{"title":"International Migration Framing in the Global Times (2012–2022): Constructing Identity Narrative About the Self and the Other","authors":"Elena D. Soboleva","doi":"10.1177/18681026241242489","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses a research gap in the studies of international migration discourse in China's mass media. The focus on the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party-owned commercialised newspaper famous for its nationalist discourse, elucidates how news about this global issue is used to construct China's identity narrative. The empirical part includes the analysis of the data spanning a decade (2012–2022) collected from the Global Times. It is studied with the help of computational text analysis tools, including topic modelling that is used to identify frames in the coverage of international migration. The analysis reveals that the Global Times devotes disproportionate attention to migration-related political, security, and socio-economic problems in the West, reproducing elements of the mainstream discourse in the Western media. Such overrepresentation, coupled with the selective coverage of China's own experience with international migration is used to emphasise the weaknesses of the Other in contrast to the stable Self.","PeriodicalId":37907,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","volume":"55 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Current Chinese Affairs","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/18681026241242489","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article addresses a research gap in the studies of international migration discourse in China's mass media. The focus on the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party-owned commercialised newspaper famous for its nationalist discourse, elucidates how news about this global issue is used to construct China's identity narrative. The empirical part includes the analysis of the data spanning a decade (2012–2022) collected from the Global Times. It is studied with the help of computational text analysis tools, including topic modelling that is used to identify frames in the coverage of international migration. The analysis reveals that the Global Times devotes disproportionate attention to migration-related political, security, and socio-economic problems in the West, reproducing elements of the mainstream discourse in the Western media. Such overrepresentation, coupled with the selective coverage of China's own experience with international migration is used to emphasise the weaknesses of the Other in contrast to the stable Self.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs is an internationally refereed academic journal published by the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, Hamburg. The journal focuses on current developments in Greater China. It is simultaneously published (three times per year) online as an Open Access journal and as a printed version with a circulation of 1,000 copies, making it one of the world’s most widely read periodicals on Asian affairs. The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, unlike some other Open Access publications, does not charge its authors any fee. The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs reaches a broad international readership in academia, administration and business circles. It is devoted to the transfer of scholarly insights to a wide audience. The journal is committed to publishing high-quality, original research on current issues in China in a format and style that is accessible across disciplines and to professionals with an interest in the region. The editors welcome contributions on current affairs within Greater China, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Submissions can focus on emerging topics and current developments as well as on future-oriented debates in the fields of China''s global and regional roles; political, economic and social developments including foreign affairs, business, finance, cultural industries, religion, education, science and technology; and so on.