A Critical Discourse Analysis Of News Reports On China In The New York Times

China has gradually become the focus of international mass media because of its economic development and strong national power. However, researches show that some news reports about China are negative in international mass media, especially in Western news reports. Some of the news reports distort the reality of China. For instance, researches show that in The New York Times most of the news reports about China are negative. The hot topics about China in The New York Times concern human rights, freedom, and China’s rise. All of these negative reports are likely to damage China’s reputation in the world and ruin its diplomatic relationships with other countries. The purpose of this study is to find out how China’s image is discursively constructed by the reporters of The New York Times.The thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One first introduces the background of the study, and the need for and the significance of the study.Chapter Two is about literature review, in which the terms such as discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, news and news reports are defined first, and then the researches which have been done into news reports from the perspective of critical discourse analysis so far are reviewed.Chapter Three concerns the theoretical foundation of this study, presenting the theoretical framework and analytical framework of critical discourse analysis.Chapter Four discusses the research methodology, introducing the research design, research questions, and data collection. Chapter Five analyses news reports on China in The New York Times by using the theory of critical discourse analysis. The ways in which the news paper presents China and how it constructs China’s image are exposed. This chapter also discusses the research results and findings, which are interpreted and analyzed in political, historical, and theoretical contexts.Chapter Six offers a conclusion of this thesis. The limitations of the study are discussed and some suggestions for future research in this field are made, too.This study is designed to find out how The New York Times presents China in its news reports, and to prove whether there exist discursive reports about China which are quite different from the reality. This study aims to answer the following questions:1) Are there any negative attitudes towards China’s human rights and its influence on the whole world’s security in The New York Times reports?2) What strategies do journalists use in the reports and how are their negative attitudes expressed in the reports?3) How is the China’s image constructed in The New York Times reports? Are they the same as realities?4) Why does The New York Times hold negative attitudes towards China? How does it portray America in its reports? Are the negative attitudes related to American diplomatic policies?With these questions, the theory of critical discourse analysis is adopted in this study to analyze of seven news reports selected from The New York Times. Some critical linguistic theories are applied in the analysis process such as Wodak’s model, van Dijk’s model and Halliday’s systemic functional Grammar. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used in this study. By combining some example sentences with the theory of critical discourse analysis, this study finds out that The New York Times constructed China’s image discursively. The reasons of this negative attitude are further discussed in Chapter Five. The nature of the American news media and the political, historical and theoretical context of America news media are also analyzed.Through analysis, the study concludes that1) News discourses just like other discourses are not just language stack, but demonstrate ideology, power, and control. The news reports are not merely the platform for the presentation of events happening or have happened in the world but also include journalists’ values system and ideology;2) By using of critical discourse analysis, the unequal power relationship between America and China embedded in the news reports can be observed. The foreign policies of America towards China are revealed by the analysis of the new reports from the perspective of critical discourse analysis;3) The results of this study can help China’s journalists to cultivate their awareness of critical analysis for the purpose of observing the negative attitudes in some Western news reports and encouraging them to find ways to reverse this unfavorable condition of China;4) In international mass media, China’s voice seldom exists, so how to make China’s voice be heard in international mass media and improve the unfavorable condition of China’s image are formidable tasks for China’s journalists.5) Critical discourse analysis (CDA) theory provides rational foundations and tools for China’s mass media practitioners to reverse the unfavorable conditions of China’s image and the unequal power relationship.The findings of this study imply that CDA should be encouraged and taught in language learning and teaching. As for China’s journalists, they need to have the awareness of critical thinking to help them to find out ways of changing the unfavorable condition of China.