The Representation Of City Image And Its Reflection By Mainstream News Media

As an important strategic fulcrum city in the rise of central China,Wuhan has an important position in the development pattern of the country.In recent years,although Wuhan has made efforts to build itself into a national central city,it still has a large gap compared with domestic first-tier cities—citizens' weak identity and its poor reputation,prominent problems in its image.However,the holding of the 2019 Military World Games provided opportunities for Wuhan to beautify itself.Unfortunately,just two months after the end of the sports events,the Novel Coronavirus first broke out in Wuhan and quickly swept the world,which enveloped the people of China under the attack of this virus.As the epidemic spread,discrimination and prejudice against the people of Wuhan and the world against China and even Asians began to diffuse.Therefore,it is of great practical significance for the author to analyze news media's shaping of Wuhan's image under such a social background.The study selected 700 news in the 24 days before and after the military games from three media,"Changjiang Daily","Chutian Metropolis Daily",and "People's Daily".After content analysis and discourse analysis,the study found that media reports on the games was mainly characterized by the following features: 1.Its number,the opening day reached its peak,and since then it showed a downward spiral.Two local media set up columns,and formed a series of reports as a whole;2.Genre selection,news consisted of the main body,but the proportion of in-depth reports and comments was also relatively high.3.Prominent feature of the reporting tendency,the news of the three media completely avoided negative tendency;4.The application of the news framework was mainly based on the factual framework,the party newspaper adopted the leadership framework more,and the metropolitan newspaper mostly adopted the humanity framework;5.Reporting topics,Wuhan's image was diverse and three-dimensional,and the media mainly highlighted Wuhan's municipal image,cultural image,and citizen image.According to the media reports,we find that hosting the Military Games greatly improved Wuhan's infrastructure construction and urban comprehensive governance;local economy has been actively developed,and the technological achievements represented by 5G have promoted the integration and upgrading of new economy-related industries.Besides,urban appearance and ecological environment have been further optimized,and its citizens' sense of happiness and honor have been enhanced in a positive social atmosphere.According to the author's research,the three media not only actively portrayed the city's image through the Military Games,but also built an internal identity at a deep level.The construction role of news media as a social actor was thus reflected,which was not only evident in the reports of the military games,but also continued in the subsequent epidemic news.By observing the reports of the pneumonia epidemic in the mainstream media,the author believes that reshaping the city's image under the crisis can focus on the following aspects.First of all,we must actively set the agenda and respond to labeling and stigmatization in a timely manner.Second,we must demonstrate anti-epidemic actions and rebuild people's confidence and internal cohesion.Finally,humanistic care should be reflected in reports,highlighting the value and important status of human beings.In addition,the author believes that the active use of progressive discourse and consistency with official ideology is the normal operation of China's mainstream media,but if this reporting strategy is extended to all fields indefinitely,it may cause public to question their credibility.When powerful progressive words overwhelm the social reality that should be covered,when news media become a unidirectional megaphone of the authority,the audience is likely to reverse news report—an unexpected and counterproductive effect derived from the focus of media attention on guiding public opinion and awakening internal recognition.The image of the city is of history and memory,being fluid and changing as well,which has greatly reflected by the successive occurrence of Wuhan Military World Games and COVID-19.Whether to beautify or restore its image,this goal requires not only the power of government,enterprises,and media,but also the participation of every citizen for the process itself is endless.It is in this series of actions to transform the image of the city that we are experiencing the positive lifestyle and life state of human beings.