International Media Framing of China's Domestic Politics: An Analysis of Aljazeera English and BBC News

Abstract

This study is a comparative content analysis of news content of Aljazeera English (AJE) and BBC News on China's national political affairs in their online news editions from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014 after the assumption of power by Chinese president Xi Jinping. The study compares the patterns of news coverage by two international broadcasters in the context of Framing Theory as well as political and economic events of the times. The study followed the structural pattern of media content analysis - mass media structure their content as an interpretation of reality for audiences, and the media content is created by a variety of factors that result in different versions of reality, such as political and economic factors. Two frames were identified in the news coverage by both the channels. AJE used cooperation frame to present news related to China's trade and investment deals, while confrontation frame was applied by BBC to show conflicts and disputes of China to global audience.