Research On The Construction Of The Media Image Of Migrant Workers By People's Daily(1979-2020)

Since the reform and opening up,reports on migrant workers have gone from nowhere to occasional appearances and then spread overwhelming.Migrant workers have gradually moved from the periphery of the social public vision to the center,and their legal rights,social status,and living conditions have attracted much attention.As a constructed reality,the media image of migrant workers has a profound impact on the public's perception and evaluation of migrant workers.Its diachronic evolution not only reflects the changes of the times and social development,but also reveals the growth of the migrant worker group itself.Therefore,this paper focuses on the "People's Daily" reports on migrant workers from January 1,1979 to September 30,2020,closely combining the social context and the background of the times,and mainly discusses the following three questions: First,what is the overall image of migrant workers in the People's Daily ? Second,what changes has happened to the image of migrant workers in the People's Daily ? Third,how does the People's Daily construct a media image of migrant workers?Through content analysis and text analysis of 2581 news reports,the following conclusions were drawn: First,as a whole,the group image with "Passive aphasia and blurred face" always dominates in the People's Daily;the proportion of individual images with "prominent individuality and distinctive characteristics" has been increasing,and the image of migrant workers has become increasingly clear;with the continuous broadening of career paths,the continuous improvement of cultural levels,the continuous emergence of advanced deeds and the continuous improvement of living conditions,the positive image of migrant workers has become increasingly prominent,the negative image gradually faded.Second,from the perspective of time span,the media image of migrant workers in the People's Daily has gone through the following four phases of changes:(1)1979-1988: "migrant workers" who were not taken seriously;(2)1989-2002: “marginal people” who were struggling to survive;(3)2003-2013: “vulnerable groups” who were under key protection;(4)2014-2020: “returners” who were seeking self-development.At different stages,the media images of migrant workers were sorted out and summarized at the political,economic and social levels.Third,based on the analysis of the characteristics of the reports,the study found that the People's Daily's reporting methods are constantly changing.It generally follows some certain construction strategies:(1)focus on current affairs and continue to pay attention to the status quo of migrant workers;(2)focus on national policies and adhere to Positive propaganda and guidance;(3)keep up with social changes and set up multiple topics;(4)flexibly use a variety of reporting forms to show the different faces of migrant workers.By choosing the theme of reports and reorganizing the news material,the People's Daily realized the highlight and cover of the report content,and then constructed different media images of migrant workers at different stages.