It is a Scary and Dangerous World: A Content Analysis of Xinwen Lianbo’s News Coverage of Foreign Affairs

Abstract

The television program Xinwen Lianbo has been China’s flagship state-run newscast since 1978. Today, even with competition from other options and a decline in interest from younger viewers, it still has an audience of over 130 million people making it the most-watched TV news program in China. This study uses a content analysis of foreign affairs stories in the newscast from 2012-2016 to determine how the world outside of China is framed in the newscast. Results show that through the topics covered the world is continuously framed as a scary and dangerous place. The research in this study lines up with prior research that suggests that exposure to negative news, particularly news replete with disasters, terrorism, crime, and scandals, perpetuates fear among the Chinese audience. Of particular note is that many smaller and less powerful countries occupied the newscast more frequently than the "known" countries such as the United States. Coverage of war and conflict in the Middle East was important in the construction of the chaotic and dangerous outside world frame. By casting foreign countries in a negative light, and China and its leaders in a very positive light, the domestic audience is persuaded that China is one of the safest and most orderly countries in the world. This study shines a spotlight on China᾽s strategies for domestic propaganda and ideological control, indicating the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to effectively and imperceptibly strengthen the efficacy of the propaganda system. [This is a published version of an article published in "Athens Journal of Mass Media and Communications" in October, 2019, available online: https://www.athensjournals.gr/media/2019-5-4-3-Xu.pdf. DOI: 10.30958/ajmmc.5-4-3 "Athens Journal of Mass Media and Communications" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)].