Analysis of the Framing of China's Mainstream Media Coverage of Covid-19

Abstract

In the context of the global epidemic, the reporting framework of news media plays an important role in shaping public awareness and guiding public opinion. As an important channel for information dissemination, the reporting framework of China's mainstream media not only reflects the position of the government and the value orientation of the media itself, but also affects the public's awareness and attitude towards the epidemic. Based on the framework theory of Pan and Kosicki, this study conducted an in-depth analysis of the framework of Chinese mainstream news media in reporting on COVID-19. By conducting in-depth interviews with senior editors and journalists of several Chinese mainstream media, this paper analyzes the interview contents from four dimensions of the syntactic structure, script structure, rhetorical structure and thematic structure of the framework theory, and explores the framework adopted by Chinese mainstream media when reporting major public health events and the influencing factors behind it. The purpose of this study is to reveal the framework construction logic of Chinese mainstream media in news reports, and to provide useful reference for the media practice of Chinese mainstream news media in the reporting of unexpected major events that may occur in the future.