From industry development to social influence: video games in Chinese newspaper coverage, 2010–2020

Abstract

Through quantitative content analysis, this study outlines the media construction of video games in Chinese newspapers in the period 2010–2020 from four aspects: dominant themes, tones, benefits–threats, and stakeholders. The findings indicate that the dominant themes of game coverage shifted from the commercial and industrial fields to social concerns, while the tone toward gaming became more negative. Entertainment remained the most prominent benefit of gaming in media coverage, while media concerns about game addiction increased immensely. Notably, game developers increased their presence as information sources. They were also the dominant responsibility takers for the gaming impacts in 2010–2015, after which the media more frequently attributed responsibility to all stakeholders.

Keywords:

• Video games
• China
• social construction
• content analysis
• game culture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Special Fund for Guiding the Development of World-Class Universities (Disciplines) 2022 of Renmin University of China, the Fundamental Research Fund for the Central Universities, and the Major Project of The National Social Science Fund of China under Grant No. 20ZDA060.

Notes on contributors

Shuguang Zhao

Shuguang Zhao is a professor at the Research Center of Journalism and Social Development and the School of Journalism and Communication in Renmin University of China, Beijing, China. His research interests are focused on public opinion and the information and communication technology (ICT) industry.

Yiming Liu

Yiming Liu graduated from the City University of Hong Kong with a Master’s Degree in Communication and New Media. She is a forthcoming PhD student at the School of Journalism in Fudan University and is a member of the MOE Laboratory for National Development and Intelligent Governance, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Her research interests lie in computational communication research and public opinion research.