A Study Of The New York Times Discourse On Tracing The Origin Of COVID-19

Since the 21st century,the world structure has shown a new trend,and Sino-US relations have an important influence in it.Facing the development of China,under the combined effect of various influencing factors,some American medias have stigmatized China in their reports.At the beginning of 2020,COVID-19 threatened the life and safety of the world public.Since the outbreak in the United States began to deteriorate,U.S.President Trump began to change his thought to name the new coronavirus "Chinese virus" in interviews on social platforms and media.Its political purpose is self-evident,and the battle of public opinion between China and the United States kicked off.The research object selected for this study is the New York Times,one of the representative mainstream media in the United States.By using the research methods of content analysis and discourse analysis,the time interval is from January 1,2020 to October 30,2020.Extracting reports on the topic of " Tracing the Origin of COVID-19",combining the discourse analysis theory of Fairclough and Van Dick,interpreting the discourse construction characteristics,strategies and influencing factors behind the New York Times news reports,in order to grasp the attitude and analysis of the American media,its "other-oriented" media presentation provides a reference for China to respond to international public opinion struggles.Through the study of the New York Times' s overall report on the origin of the new coronavirus,it is found that during the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic,the New York Times reported on different time periods in a focused manner,trying to influence the public's attention to different topics.It focuses on the communication genre,covers a wide range,and focuses on shaping the conflict framework.A large number of reports contain implicit biases and ignore facts,which have a negative impact on China's national image.In the specific discourse analysis,this research interprets from the three dimensions of discourse text,discourse practice and social practice.At the textual level,the New York Times tends to choose negative themes in an attempt to influence China's international image,linking China to the new coronavirus in the choice of words and rhetoric,in order to achieve the purpose of pass the buck;the New York Times related reports are mostly stigmatizing reports under the presupposition of the agenda,using "panic mode" reports to antagonize China and the world,following political logic and business logic;The discourse construction of the American media represented by the New York Times serves the ideology of the interest groups it represents.It is influenced by the long-term consciousness of enemies and friends in the United States and is a clear manifestation of American cultural hegemonism.In addition,the influence of U.S.party politics can also lead to differences in American media reporting stances and attitudes.