How Did The Reference News Show The National Image Of America During Financial Crisis

The objective of this thesis is to analyze the national image of United States in Chinese media perspectives during financial crisis via the content analysis methods. Reference News, the largest circulation in mainland China and one of the most important official channels for the Chinese public to view the outside world, is selected as the research object. The research starts from the day when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, September 15, 2008, to the day when G20 announced the financial crisis was over, September 25, 2009. This thesis organizes the report methods used by Reference News for United States during financial crisis, discusses the public image of United States, and analyzes the reasons.This thesis found although Reference News objectively reported the news of United States from politics, economy, military, diplomacy, culture and education, society, science and technology, and international status, Reference News intentionally weaken the negative aspect of United States during financial crisis, and provides absolutely negative reports of the diplomacy and international status of United States. From the report of Reference News, we can conclude that on one hand, United States was in a big trouble, declining from the top of the world; on the other hand, Unites States actively made changes and overcome the crisis finally. As a whole, the United States was still a Hegemonic image. The self-contradictory reports from Reference News are rooted from the special media system in China and the requirements to protect the benefits of China government during financial crisis. From the perspective of Political science, it's a phenomenon of the nationalism in the course of the media.