Social Stratum Prejudice, One Of Journalistic Prejudices In Semiotics Analysis

This paper contrasts the news discourses (a solid data containing 3894 news coverage) about two social groups, "urban dwellers" and "country residents" including "farmers" and "migrant-workers", which are classified according to the registered permanent residence as a society dividesion variable. It uses semiotic analysis to reveal whether the mass media are showing social stratum prejudice toward "country residents". Through exploring term expressions chosen pragmatically, it indicates that when mass media describe and distinct "migrant-workers", they favor to use discrimination terms or passive position other than equal or positive ones in the news discourses. Then using textual analysis framed news scheme theory, this paper discloses that news discourses follow to the metropolitan thought of government organization and strengthen the nongovernmental antiforeign thought traditionally and culturally. At last, comparing the distinctions of the super structures of news discourses' about these three groups, mass communication patterns, and different expressions of their voices and linguistic voice in social news, it results that news about "migrant-workers" and "farmers" are single-way, and are interdicting dialogues. "Migrant-workers" or "farmers" are expressed as "perilous aspect of the society" and "vulnerable victim group". They are not viewed as the subject for dialogue, either, and hardly have their own voices in news output. All of these differ completely from the pattern of news discourses about "urban dwellers". In a word, journalistic prejudice toward "country residents" spreads in news discourse everywhere, and discriminations to "migrant-workers" are based on their origins of farmers group.