Discourse Empowerment Of The Elderly During The COVID-19 Pandemic

In September 2022,the National Health Commission released data showing that by the end of 2021,the country’s elderly population aged 60 and above had reached 267 million,and it was expected that China would enter a stage of moderate aging during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.At the same time,after the outbreak of the the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020,the elderly,as a high-risk group of respiratory diseases,have become susceptible to the novel coronavirus and vulnerable to severe diseases.The large and vulnerable elderly group has been given more attention,and there are numerous studies on the discourse empowerment of the elderly.Under the guidance of the theory of empowerment,Foucault’s discourse-power theory,Zang Guoren’s three-level news framework theory and other theoretical achievements,this research will be carried out from two aspects by using content analysis method,text analysis method and semi-structured interview method in combination with previous research results:The first is to analyze the construction framework of media image of the elderly in the reports during the COVID-19 epidemic,and analyze the current situation of discourse power of the elderly in the reports from the two aspects "media image" and "communication participation".Second,through in-depth interviews,we investigated and understood how the reports related to the elderly and the media image of the elderly created during the COVID-19 epidemic had an impact on the subjective power perception of the elderly.Based on statistical data and interview results,the discourse analysis of news reports related to the elderly during the COVID-19 epidemic is introduced to analyze the current situation of discourse power of the elderly reflected by them.And this study proposes targeted suggestions to improve the news reports related to the elderly in public health events and reconstruct the media image of the elderly,in order to improve the discourse power and sense of power of the elderly under the social background of deepening aging.This study firstly analyzes the image construction framework and media image characteristics of the elderly group.News reports related to the elderly from the official microblog of People’s Daily and Thepaper.cn during the COVID-19 epidemic were selected as samples to conduct an analysis from six dimensions,including macro level,meso level and micro levels,and explore the factors affecting the image construction of the elderly.Combined with the content analysis data results and text analysis of typical cases,eight media images of the elderly group were summarized.Positive images included the image of serving the overall situation and serving others,the role model image of a peerless national and anti-epidemic expert,and the optimistic image of being sunny,positive and healthy.The neutral images include unhealthy and protected images of the sick and weak,beneficent figure who enjoys caring and being helped and helpless image of the excluded and suffering.The negative image includes an image of ignorance,backwardness and extreme behavior,and an outrageous image of moral depravity and contempt for the law.After that,this study analyzed the influence of the reports related to the elderly and the media image of the elderly created during the COVID-19 epidemic on the subjective power perception of the elderly from three dimensions:media image,communication participation and subjective power perception.It is found that with the increase of the proportion of positive media images of the elderly and the increase of communication participation,the overall discourse power of the elderly is enhanced.However,the report on the elderly is also moving to another extreme:the image of the weak becomes the mainstream,and the media image for the elderly leads to deeper group discrimination;The common elderly groups and rural elderly groups lack of discourse,and the discourse power of the elderly group presents a more complex disempowerment dilemma.At the same time,through semi-structured interview,it is found that in this communication context,although the elderly feel the sense of dignity of being valued,and the sense of social security and trust that the elderly are being supported and the sick are being treated is generally strong,the deep group discrimination of the rural elderly and ordinary elderly groups,such as collective aphasia,also makes them feel a strong sense of separation and distance.It is difficult to obtain a sense of group identity and belonging from reports related to the elderly,which weakens the subjective perception of power.Finally,based on the perspective of news media and journalists,this study puts forward specific ways to realize the discourse empowerment of elderly in the context of public health events:From the two approaches of media image reconstruction and enhancing the information voice of the elderly,the media image of the elderly should be de-labeled and balanced,grasp the communication skills of the positive image of the elderly,enhance the voice of the ordinary elderly group and the rural elderly group,and thus enhance the discourse power of the elderly.