The Presentation Of Xinjiang Terrorist Attacks In China Daily

The terrorist attack on April23in Bachu county triggers thewriter’s attention to the Xinjiang terrorist activities. Afterwards,27werekilled as riots hit Shanshan county on June,26. A few months later, ajeep crashed into a guardrail on Jinshui Bridge at Tian’anmen Square,which was proved to be a terror attack carried out by ‘East Turkistan’extremists from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. However, this isstill not the end. On November16, mobs assaulted the police again inShufu county, Kashgar Prefecture, so was the Yarkan Police Station onDecember,30. In addition, due to the Kunming terror attack on Mar.1,2014which made a negative effect nationwide, it is within the study aswell. It is obvious that a threat from Xinjiang terrorism does still existnow and then in China. Therefore, the paper intends to take China Daily,which plays a role as daily national newspaper in English as text. It alsohas the only access to the international mainstream society and possessesthe highest rate of reproduction by foreign media.On the basis of relevant theories on media and terrorism, the unit ofthis research lies on reports of Xinjiang terrorist attacks with newsframing theory and media content analysis. The paper focuses ongeographic locations of the incident, types of attack, news values (thenumber of victims and damages to the infrastructure), news sources,background of stories, and portrayal of perpetrators and victims, etc. inorder to present how Xinjiang terrorism is reported by China Daily.ChapterⅠmainly explains research background, research question,and rationale. Chapter Ⅱ illustrates the definition of the key term“terrorism”. Then it collects the previous research by scholars at the issueof terrorism in Xinjiang. What’s more, the relationship between newsmedia and terrorism is clarified as well. The fourth chapter illustrates theresearch methodology and specifically speaking, it is content analysis.Next chapter explains the research results. And the last chapter drawsconclusions on the study.Looking back to the research on Xinjiang terrorism by scholars bothhome and abroad, most of it highlights the “Xinjiang7·5Incident”. It isreally a pity that incidents afterwards are neglected. On the contrary, theresearch triggers exactly from the “4·23Incident in Bachu”. Meanwhile, It collects127reports on Xinjiang terrorism as text in2013and2014,of which include7severe terrorist attacks and corresponding commentsfrom all parties. By adopting news framing theory and content analysis,the attempt can clearly present the report mode in Xinjiang terrorism bythe newspaper. It is undoubtedly of great practical significance. Besides,the relationship between news media and terrorism can be well exploredbased on the research.