Mediating Public Events: Media Coverage And Online Protest

In recent years, with the development of communication technology and ripeness of social transition, public events,such as Chongqing nail house crisis and Deng Yujiao issue, have become a heated topic in the field of communication studies, and set up a new upsurge in both cyber space and real life.In the age of mediation, mass media, which is commonly regarded as environmental monitor, plays an imperative role in public events. To take a retrospective glance,studies on mass media can be roughly categorized into two types: text-oriented and production-oriented. Then the thesis applies narrative theory to analyze the mass media's narrative logic in public events.First of all, in respect of story telling, the thesis finds news reports prefer to apply motifs hidden behind the events by bridging certain social clash with sample stories on people's livelihood, democracy and nationalism. Besides, use of metaphor also can be found in media coverage. For example, the photo of "isolated island" in Chongqing nail house issue is better understood as a "social statue" through the joint efforts of different groups of interest.In respect of techniques in characterization, mass media always applies archetype deposition to cater to people's social imagination and core conflict. Then the"de-antitype"and"re-antitype"in news reports explains the evanescence of community in both cyber space and real life. Thus the public crisis lost the basis on which people are keen to discuss.To see from a macroscopic perspective, the thesis holds that in the context of China, news production on public events can still be viewed as a process led by political power, influenced by capital structure and penetrated by the power of internet. In the end, the thesis compares the logic of media narrative to the Colosseum,which may bring potentially disastrous consequences, rather than promoting political deliberation.