The Semiotic Domain Under The "wall Street Journal" In Chinese And English Web Site Reports And Analysis

It is a widely-recognized that objectivity is the lifeline of prominent western media. However, this research indicates that strings may be attached when journalists practise the ideal principle. Under the guidance of Semiology, the author employs the signifier and the signified of news discourse on the English and Chinese websites of Wall Street Journal so as to reveal whether two organizations subordinated to the same News Group tend to have their own standards in the process of story selection and production.The author first traces off the current research at home and abroad on news discourse analysis in the perspective of Semiology. Followed with a case study of news reports of two websites mentioned above on Chinaco-Rio Deal, one of the most significant global events highlighted by the international community from February to June, 2009. The third unveils how the"Myth"mechanism operates by metonymy in news discourse of Chinalco-Rio deal.The conclusion is: Although the Chinese Website and the English Website are subsidiaries of the same parent media group——WSJ, their news selection and presentation vary. Impacted by such factors as different target audience, stereotype, national interests, the two websites show their own angles of news production. Despite the fact that readers tend to feel little subjective from individual report, the whole picture of the Chinalco-Rio Deal presented by the English and the Chinese reports in the period of five months has propped up the author's argument. The Chinese reports often take moderate attitude towards the Deal, sometimes even taking the side of China's national interests, yet the English texts show more concerns on threats imposed by China's rise through the Deal. The double standards reveal that as a reputed private media in the West, Wall Street Journal always struggles to strike a balance between profit and objectivity.