Research On China-related Reporting Of The Covid-19 Epidemic In Le Monde From The Perspective Of Framing Theory

At the end of 2019,the novel coronavirus epidemic broke out in China.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,Director-General of the World Health Organization,officially announced on January 30,2020 that this epidemic constituted an "international public health emergency".This epidemic,as well as China,both become the focus of media around the world.French is the fifth most spoken language in the world,and French-language media also play a very important role in France and around the world.As the newspaper with the largest overseas circulation in France,how the French newspaper "Le Monde" reports on China under the epidemic is worthy of academic study.This paper draws on the three-level framework analysis method proposed by scholar Zang Guoren,and summarizes the three level frameworks of the text through quantitative and qualitative analysis.Through content analysis,it is found that the "Le Monde" has mostly negative reports on China’s covid-19 epidemic,and the framework involving political risks and society issues accounts for a larger proportion.The content related to economy and epidemic control has been affirmed by Le Monde.In this research,it was found that the "Le Monde" report on the covid-19 epidemic in China contains five high-level frameworks,which are "China is the key player in the epidemic conflict","China is the pioneer in epidemic control and response","China is the spreader of the coronavirus" and "China is a violator of individual rights and freedom" and "China is a negative influencer of the global economy".It also contains the middle-level framework of "main event-oriented,emphasizing cause and effect",and the low-level framework,using a variety of rhetoric,emphasizing persuasion and downplaying reporting discourse strategies.For these frameworks,possible reasons for their formation and corresponding international communication strategies are discussed.Factors such as differences in political identity caused by differences in ideology between China and France,media management concepts and culture,catering to the psychological needs of audiences during the epidemic,and Western news professionalism have affected the formation of the French epidemic reporting framework for China.In this regard,in the development of future international communication work,the Chinese government should tap the emotional value in the epidemic and carry out empathetic value communication;for stigmatized reports,China should play the role of multiple subjects to reduce the impact of official discourse.For negative news facts,we must face up to the problems,balance the contents of achievements and problems.And at the same time,China should expand the local media channels,choose regional platforms to communicate with accurate foreign users,so as to break through Western countries’ news framework logic,to reconstruct its voice on international issues and to tell Chinese stories better.