Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: This study employs a comparative framing analysis approach to examine how the popular Chinese social media Weibo and government-run news website Xinhuanet cover three Chinese civic events: the Guo Meimei Event (2011), the Wenzhou Train Crash Event (2011), and the Kindergarten Abuse Event (2012).The findings indicate that Xinhua is more likely to use individualized frames to cover civic issues in order to justify the government actions as well as maintain social stability and government legitimacy.Weibo, on the other hand, is more likely to employ societal or political frames to cover civic events.The discourse on Weibo diverges independently from the traditional media and is more civic oriented.This study concludes that Weibo can be regarded as a potentially better civic media despite inadequacies, including the spreading of rumors, lack of in-depth conversations, and even future restrictions from the government.iv This thesis is dedicated to my father, who taught me that even the smallest idea has the inspirational potential to be developed into certain accomplishments.It is also dedicated to my mother, who taught me to be patient, concentrated, and persistent all the way along.
Author: Luyue Ma
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2563677906