Framing international news in China: An analysis of trans-edited news in Chinese newspapers

Abstract

This research explores the variations between Chinese party and non-party newspapers in the framing of trans-edited international news. Existing studies on the framing of Chinese domestic news show that the variations depend on the sensitivity of news, which invokes government control. However, it is not clear how strictly the government would control international news and whether party and non-party news organizations would show similarities or variations in the framing of it. To address these issues, we conducted a comparative quantitative content analysis of 806 pieces of trans-edited international news from one party newspaper and one non-party newspaper. The findings show that the party and non-party newspapers show similarity on the use of three frames but small variations on the other four. This implies a strong control of the Chinese government on the reporting of international news. By comparison, the government control has stronger effects on the party newspaper than on its non-party counterpart.