Discursive Constructions of the 2019 Hong Kong Protests in CNN and China Daily: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study
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Published
Jun 25, 2020
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Abstract
Using corpus-assisted discourse analysis, this study examines the differences in the discursive constructions of the 2019 Hong Kong protests by two globally influential American and Chinese English-language media outlets, namely CNN and China Daily. The findings reveal that CNN constructed the protests as a largely youth-driven democratic struggle, drawing comparisons with the previous Umbrella Movement, and highlighting the incidences of police repression. In contrast, China Daily constructed the protests negatively, portraying it as an unlawful and disruptive phenomenon undermining Hong Kong’s rule of law and economic stability, and highlighting the unlawful and violent behavior of the protesters. This study not only reveals the contrasting ideological stances of these media outlets in portraying an event that captures global attention, but also provides insight into the role of mainstream Chinese media in supporting China’s arduous bid to influence global opinion favorable to its undertakings.
Keywords: Media Discourse, Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis, Hong Kong, Extradition, Protests
References
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Kress, G., & Hodge, R. (1979). Language as Ideology. London, UK: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Liu, M. (2019). New Trend, but Old Story: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Tibet Imaginations in Anglo-American Newspapers. Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 33(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2019.1583678
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Samaie, M., & Malmir, B. (2017). US News Media Portrayal of Islam and Muslims: A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(14), 1351–1366. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2017.1281789
Siu, J. (2019, April 29). Man who Killed Girlfriend in Taiwan could be Free by October, Setting Effective Deadline for Hong Kong Government’s Extradition Plan. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3008099/sentence-man-who-killed-girlfriend-taiwan-sets
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Sun, N. (2019, July 9). Hong Kong Protesters Push on Despite Leader Declaring Bill “Dead”. Retrieved from https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Hong-Kong-protests/Hong-Kong-protesters-push-on-despite-leader-declaring-bill-dead
Wang, G. (2018). A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reporting on China’s Air Pollution in the Official Chinese English-Language Press. Discourse & Communication, 12(6), 645–662. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481318771431
Whitney, D. C., Sumpter, R., & McQuail, D. (2004). Chapter 20: News Media Production: Individuals, Organizations, and Institutions. In J. D. H. Downing, D. McQuail, P. Schlesinger, & E. Wartella (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Media Studies (pp. 393–410). California, USA: Sage Publications. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412976077.n20
Zhang, L., & Wu, D. (2017). Media Representations of China: A Comparison of China Daily and Financial Times in Reporting on the Belt and Road Initiative. Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 31(6), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2017.1408132
Baijie, A. (2018, August 23). Xi: Spreading China’s Story Key Mission. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201808/23/WS5b7de976a310add14f387392.html
Baker, P. (2006). Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. London, UK: Continuum.
Barker, C., & Jane, E. A. (2016). Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice (5th ed.). London, UK: Sage Publications.
Brindle, A. (2016). A Corpus Analysis of Discursive Constructions of the Sunflower Student Movement in the English-Language Taiwanese Press. Discourse & Society, 27(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926515605957
Cheung, G., Lum, A., & Kang-Chung, N. (2019, February 12). Fugitives Face Extradition to Macau, Taiwan and Mainland China under Hong Kong Government Proposal to Amend Law this Year. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2185894/fugitives-face-extradition-macau-taiwan-and-mainland
China Daily. (n.d.a). About China Daily Group. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/e/static_e/about
China Daily. (n.d.b). China Daily’s Digital Media. Retrieved from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/e/static_e/about
CNN Press Room. (2018, December 19). CNN Digital Hits All-Time Traffic Highs in 2018. Retrieved from https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2018/12/19/cnn-digital-hits-all-time-traffic-highs-in-2018/
CNN Press Room. (2019). CNN Worldwide Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/cnn-fact-sheet/
Delfanti, A., & Arvidsson, A. (2019). Introduction to Digital Media. New Jersey, USA: Wiley Blackwell.
Everington, K. (2018, March 15). Hong Kong Suitcase Murderer Suspected his Girlfriend was Pregnant with another Man’s Child. Retrieved from https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3383447
Fairclough, N. (1995). Media Discourse. London, UK: Edward Arnold.
Fowler, R. (1991). Language in the News: Discourse and Ideology in the Press. London, UK: Routledge.
Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, Gender, and Identity: An Introduction. London, UK: Routledge. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1fbe/dda1bfb55e1ee7c880d8cbddd588b02f712d.pdf
Gunia, A. (2019, March 25). China’s Media Interference is Going Global, Report Says. Retrieved from https://time.com/5557951/china-interference-global-media/
Hachten, W. A. (2010). Chapter 2: Development and Theory of the Media. In J. F. Scotton, & W. A. Hachten (Eds.), New Media for a New China (pp. 19–27). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444319118.ch2
Heng, S. M. L. (2015). Soft Power in the Context of News Production and Circulation Networks of Emerging Countries. In T. S. de Swielande, & D. Vandamme (Eds.), Power in the 21st Century: Determinants and Contours (pp. 79–90). Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Presses Universitaires de Louvain.
Hodkinson, P. (2011). Media, Culture and Society. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Ives, M., & Yi, K. (2019, June 17). For Hong Kong’s Youth, Protests are ‘A Matter of Life and Death’. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-youth.html
Ke, G. (2010). English-Language Media in China. In J. F. Scotton, & W. A. Hachten (Eds.), New Media for a New China (pp. 183–197). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781444319118.ch13
Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2007). Critical Media Literacy: Democracy and the Reconstruction of Education. In D. Macedo & S. Steinberg (Eds.), Media Literacy: A Reader (pp. 3–23). New York, USA: Peter Lang Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeff_Share/publication/237225853_Critical_Media_Literacy_Democracy_and_the_Reconstruction_of_Education/links/02e7e52cb8789f2570000000.pdf
Kilgarriff, A., Baisa, V., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine: Ten Years On. Lexicography ASIALEX, 1, 7–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-014-0009-9
Kim, K. H. (2014). Examining US News Media Discourses about North Korea: A Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society, 25(2), 221–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926513516043
Kress, G., & Hodge, R. (1979). Language as Ideology. London, UK: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Liu, M. (2019). New Trend, but Old Story: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study of Tibet Imaginations in Anglo-American Newspapers. Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 33(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2019.1583678
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to Do a Critical Discourse Analysis: A Multimodal Introduction. London, UK: Sage.
Mai, J. (2019, August 5). Beijing Again Gives ‘Unflagging Support’ to Carrie Lam, Warns Hong Kong is Entering ‘Most Dangerous Phase’. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3021530/beijing-again-gives-unflagging-support-carrie-lam-warns-hong
O’Keeffe, A. (2012). Media and Discourse Analysis. In J. P. Gee, & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 441–454). Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge. Retrieved from https://dspace.mic.ul.ie/bitstream/handle/10395/1681/O%20?sequence=2
Pei, M. (2019, June 14). The US could make Hong Kong – and China – Pay an Economic Price for the Extradition Bill. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3014467/us-could-make-hong-kong-and-china-pay-economic-price-extradition
Pomfret, J., & Master, F. (2019, June 10). Hong Kong Pushes Bill Allowing Extraditions to China Despite Biggest Protest since Handover. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-extradition/hong-kong-pushes-bill-allowing-extraditions-to-china-despite-biggest-protest-since-handover-idUSKCN1TB08W
Richardson, J. E. (2007). Analysing Newspapers: An Approach from Critical Discourse Analysis. London, UK: Red Clobe Press.
Samaie, M., & Malmir, B. (2017). US News Media Portrayal of Islam and Muslims: A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49(14), 1351–1366. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2017.1281789
Siu, J. (2019, April 29). Man who Killed Girlfriend in Taiwan could be Free by October, Setting Effective Deadline for Hong Kong Government’s Extradition Plan. Retrieved from https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3008099/sentence-man-who-killed-girlfriend-taiwan-sets
Stevenson, A., & Hernández, J. C. (2019, July 2). China Calls Hong Kong Protesters who Stormed Legislature ‘Extreme Radicals’. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/world/asia/hong-kong-protestors.html
Sun, N. (2019, July 9). Hong Kong Protesters Push on Despite Leader Declaring Bill “Dead”. Retrieved from https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Hong-Kong-protests/Hong-Kong-protesters-push-on-despite-leader-declaring-bill-dead
Wang, G. (2018). A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reporting on China’s Air Pollution in the Official Chinese English-Language Press. Discourse & Communication, 12(6), 645–662. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481318771431
Whitney, D. C., Sumpter, R., & McQuail, D. (2004). Chapter 20: News Media Production: Individuals, Organizations, and Institutions. In J. D. H. Downing, D. McQuail, P. Schlesinger, & E. Wartella (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Media Studies (pp. 393–410). California, USA: Sage Publications. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412976077.n20
Zhang, L., & Wu, D. (2017). Media Representations of China: A Comparison of China Daily and Financial Times in Reporting on the Belt and Road Initiative. Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 31(6), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2017.1408132
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How to Cite
AYSON, Miguel Enrico Gutierrez.
Discursive Constructions of the 2019 Hong Kong Protests in CNN and China Daily: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Study.
Journal of Community Development Research (Humanities and Social Sciences), [S.l.], v. 13, n. 3, p. 45-58, june 2020.
ISSN 2985-0231.
Available at: <https://www.journal.nu.ac.th/JCDR/article/view/Vol-13-No-3-2020-45-58>. Date accessed: 26 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14456/jcdr-hs.2020.25.