A Comparative Analysis of Weibo and Xinhua in Framing Chinese Civic Engagement

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.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Media and Communication

Grantor dc:publisher

Bowling Green State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Ma, Luyue

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mascaro, Thomas

• Communication
• Journalism
• Civic engagement
• framing
• Weibo
• Xinhua
• China

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1363569701

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:bgsu1363569701