Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Mark D. Harmon

Committee Members

Julie Andsager, Barbara Kaye

Abstract

The current thesis explores The New York Times’ coverage of China’s new population policy. On November 26, 2013, China updated its one-child policy to the selective one-child policy that allowed couples to have two children if one of the parents is single child. On October 30, 2016, China then erased the one-child policy, implementing the universal two-child policy that allowed all couples to raise two children. The New York Times, as an important western medium extensively covered China’s population policy.

This study collected 40 news articles from The New York Times, using grounded theory to explore the issues, the frame dominance, the speaker dominance and the frame preferences about China’s new population policy reporting. Compared with the study on the one-child policy reporting by U.S. elite media during 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, this thesis found a shift on frame preferences on China’s new population policy reporting. All U.S. Speakers, including U.S. professionals and U.S. media, became more focused on Implications Frames. All Chinese Speakers, except Chinese Civilians who focused on Effectiveness Frames, preferred to use Implications Frames, especially Economic Implications frame and Social Implications frame, to provide the information in The New York Times’ reporting.

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