From Mythologicalization to Stigmatization of Dongbei? An Analysis of North-East China’s News Media Representations

This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive account on the news media representations of the North-East China region, i.e. Dongbei and its people. To achieve this, the authors conducted a content analysis of 500 pieces of news on Dongbei from 83 newspapers with different geographical origins and party affiliations. Results show that the news coverage of Dongbei is predominately positive, and Dongbei people are portrayed as agreeable but not conscientious, an image consistent with some typical stereotypes of them in China. In addition, the representations of Dongbei and its people vary significantly across Dongbei-based and non-Dongbei-based newspapers as well as party and non-party outlets. These results indicate that news organizations processes enormous power in shaping the image of a region and its people. Besides, geographical proximity and political affiliations of the news media influence how they exercise the power.