China’s environmental pollution crisis: A comparative analysis of newspaper coverage of the Songhua River Spill

Abstract

This article scrutinizes global media coverage of the 2005 Chinese Songhua River Spill, a significant transboundary water pollution crisis. It compares media narratives in China’s Party press, liberal press, and U.S. newspapers, revealing divergences in the symbolic communication of environmental risk. China’s Party press altered its reporting in response to criticisms and new events. U.S. newspapers consistently targeted Chinese government institutions and officials. Meanwhile, China’s liberal newspapers provided nuanced, topic-specific accounts, navigating between journalistic professionalism and political restrictions.