A Content Analysis Of The Reports About Chinese Migrant Workers In The New York Times: 1984-2007

As the Chinese government began to relax the control over peasants in the 1980s, more and more peasants went to work in the city. Although they work hard in their new home, they are still outsiders to the city. Labeled as"migrant worker"by the city residents, they suffer from both physical and psychological pressure. As a vulnerable group, their harsh working conditions and problems didn't draw the attention of the media at first. They were marginalized by the city. Their sufferings and related problems captured the attention of both domestic and overseas scholars. They began to analyze migrant worker and migration in China from various perspectives. As the group increases, more media begin to place them in their agenda. Some scholars of communication produced hundreds of articles about the coverage of migrant workers by media. Based on communication theories, these articles discussed the image and agenda setting of newspaper about migrant workers. However, no article has yet paid attention to the coverage of migrant worker in foreign newspapers. To get a better and more comprehensive understanding of the migrant worker, it is necessary to undertake this task. Due to the limit of time and scope, the study only considers the news content on the New York Times from its first article about Chinese migrant worker to June 30, 2007. Based on a content analysis, the research focuses on three questions: how did the New York Times portray Chinese migrant workers? Has the portrayal changed over time? What are the influential factors affecting the agenda setting of Chinese migrant worker issue in the New York Times? The paper begins with an introduction to the issue and the significance of the research. The theoretical framework is also included. Then a detailed analysis of previous research is provided. In the third part, the paper discusses the methodology applied in the research. The fourth part is a comprehensive statistics analysis. Both the general features and stage changes are illustrated. Part five further examines the results and identifies several points China can benefit from the reports by the New York Times. it is followed by a discussion of the factors affecting the report by the New York Times on this issue and limitations and further research plan. The paper ends with a brief conclusion. The research finds that the New York Times gave prominence to the issue in terms of length, depth, placement, news style and source. The reports concentrated on the social security & civil rights, migration and working conditions of the migrant workers. Most of the reports were negative in tone. Meanwhile, migrant workers did not play a significant role in the reports. The reports grew more detailed and comprehensive over time. More reports were devoted to human rights and working conditions. The agenda setting of Chinese migrant workers in this pattern by the New York Times, the thesis argues, can be attributed to the critical and commercial nature of American media and the ingrained ideological criticism.