| Since Donald Trump held the presidency of the US,US government has changed its Engagement Policy with China which has been pursued for many years,significantly adjusting its China policy.US basic judgment on China has changed dramatically,positioning China as a strategic competitor of the US.US government unilaterally initiated a trade war with China.There are more and more voices in US political,ideological and strategic circles,advocating being tough with China,which would become a basic consideration for the US to formulate its China policy for quite a long time to come.Media is an important factor in US foreign affairs.In order to explore what roles media has played in the US major policy adjustment on China and reveal the interaction between media and US government,this paper chose Breitbart News Network,an US "Alternative right"media,as the study case.Research methods include news text analysis,user comment analysis and literature analysis.Research questions are as follows:What roles Breitbart News has played in the US major policy adjustment on China?How did Breitbart News play the roles in its news coverage?What are the features of those coverage?And what audience communication effect has been realized from the perspective of user comments?The paper found that Breitbart News mainly played three roles in the US major policy adjustment on China:loyal policy transmitter,careful agenda setter and positive public opinion guide.First,from the perspective of the changing trend of coverage volume and the content of reports on specific issues,reporting agenda of Breitbart News shows a high degree of consistency with US policy agenda on China.Second,Breitbart News selectively reported China-related issues.Its coverage on issues involved in research accounts for a high proportion of all China-related ones.Breitbart News infused "facts" or opinions to users through continuous,intensive and repeated reporting of relevant issues so as to set user's attention agenda.Finally,reports on Breitbart News are almost negative,deliberately shaping a negative image of China.The opinions its news comments reflect are nearly single-angled.Its intention to guide public opinions are obvious.From the perspective of the way of playing its roles and the characteristics of coverage,Breitbart News made good use of commentary to express its tendency;single news source and the political position those sources take;lack of objectivity;sensational and emotional reporting.From the perspective of the communication effect,the study on user comments confirms the role of agenda setting and public opinion guidance of Breitbart News,which has gained extensive attention and discussion among users.Most comments agree with the reporting tendency.It has changed or strengthened the attitude of users. |
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