Examination of Characteristics of News Media under Censorship: A Content Analysis of Selected Chinese Newspapers’ SARS Coverage

Abstract

This study examines the characteristics of the Chinese print media under censorship on their coverage of the disease of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). With Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm's four theories of the press (Four theories of the press, Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1963) and Shoemaker and Reese's hierarchy model of influences on media content (Mediating the message: Theories of influence on mass media content, New York: Longman, 1996), the authors conduct a content analysis of the coverage of SARS in front pages of the Guangzhou Daily and all pages of the Southern Weekend, respectively, from December 2002 to June 2003 and from February to June 2003. The rationale of choosing these two data sets is that they are both important Chinese newspapers in southern China's Guangdong province where SARS presumably originated. Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm (1963) summarized three ways in which the Soviet Communist Party and government controlled the content of media: (1) its departments of propaganda at various levels appointed editors; (2) the Party, through propaganda departments, issued directives for media content; and (3) the Party reviewed and criticized the press. Our content analysis of the selected newspapers from December of 2002 to June 2003 reveals that the political pressure during this period influenced the newspaper content via three factors, and that the three factors mainly match the three ways concluded by Siebert et al. (1963). Therefore, this study concludes that this three-way model can still be applied to the analysis of the Chinese media system under political influence. However, in addition to the content analysis, the authors believe the information from Chinese editors and journalists about their views of the newspaper coverage of SARS would enhance the strengths of this study.

Notes

1. Shigeru Omi, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific, was cited by the New York Times staff writer Kahn (2003) to address a Beijing news conference on June 24, 2003: ‘Today is a milestone in the fight against SARS, not only in China but in the world’. He also said, ‘The W.H.O. is no longer [considering this year] advising against travel to anywhere in the world’.

2. According to the People's Daily (2003), the Chinese Communist Party held its special meeting of the Politburo’ Standing Committee on April 17 to discuss how to deal with SARS. At the meeting, Party General Secretary Hu ordered the Party-government departments at various levels not to conceal and reduce cases of SARS.

3. One of the three newspaper groups headquartered in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. Several of its affiliated newspapers are considered liberal and adventurous in China. For example, its affiliated Southern Metropolitan News first reported the incident of Sun Zhigang, a graphic designer who died in police custody in March. The coverage of Sun's death, according to Pomfret (2002) with the Washington Post, touched off criticism about police brutality. Sun was detained by police for not carrying an identification card as required under a vagrancy law that was struck down June 18 by the State Council, China's cabinet.

4. According to Chang (1989), as an authoritative organ of the CCP central committee and a state-run wire service of China, the Xinhua News Agency is China's biggest news center, with a total staff of 5,000 and branch offices across the whole country. Also according to Chang (1989), the People's Daily is both a Party organ of the CCP central committee and an official, serious, and quality newspaper in China that boasts the world's largest readership.