News as Narratives: A Cross-cultural Study of News Coverage of US-China Trade Agreement

• In Event: The Portrayal of International Events Across Diverse Media Outlets

Abstract

This study explores the narrative function of news in different cultures. Following Fisher’s narrative paradigm, this paper compared news discourse on China’s WTO membership in The New York Times and People’s Daily. News narratives in the United States and China suggested that these two countries view China’s WTO membership differently. For the U.S., trade is also a means to induce China to democracy, whereas for the Chinese, WTO membership represents not only economic interests but also the nation’s status in the international system.

Author

• Jing Yin, Clemson University