China's Quest for Acceptance: Framing of the 2008 Olympics in The New York Times and China Daily (2009)

Undergraduate: Katie Mock

Faculty Advisor: Jane Brown
Department: Journalism & Mass Communication

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Following its successful bid for the 2008 Olympic Games, China found itself at the center of international controversy. Among critics' main concerns were China's air pollution, past human rights violations and denial of Tibetan independence. The purpose of this study was to examine how the international media presented and framed issues related to China and its hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This project compared coverage of the China Daily, one of China’s national newspapers, to coverage of The New York Times. The coding period, August 2007 to August 2008, encompassed Olympic preparations, China's hosting of the Olympics, and wrap-up coverage.
The study found that conflict frames dominated the New York Times' coverage, whereas the China Daily's coverage of the Olympics was predominately framed in terms of China's preparations for the Games. Additionally, the New York Times focused on controversies, such as China's human rights violations and pollution, as its main topics; conversely, the China Daily emphasized topics related to the country's growth and development. These findings are important to understand the different roles that media play in Eastern versus Western countries and changes needed to reconcile these palpable reporting differences.