A Comparative Study Of News Narratives In Different Circles Of Mainstream Media Reporting On COVID-19

In the face of a major public health emergency such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic,the mainstream media not only need to shoulder the heavy trust of the party and the country,but also reflect the voice of the masses,so as to achieve the effect of guiding public opinion and calming the hearts of the people.Based on this,from the perspective of News Narratology theory and research,this paper discusses the narrative characteristics of the new crown epidemic reports of mainstream media "People’s Daily" and "Beijing News" in different circles,trying to find the similarities and differences of their narrative behaviors and the narrative behind them.Strategy,and what is the significance of such narrative behavior and strategy production,how they form synergy,and provide some references for news writing of public emergencies.By staging the COVID-19 period,this paper sampled and collected news samples from People’s Daily and The Beijing News in different periods for content analysis.Combined with the research framework of News Narratology,it is divided into two levels: story and narrative.Its narrative behavior,the narrative strategy that guides the narrative behavior,the narrative function and the formation of the joint force of the two newspapers,and finally the reflection and suggestions on the mainstream media epidemic narrative.At the story level,the narrators of the epidemic reports of "People’s Daily" and "Beijing News" are mainly narrators outside the story,focusing on their accurate and real narrative effects.The former highlights seriousness,while the latter focuses on the sense of substitution and personal experience in the narrative space.In terms of narrative time,the two newspapers show relatively similar characteristics.Both newspapers focus on capturing typical details to slow down the narrative time and achieve a relaxed narrative rhythm;and through multi-angle and multi-source evidence,they deepen the reader’s impression.The difference lies in the use of narrative frequency between the two.People’s Daily prefers simple and easy-to-understand single narratives to achieve timeliness,while Beijing News is good at using comprehensive narratives to achieve the purpose of sublimation.In terms of narrative theme and narrative focus,the two newspapers have created many harmonious and different grassroots hero images,and in order to promote problem solving,they have also released many constructive comments;The difference in focus on changes in stages,as well as the international perspective and the emphasis on regional people’s livelihood are different.At the narrative level,People’s Daily and The Beijing News use roughly the same narrative perspective,but the former is keen on diary-style “micro-narrative” reports,while the latter tends to emphasize the reporter’s point of view.In terms of narrative structure,the similarities between the two are that the epidemic information is relatively concise and accurate,there are also content that highlights details to arouse emotional resonance,and multi-dimensional core stories are used to strengthen readers’ impressions;the difference is that "People’s Daily" is on the front line.In the narrative of anti-epidemic stories,the core parallel narrative structure is preferred.The Beijing News uses satellite events to emphasize the main theme of core events.When completing the narrative behavior of stories and narrations,they are guided by the narrative strategies of the media itself.The narrative strategies of People’s Daily and The Beijing News ’ s new crown epidemic report together present fragmented narratives and holistic narratives.characteristics of the narrative.The media attributes of the two different circles also bring about differences in narrative strategies.The former prefers the transmission of positive values and the utility of public opinion guidance,while the latter has a more open and free narrative and caters to audience expectations.These narrative behaviors embody the narrative functions of constructing information superiority and social knowledge,forming social norms and building social consensus.The mainstream media "People’s Daily" and "Beijing News" in different circles have formed a complementary,three-dimensional and linked narrative force through global and regional,multi-column fixed narrative and human-like narrative,and narrative that guides and reflects public opinion.