Understanding Emotional Propaganda in China with an Audio-as-Data Approach

• In Event: Emotions and Political Behavior under Authoritarianism

Abstract

Existing studies on authoritarian propaganda focus on cognitive propaganda, authoritarian states’ information manipulation aiming to alter citizens’rational political choices in favor of the regime. However, few studies have systematically examined authoritarian rulers’ strategies in emotional propaganda: political cues aiming to alter citizens’ irrational part of political attitudes – emotions. In this paper, we describe and explain the prevalence of emotional propaganda in authoritarian China using a novel audio- as-data approach. We collect original audio-visual recordings from Xinwen Lianbo, a flagship news program on China Central Television (CCTV). We construct audio-based measures of emotional arousal, vocal pitch, from the state-sponsored news program as measures of the intensity of the state’s effort in emotional propaganda. Our preliminary findings suggest three patterns of China’s strategic use of emotional propaganda. First, vocal pitch is positively correlated with enthusiasm in the text transcripts of news. Second, a higher vocal pitch is used to report on critical political news including the COVID-19 pandemic, the leadership, and political mobilization. Third, vocal pitch demonstrates considerable variation over time and peaks around important political events. This paper has both theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of political communication in authoritarian China.

Authors

• Haohan Chen, New York University

• Yiqiang Wang, The University of Hong Kong

• Tony Zirui Yang, Washington University in St. Louis