2008—2017年《紐約時報》對中國霧霾報道趨勢研究

Abstract：The purpose of this essay is to provide a comprehensive overview of trends and characteristics in news coverage about Chinas smog issues in The New York Times over a 10-year period. The method this paper used is quantitative content analysis and qualitative analysis. The analyses can be made that although The New York Times is growing to be more objective in its newsmaking slant， it bears frequent emotional expressions. Contributing factors analyses for smog are politicized and articles are constructed through a number of conventional frames. Although topics and of news stories in The New York Times has become more diverse， themes are rather narrow. Dominating themes are politics， the economy， human rights and the environment， and specific narratives dominate certain themes.

Key words： China；smog； environmental news；frame；The New York Times

摘 要：本論文的研究目的是通過統計2008年至2017年《紐約時報》對中國霧霾問題的新聞報道，研究其報道的趨勢和特點，并試析其中的原因。本文主要采用了量化研究方法、內容分析法、文獻分析法。在分析和研究之后，本文得出結論：《紐約時報》在報道傾向上更趨于客觀，但用對霧霾的描述有渲染夸張的成分。對霧霾成因的分析有“政治化”的傾向，西方媒體傳統報道框架占新聞報道主體，霧霾報道的話題增多，但主題范圍狹窄。

關鍵詞：中國 霧霾 環境新聞 框架 《紐約時報》

Introduction

Chinas environmental crisis is one of the most pressing challenges to emerge from the countrys rapid industrialization. Its economic rise， in which GDP grew on average 10 percent each year for more than a decade， has come at the expense of its environment and public health. Among the pollution， smog has become the most irritating issue in China over the most recent years.

Environmental degradation has tremendously bruised Chinas international standing as foreign media come to overwhelmingly reporting and interpreting Chinas smog issue from assorted angles. With the unprecedented emphasis paid on smog in China from western media， studies regarding how western news report and interpret Chinas smog come into a critical position. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of trends and characteristics in news coverage about Chinas smog issues in The New York Times over a 10-year period.

I Literature Review

1.1 Studies on Western Medias News Coverages of Chinas smog

Under the key words ‘China ‘environmental news ‘smog in CNKI database， it shows that there is a growing trend in the amount of studies regarding news on smog， with a sharp increase in the year of 2007， the year before 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The number of studies peaked in the year of 2014， and the number of studies was almost a hundred times more than that of 2007.

According to scholar Hou Xiaosu from Center for International Communication Studies in China International Publishing Group （International Communications， 2014.07， p.37-38）， The New York Times held misinterpretation and bias in its news stories and went back on the principle of objectivity and balance by exaggerating the intensity of smog in China and using strongly negative and sensational adjectives in its news stories.

Smog news is one type of environmental news originated in the United States. According to Green Ink： An Introduction to Environmental Journalism by Michael Frome （1998）， objectivity in environmental journalism is impossible （p.204）. Frome， considered a pioneer of American conservation， defines environmental journalism as a ‘form of writing with a particular purpose， and argues that a more concerned and involved journalism should function as the model for environmental journalists.

1.2 News Coding as Research Method in Studies in Environmental News

Coding， as an effective tool in quantitative content analysis， shows great advantage in studying environmental news.

As discussed in Coding the News： The Development of a Methodological Framework for Coding and Analyzing Newspaper Coverage of Tobacco Issues （Clegg Smith， 2002）， analysis of the nature of media coverage is essential for understanding the progress of public environment or health issues. There is significant evidence showing that newspapers both reflect pre-existing events and attitudes， but serve to shape popular attitudes and beliefs， act as agents of public education， and can play an important role in determining the policy agenda （Baillie， 1996）. The communications， media and policy literatures all assert that the presentation of issues as news shapes both public understanding of public health topics and future related policy.

II Methodology

This essay primarily adopts the research method of quantitative content analysis as fundamental tools underlying the paper.

The sample comprised The New York Times published from 2008 to 2017. Articles were accessed via its official website. The following search string was developed to retrieve stories relevant to Chinas smog issues： ‘China， ‘smog， ‘PM2.5. This search engine strategy yielded 180 articles. Articles were excluded if they were editorials or focused on Asia smog with only slight mention of China. Of the 180 articles retrieved， 117 （65%） met the inclusion criteria and were subsequently coded. Articles were coded on four aspects described below， i.e. theme， topic， slant and prominence.

3.1 Specific Narratives Dominating Certain Themes

Specific narratives dominate certain sectors. For example， nearly half （53%） of all the coverages related to government measurements involves stories about elite corruption or bureaucracy inside communist party. For example， in the report on March 21， 2013， The New York Times says： “What the leaders neglect to say is that infighting within the government bureaucracy is one of the biggest obstacles to enacting stronger environmental policies.” The source is rather vague and lack direct quote or statistics from the government.

As for human rights， The New York Times has a bunch of reports say that Chinese people have been hidden from accurate monitoring system and are suppressed to outcry their disappointment or confusion towards noxious air quality： “Authorities in Beijing are taking zero-tolerance approach to public expressions of environmental discontent”.

Also， a majority of （59%） articles illustrating policies and prevention indicate Chinese governments incompetence in dealing with environmental pollution. Nearly three quarters of all environment stories concern the issue of deteriorated pollution and its impact.

3.2 Growing Objectivity in Newsmaking Slant

Overall， the result indicates that the report of smog from The New York Times， a prominent example of western media， changed over time between 2008 and 2017. In recent years， The New York Times began to increase reporting Chinas smog from a more neutral or mixed tone. Although negative news takes the majority of articles， this result indicates a trend of being objective in newsmaking. News with neutral and mixed slant mostly bear themes about individual anecdotes， scientific findings and governments measurement towards environmental pollution.

3.3 Frequent Appearance of Emotional Expressions

Wording in news writing of The New York Times is rather emotional and does not abide by the principle of “balance and objective” in news writing advocated by international media agencies. The New York Times seldom give statistic evidence， for example， PM2.5 number， to illustrate the air condition. Instead， obvious exaggeration is used widely in articles. Words with strong negative emotion such as “soupy” “catastrophic” or “airpocalypse” are used to describe air quality in China， the finding of which is supported by scholar Hou Xiaosu from from Center for International Communication Studies in China International Publishing Group.

3.4 Politicized Analyses for Contributing Factors of Smog

According to scholar Hou Xiaosu， reports from The New York Times give an impression that the reason of Chinas smog is not a simply environmental issue but a rather sensitive political problem （2013）. Fifteen out of 26 articles talking about governments prevention and measurement mentioned bureaucracy in CPC and elite corruption. Some journalists claimed that the political system in China put a threat to the lift of smog （Hou Xiaosu， 2014）. According to American socialist Gans， “In fact， journalists often follow American foreign policy in selecting foreign news because it supplies a quick and easy importance consideration and because no other quality efficient model is available.”

3.5 Construction of Conventional Frames in Smog News

It appears that the “Chinas smog” is being told through a number of conventional frames， i.e. political frame， economic frame and human rights frame.

The most common frame utilized in the coverage of smog or environmental problems was political frame. This frame was created through description of governments measurement and problems. Terms and phrases that described this frame were： “commitment，” “vow，” “infighting，” and “bureaucracy.” Most of the time， The New York Times would attribute the deteriorating air quality to the corruption and bureaucracy of Chinese government， and claim that the measurement taken by authorities has little effect. Government is depicted as a rather incompetent supervisor or corrupted officer.

Economic frame， the second most frequent frame， was created through analyses of contributing factors or fundamental cause or impediment of smog. Terms and phrases that described this frame were： “growth-at-any-cost attitude，” “invest，” and “consumption.”

Human rights frame， another widely used frame， was created through description of a series of outcry and campaign conducted by Chinese， expressing their disappointment and objection to the government. Terms and phrases that described this frame were： “outcry，” “outrage，” “confusion，” and “campaign.”

IV Discussion

Articles from The New York Times are rather narrow in themes， and specific narratives dominate certain themes such as human rights and the economic. Following factors can possibly contribute to the situation listed in the analyses part：

First， there can be a number of challenges for journalists from western media which may make it difficult to report on a broader range of stories. A recent report from the Foreign Correspondents Club of China is worth quoting at length： “Chinas ruling Communist Party continues to erect hurdles to foreign journalists， and the media companies that employ them， discouraging reporting on many aspects of China. Foreign journalists are restricted in where they can travel. Their sources are vulnerable to intimidation or worse. ” （Foreign Correspondents Club of China， 2014）

Second， the frequent use of emotional expressions， the politicized contributing factors of smog and the constructed conventional frames in smog news in the newsmaking could find possible explanation in the following：

The discrepancy in ideology may have emerged an informal consensus among journalists both inside and outside China about what stories are considered newsworthy. This may be based on any number of factors such as experience， values， or shared ideas about what China represents.

There may be little or no audience demand for a broader agenda in terms of China coverage. A report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism suggests that when it comes to foreign news audiences “respond strongly to crisis， drama， and human interest” rather than being concerned about individual countries. （Sambrook， R.， 2013）.

According to Zhao Yuezhi （2008）， since 1980s when neolibreralism has dominated capitalist societies， monopoly capitalism has strengthened its supervision while government weakened its authority on media. At the same time， the United States tended to demonstrate more supremacy in its foreign policy. Under this background， the mainstream media in the United States abandoned the basic principle of balance even pseudo-objectivity in their reports. Government uses articles of western media to strengthen its ruling （Zhao Yuezhi， 2008）.

Conclusion

Although The New York Times is growing to be more objective in its newsmaking slant， it bears frequent emotional expressions. Topics and of news stories in The New York Times has become more diverse， but themes are rather narrow. Contributing factors analyses for environmental issues are mostly politicized， and specific narratives dominate certain themes. Environmental news from The New York Times are composed through a number of conventional frames and controversial topics are more likely to appear on the front page of International Section.

Based on the features from articles in The New York Times， certain factors might be contributing to the results. First， there can be a number of challenges for journalists from western media which may make it difficult to report on a broader range of stories. Second， the discrepancy in ideology may have emerged an informal consensus among journalists both inside and outside China about what stories are considered newsworthy. This may be based on any number of factors such as experience， values， or shared ideas about what China represents. And there may be little or no audience demand for a broader agenda in terms of China coverage.

References

[1] Allan， S. （2000）. Environmental Risks and the Media. Psychology Press

[2] Clegg Smith， K. （2002）. Coding the News： The Development of a Methodological Framework for Coding and Analyzing Newspaper Coverage of Tobacco Issues. Research Paper Series， No.21， The University of Illinois at Chicago.

[3] Frome， M. （1998）. Green Ink： An Introduction to Environmental Journalism. University of Utah Press

[4] Griffiths， D. （2013）. The International Media Coverage of China： Too Narrow An Agenda？. Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper， University of Oxford

[5] Gans， H.J. （1979）. Deciding what's news： News Suitability. Society， Volume 16， Issue 3， p. 65-77

[6] 侯曉素（2013）. 《紐約時報》對中國霧霾的報道特點及外宣應對.《對外傳播》，7：37-38

[7] 趙月枝（2008）.為什么今天我們對西方新聞客觀性失望. 新聞大學2：9-16

作者簡介：李若琳，女，1994年8月，民族：漢，北京海淀人，碩士學位，中國傳媒大學，研究方向：國際新聞。