A Study On The Nonfinancial & Economic Coverage Of The Economist's China Section

The Economist is a mainstream news journal in the West boasting with a 174-year history and global influence,whose third national column,the China Section,was created in 2012.Deviating from the traditional coverage balance between financial news and non-financial stories,the China Section presents an obvious preference for the later.So why is such change?How does the China Section showcase the image of China's non-financial issues?What's the reporting mechanism behind stories of this sort?And what enlightenment could be learned from these news stories by China's English reports of the same kind?This study attempts to do a study over topics above.The changing of China Section's reporting themes is in line with evolution map of The Economist from being an economic news publication to an integrated news journal with global vision.This is an active response to the rapid rising of China's economic strength and its international influence,and an outcome of the operation guideline of the Economist Group pursuing commercial benefits and political influence as well.The China Section,which mainly delivers subjects of political and social issues,owns its peculiar narrative techniques.The smooth switching between visual angles of omniscience and limitation helps shape the narrative text of Advocacy Journalism;combination of narrating and commenting and conflict framework add to the logical,attractive and touching qualities of news narration;the news writing of panoramic,dramatized and standpoint-first style is capable of integrating loads of materials over a global view,enhancing the communication of press perspectives via close-up reporting.The non-financial reports of China Section is the carrier of western values in essence with wide promotion through strategies like “slide backwards” and “anti-China & pro-West”.Stereotype of China's politics remains and bounds the nation with stigma of “authoritarian and autocratic” while the coverage over social and cultural topics tends to be objective.China Section's non-financial reports are enlightening to the improvement of the same-kind English coverage of Chinese media.For instance,reports on domestic leading political topics should be “more substantive,faster and more accurate”;narration's global view should be strengthened,clear standing of press should be made and balance of different sources be stressed;application of dramatization of reporting and conflict framework as well as the metaphor function of news pictures should be valued.