Agenda setting, Framing and government's Influence on Tobacco-related News Coverage in China's People's Daily

Tobacco poses one of the most dire public health threats globally. Whereas tobacco control policies and public education in developed countries reduced tobacco consumption in the West, China, as other developing countries, is targeted by the tobacco companies marketing efforts and is facing increasing rates of tobacco consumption. Previous studies in the western countries pointed at the importance of news coverage of tobacco-related issues on public opinion and agenda setting, but the role of government-controlled newspapers in China was not previously examined. In view of the potential conflict between public health and the importance of local tobacco production to the Chinese economy, its government might have conflicting interests in coverage of the topic. However, previous research did not examine coverage of tobacco-related issues in government-controlled media. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent and nature of tobacco-related coverage in the People's Daily, a government-controlled newspaper. The need for this study is grounded in the importance of understanding to what degree this government-controlled newspaper advance the government's tobacco-related policies. Methods include quantitative content analysis of news published online.

Name thesis:degree_name

Communication

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Communication and Journalism

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• Lin, Hengjun

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ginossar, Tamar
• White, Judith
• Shields, Julie
• Bentley, Joshua

• Health communication
• China
• media advocacy
• tobacco-related coverage

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cj_etds/82

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalrepository.unm.edu:cj_etds-1081