| At the turn of the Twenty First Century, the human race is not only facing unprecedented prosperity and opportunities, but also devastating disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, and the 2003 SARS pandemic, all of which took a great human toll and economic loss. Coverage of various disasters is the focus of mass media due to their unique nature. Despite the sameness in the coverage of the essential information, the reporting style and angles taken by media of different countries differ greatly. The discrepancies of media system and ambience may be held accountable for the disparities; meanwhile, cultural factors do exert certain influence in news reporting. Based on intercultural perspectives, this thesis explores how cultural factors influence the coverage of H1N1 by China Daily and the New York Times, which are two mainstream newspapers respectively in China and America. The objective is to provide some suggestions on disaster reportage to the English language Chinese media, particularly those targeting foreign audiences.This thesis argues that journalists as well as editors are influenced by their immediate cultural surroundings, so disaster reportage inevitably reflects those cultural elements. Thereafter, this thesis introduces anthropologist Edward T. Hall's Cultural Context Model and Geertz'Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions. Grounded on the differences between China and America in each dimension and with reference to recent domestic as well as overseas analogous research, this thesis analyzes and discusses the reportage disparities of H1N1 by the two newspapers from intercultural perspectives. This thesis applies both qualitative and quantitative methods in doing the research and selects around 300 H1N1 report articles from both newspapers, spanning the period from April 2009 to May 2009.After proposing hypotheses and confirming them, this thesis postulates that cultural differences between China and America lead to the disparities in the vastly different coverage of H1N1 by China Daily and the New York Times. To begin with, as a medium from a high context culture, China Daily's expressions and wording are monotonous and simple compared with those of the New York Times. Besides, the New York Times'coverage includes more visual content. In addition, as China belongs to a poly-chronic culture, China Daily's response to H1N1 is slower in contrast with the New York Times'promptness. Regarding the influence of Power Distance Index, China Daily gives lower attention to the less privileged and its attitude to authorities and experts is supportive and positive compared to the New York Times'critical and balanced tone towards officials. Concerning Uncertainty Avoidance Index, the New York Times'report is swift in time, varied and abundant in style and amount, balanced in source, while China Daily's response is slow, its amount of coverage fewer, and its style monotonous. With regard to Individualism vs. Collectivism, the New York Times concentrates on individuals while China Daily directs most of its attention to the society as a whole in its coverage. In the respect of Femininity vs. Masculinity, China Daily portrays the Chinese government as a caring and humane entity in the disaster, while the American government in the New York Times'report is often depicted as impassive and even inhumane. Regarding Long Term Orientation, China Daily's reportage is shallow compared with the New York Times'thorough coverage. Finally, the influence of Indulgence and Restraint is reflected by the fact that China Daily pays less attention to leisure events affected by H1N1 than the New York Times. |
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