Tabloids rising in China

My thesis director forwarded me a research paper produced by the U.S. China Security Review Commission. The 2002 report, entitled "Perspectives toward the United States in Selected Newspapers of the People’s Republic of China", is a content analysis based on human coding of Chinese-language media reports. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Deborah Cai, and the Project Manager is Brecken Chinn Swartz, of the University of Maryland’s Institute for Global Chinese Affairs and the Department of Communication.

Besides measuring frequency of references to certain topics, the authors also coded for "valence," or "the degree to which the United States is described in positive or negative terms." These results were very interesting and have some application to my own research interests. However, I also noted the following paragraph in the summary of the results:

Rise of tabloidism.

It is not uncommon for American tabloids such as The National Enquirer to be cited in the Chinese press as “An American newspapers reports that . . . .” Chinese continue to be fascinated by scandals in general, and the adventures of the Clinton family in particular, as demonstrated in such stories as: “Clinton loves Brazilian prostitute, Hillary ready for divorce” (Chongqing Evening News, March 5, 2002), or “Chelsea leads star life in Europe, partying every night” (Chongqing Evening News, March 9, 2002). Also appearing with increasing frequency are articles appealing to what has been termed as increasing Chinese “commercial nationalism,” such as “Voice from Chinese people: To build a stronger China is the best answer to the U.S. hegemonic act” (People’s Daily, April 13, 2001). The popularity of Chinese tabloids is taking off at an unprecedented rate, and the topic of China once again regaining its legacy of greatness is certainly well-received among today’s Chinese readers. This may also be an important trend to monitor in future data analysis.

Copyright issues aside, the republishing of bogus National Enquirer reports in Chinese mass media broadsheets and tabloids may seem amusing, but there is a darker side to this trend. False or exaggerated news can seriously damage the reputation of the targets of such reports. It can also backfire against the messenger, as the Beijing Evening News discovered when it reprinted as fact a spoof article from The Onion about the U.S. Congress threatening to relocate from Washington to another U.S. city.