Changing Frames: China's Media Strategy for Environmental Protests

Abstract:In the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has remained stable despite frequent popular protests. Focusing on environmental protests, we attempt to explain how the CCP has utilized domestic news media to deal with protests and ensure regime stability. We chose five major protests against Para-Xylene (PX) and analyzed all of the People's Daily Online (PDO) articles thereon since 2007. From the Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping governments, PDO's collective portrayal of the anti-PX protests has dramatically changed from a symbol of democratic progress to an impediment to national industrialization and social stability. The systematically orchestrated media framing demonstrates that, instead of indiscriminately suppressing information on protests, the party has deliberately chosen when and what to permit and what images to project onto the protests. This article provides new insights into the CCP's media strategy for popular protest and sheds light on how China's authoritarian regime has maintained political legitimacy and social stability despite a considerable level of public discontent and deepening political oppression.