Reporting Strategy and Gender Perspective in Chinese Media Coverage of COVID-19 News

Abstract

This article examines the reporting strategy and gender perspective in Chinese media coverage of COVID-19 news. The article employs a mixed-method approach to analyze news reports, using quantitative statistics and qualitative semantic materials that complement each other. The study found that the media construct a stereotypical image of female healthcare workers absent from public participation. Media reports on the actual number of female healthcare workers involved in treating COVID-19 patients are lower than those about men. Reports focusing exclusively on female staff tend to focus on their private affairs, that is, on their non-professional identities and characteristics, and show an excessive gaze on the female body. To understand this phenomenon prevailing in Chinese media, it is necessary to highlight the predicament of Chinese women in society as well as acknowledge the work of contemporary Chinese feminism in raising awareness on Chinese women’s experiences.