and Holland) and of visual analysis (by Bain) based on visual semiotics. However, to cope with internet media it also adds several categories which add the notion of interactivity to the original content analysis. It incorporates categories originating from a social semiotic approach (elements of interactive and compositional meta-functions) into the original visual analysis. The results of this study are presented in three case studies. In the first section of each case study the thesis provides a comprehensive overview featuring the latest information and various perspectives (political, economic, social, environmental and developmental). The second section presents formal characteristics of EU images in print newspapers and their internet versions. The third section covers substantive characteristics in both versions. The last section suggests the results of visual analysis. The results of this thesis contribute to two areas of studies: EU external perception studies and internet communication studies: as well as enhancing a deeper understanding of EU-Korea relations.