May 2018 - July 2019 China in Canadian Newspapers, A Mass Data Analysis:
This content analysis examines China’s appearances in the Globe and Mail and the National Post from May of 2018 to July of 2019, highlighting the topics and tone of coverage with regard to China. This period was characterized by China-Canada and China-U.S. tension, and featured a number of newsworthy events worth reviewing.
In the forthcoming full report, which will be published in March 2020, The China Institute at the University of Alberta (CIUA) explores the ways in which Canadian newspapers frame China and subsequently influence public sentiment. This research builds upon a prior analysis of Canadian news media mentions of China from 2015 to mid-2018, helping to illustrate long-term trends as well as flashpoint topics and reactions. This infographic report provides a preliminary glimpse into the ndings of our research.
January 2015 - July 2019: Total Number of Articles About or Mentioning China by Month
350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 1 1 1 1 1 1 16 16 16 16 16 16 1 1 1 1 1 1 18 18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 - r- - l------l- - - - r- - l------l- n y u p v r y p v n a y u p v n- r y l p v n r y Ja a a J e o an a a Ju e o Ja a J e o a a a Ju e o Ja a a Ju M M S N J M M S N M M S N J M M S N M M
Year on year mentions of China increased 77% from 2017 - 2018, and another 55% from 2018 - July 2019
927
May 2018 - July 2019: Most Frequently Mentioned Topics
Of nearly 4500 articles collected, 3333 545 mentioned China substantively.
China was a central focus in 1658 articles.
313
189
90 98 77 53 54 43 44 44 48 32 33 33 34 34 38 23 23 26 28 28 28
t t a ai n n y g n a ic e te ts e e s re s s n e th a s e io io rg hip n io e g a h m g te u e n e c d s d t t s ia t or rat a t g i n a t t ia n w a e a a a ne j u k n s i cr a t c o d m a o n in tr r v or ll io e r h s u r a t n r a s ig o l e s xin o h l n c d tr p n s g c u n a n p t moc sp a a e e s a ve d b n e or e e re it a c n n mm in o c n d m at n fr - i a i i n u m u n e t u h li i s cy n c e n ve in e n h r o c r c cu Over the three and a half years leading up to mid-2018, only 353 articles mentioning China in the Globe and Mail and the National Post primarily focused on trade, compared to 927 from May 2018 - July 2019.
January 2015 - April 2018 | May 2018 - July 2019: Comparing Media Framings of China Between Research Periods
declining oppressive neutral competition opportunity conflictleadership rising
unpredictablecooperation threat
The graph below displays a marked shi in media framings of China from January 2015 – April 2018 to May 2018 – July 2019. Excluding neutral tone, the number of articles about or mentioning China published by the Globe and Mail and the National Post in the een months from May 2018 to July 2019 (3052 articles) was nearly equal to the number of articles published in the three and a half year period from January 2015 to April 2018 (3085 articles).
In this graph, we see a shi towards “unpredictable” and “conflict”, and a steep decline in “rising” and “cooperation” framings over 2018 and 2019. Overall, pessimistic framings of China were more prominent in the latter research period than in the former.
900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 t t y le c a t ve g n ip n rn le se b li e i ing i in io h io e b p a f r n n s s t s it d a a n th tu li s ri ra r t t ll ict o r c e e e e s o d c o e pr p d p mo c e p d o a m r p op o le o np o c c u
January 2015 - April 2018 May 2018 - July 2019
Media Framings of China when Canada-China Disputes are the Focal Point
18% cooperation of articles with a central rising focus on China were expressly opportunity concerned with Canada-China
oppressive bilateral issues.
declining
threat
unpredictable
conflict
0 50 100 150 200 250
This report focused on four primary bilateral flashpoints: the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, the bans levied by Beijing on certain Canadian exports to China, and national security concerns regarding Huawei and Canadian network infrastructure.
543 of the articles collected in this study directly addressed these issues, while another 61 were concerned with China-Canada diplomacy more broadly. The rst notable di erence between these articles and the whole article population was the relative absence of more optimistic terms such as “opportunity” and “cooperation”. “Threat” framing was also relatively more prevalent amongst this article group as shown above.
Comparing Media Framing of China Across Multiple Canada-China Dispute Focuses
Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig National Security 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 t ct e n g ty le a li iv ing io in i b e f s n t s n a r n s li ra ri tu t th o re c e r ic c p e p o d p d o p e o o r c op np u Media framings of China also varied from issue to issue even with the topic of Canada-China bilateral relations. As shown above, the predominant framing of China in the context of national security was “threat,” whereas “conflict” was more frequently associated with articles concerning Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig.
Media Framings of China through US-China disputes
26% of articles with a central focus on China were concerned with US-China conflicts 95% of these were primarily about the US-China trade war
rising
neutral
cooperation
opportunity
declining
threat
conflict
unpredictable
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
861 articles concerned U.S.-China conflicts, with 815 primarily mentioning the trade war. 39 articles discussed US national security concerns regarding Chinese 5G technology, and 7 dealt with intellectual property disputes.
trade war 5G technology IP disputes 815 39 7
The framing of China in these articles reflected uncertainty surrounding the trade war and the tactics and objectives of both actors. Unlike in discussions of national security, trade war related mentions of China tended to either paint both China and the U.S. as belligerent or neutral. This is why both “conflict” and “unpredictable” were dominant frames for China in this article group.
Media Framings of China in the Context of Hong Kong Social Upheaval
opportunity
threat
unpredictable
conflict
oppressive
0 5 10 15 20 25
This study only captures the beginning of the protest movement and civil unrest in Hong Kong. Even so, we see notable framing di erences between its coverage and aggregate coverage on China. In the 63 articles in our dataset that addressed the extradition treaty and subsequent protests in Hong Kong, “oppressive” was the most common frame used to describe China. Other topics such as Uighur religious freedoms in China, as well as human rights discourses garnered a similar tone of coverage.
Further discussion of these and other observations as well as a detailed methodology will be presented in the nal report at china.ualberta.ca