How Does the Zambian Media Report China? Examining Episodic and Thematic Frames in the Zambian Newsrooms

Abstract

This study examined Chinese news content in the Zambian media, classified as government, commercial, Community, and religiously owned. The purpose was to investigate how each media category frames stories about China (either as episodic or thematic) and the implications of such frames. By analyzing 1321 news items published between 2012 and 2020, we were able to show that in all the four media categories, stories about China mainly were routine/ready-made and culled from Chinese-owned organizations. Second, China’s dominance continued to grow over time as the reporting shifted from being treated as an object to the story’s subject. As a result, the majority of stories were episodic and positively framed in favor of China. When China was presented negatively, the frames were thematic, yet China still held a “subject” position in the narrative. In this view, negative cases mentioning China were attributed to individuals.

Keywords

ZNBC Zambian media Chinese media episodic thematic cause frame solution frame

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Banda

(2009) China in the African mediascape: a critical injection. Journal of African Media Studies 1(3): 343–361.

Borah

(2011) Conceptual issues in framing theory: a systematic examination of a decade’s literature. Journal of Communication 61(2): 246–263.

Brosius

Zillmann

(2012) Exemplification in Communication: the influence of case reports on the perception of issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Incorporated.

D’Angelo

(2002) News framing as a multi-paradigmatic research program: a response to Entman. Journal of Communication 52(4): 870–888.

Entman

(1993) Framing: towards clarification of a fractured paradigm. In: McQuail

(ed.) Mcquail’s Reader in Mass Communication Theory. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, pp.390–397.

Entman

Matthes

Pellicano

(2009) Nature, sources, and effects of news framing. In The handbook of journalism studies (pp. 195–210). Routledge.

Feezell

Glazier

Boydstun

(2019) Framing, identity, and responsibility: do episodic vs. thematic framing effects vary by target population? Politics, Groups, and Identities 9: 1–22.

Gagliardone

(2013) China as a persuader: CCTV Africa’s first steps in the African mediasphere. Equid Novi: African Journalism Studies 34(3): 25–40.

Gondwe

(2021a) China in African newsrooms: harnessing the effects of pro-and-counter attitudinal Chinese news agenda in the Zambian media. Doctoral dissertation, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO.

10.

Gondwe

(2021b) Online incivility, hate speech and political violence in Zambia: examining the role of online political campaign messages. Journal of African Media Studies 13(1): 35–51.

11.

Gross

(2008) Framing persuasive appeals: episodic and thematic framing, emotional response, and policy opinion. Political Psychology 29(2): 169–192.

12.

Hart

(2011) One or nany? The influence of episodic and thematic climate change frames on policy preferences and individual behavior change. Science Communication 33(1): 28–51.

13.

Hove

Paek

Isaacson

, et al. (2013) Newspaper portrayals of child abuse: frequency of coverage and frames of the issue. Mass Communication and Society 16(1): 89–108.

14.

Hulden

(2016) August). Whodunit. . . and to whom? Subjects, objects, and actions in research articles on American Labor Unions. In: Proceedings of the 10th SIGHUM workshop on language technology for cultural heritage, social sciences, and humanities, Berlin, 11 August, pp.140–145. New York: ACM.

15.

Iyengar

(1990) Framing responsibility for political issues: the case of poverty. Political Behavior 12(1): 19–40.

16.

Iyengar

(1991) Is Anyone Responsible? How Television Frames Political Issues. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

17.

Iyengar

(2009) Framing research: the next steps. In: Thornely

Lees

(eds) Winning with Words. New York: Routledge, pp.197–203.

18.

Kombe

Mwanza

(2019) The 2014 Zambian revised literacy policy in primary schools: were teachers prepared to implement it. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education 6(8): 115–131.

19.

Kunkel

Smith

Suding

, et al. (2006) Informative or not? Media coverage of child social policy issues. In: Ben-Arieh

Goerge

(eds.) Indicators of children’s Newspaper Portrayals of Child Abuse 107 Well-Being: Understanding Their Role, Usage and Policy Influence, Social Indicators Research Series, vol. 27. Dordrecht: Springer, pp.173–191.

20.

Leslie

(2016) Zambia and China: workers’ protest, civil society and the role of opposition politics in elevating state engagement. African Studies Quarterly 16. Available at: https://asq.africa.ufl.edu/leslie_dec2016/

21.

Lim

(2012) Anti-Chinese sentiment in Zambia and the African continent: comparative coverage of the phenomenon by Zambian, Chinese, and South African newspapers. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Research 2(7). Available at: https://docplayer.net/24384597-Anti-chinese-sentiment-in-zambia-and-the-african-continent-comparative-coverage-of-the-phenomenon-by-zambian-chinese-and-south-african-newspapers.html

22.

Madrid-Morales

Wasserman

(2018) Chinese media engagement in South Africa: what is its impact on local journalism? Journalism Studies 19(8): 1218–1235.

23.

Matambo

(2021) China: Africa’s new wise men from the East? In: Ayoola

Abidde

(eds) China in Africa: Between Imperialism and Partnership in Humanitarian Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.305.

24.

Matthes

Kohring

(2008) The content analysis of media frames: toward improving reliability and validity. Journal of Communication 58(2): 258–279.

25.

Mazurova

Tsao

Chisholm

T (2021) Media analysis of conflict in Chinese-Zambian engagement: from ZAFFICO to the COVID-19 discrimination controversy. Southern African Journal of Policy and Development 5(2): 5.

26.

Nassanga

Makara

(2016) Perceptions of Chinese presence in Africa as reflected in the African media: a case study of Uganda. Chinese Journal of Communication 9(1): 21–37.

27.

Nelson

Kinder

(1996) Issue frames and group-centrism in American public opinion. The Journal of Politics 58(4): 1055–1078.

28.

Nothias

(2020) Postcolonial reflexivity in the news industry: the case of foreign correspondents in Kenya and South Africa. Journal of Communication 70(2): 245–273.

29.

Perreault

Jr Leigh

(1989) Reliability of nominal data based on qualitative judgments. Journal of Marketing Research 26(2): 135–148.

30.

Semetko

Valkenburg

(2000) Framing European politics: a content analysis of press and television news. Journal of Communication 50(2): 93–109.

31.

Shah

Kwak

Schmierbach

, et al. (2004) The interplay of news frames on cognitive complexity. Human Communication Research 30(1): 102–120.

32.

Slater

Rouner

(2002) Entertainment—education and elaboration likelihood: understanding the processing of narrative persuasion. Communication Theory 12(2): 173–191.

33.

Springer

Harwood

(2015) The influence of episodic and thematic frames on policy and group attitudes: mediational analysis. Human Communication Research 41(2): 226–244.

34.

Umejei

(2018) Hybridizing journalism: clash of two “journalisms” in Africa. Chinese Journal of Communication 11(3): 344–358.

35.

Umejei

(2020) Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

36.

Wanda

Chipanjilo

Gondwe

, et al. (2021) Clickbait-style headlines and journalism credibility in sub-Saharan Africa: exploring audience perceptions. Journal of Media and Communication Studies 13(2): 50–56.

37.

Wasserman

(2013) Reporting China in Africa. Equid Novi: African Journalism Studies 34(3): 1–160.

38.

Wasserman

Madrid-Morales

(2018) How influential are Chinese media in Africa? An audience analysis in Kenya and South Africa. International Journal of Communication 12: 20.

39.

Wekesa

(2013) Emerging trends and patterns in China–Africa media dynamics: a discussion from an East African perspective. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies 34(3): 62–78.

40.

Wekesa

(2017) New directions in the study of Africa–China media and communications engagements. Journal of African Cultural Studies 29(1): 11–24.