Images of China in the Australian press: Time for new frames and new readings of old frames to broaden the horizons of framing analysis?

Abstract

Central to the study of the persuasive powers of media messaging is framing theory, an explanation of how the press presents stories through specific frames to both present information and influence readers' views on the subject matter. Drawing on a case study of news reports in the Australian press of China's one-child policy, this article shows how two additions to traditional news frame analysis drawn from related disciplines may contribute to our understanding of the impact of journalism on Australians’ views of the world and themselves. The first is a consideration of the ‘self-reflective’ frames embedded in frames of other countries that deliberately imply the presumed superiority of Australian culture. The second is the addition of a new ‘social and cultural attributes’ issue frame used in news to ascribe factual news events in another country to supposed social or cultural attributes of the society in which the stories arise.