Engendering the positive image of the China government through flood framing
List of Authors
  • Ning Li , Su-Hie Ting

Keyword
  • China, People’s Daily, flood, Xi Jinping, episodic, thematic, valence

Abstract
  • The study investigated how the flood news in China is framed by the People’s Daily, an official newspaper of the Communist Party of China. The objectives of the study were to: (1) identify the frequency of thematic and episodic framing of flood events; (2) examine the frame dimensions used for framing flood events; and (3) determine the dominant valence of news articles on flood events. Altogether 180 articles on flood in the online People’s Daily (English edition) published from 1 January to 31 December 2023 were analysed. The results showed a dominance of the episodic frame (94.4%) compared to the thematic frame (5.6%). The main frame dimension is the attribution of responsibility but it is to highlight the capability of the government to take care of the people rather than to attribute blame for poor management. There was a dominance of positive valence (70.6%) compared to negative valence (26.1%) and neutral valence (3.3%). President Xi Jinping was portrayed as a “caring leader” and a “compassionate and hands-on leader” in dealing with the flood woes of the people.

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