澳大利亚媒体在“中国影响”报道中的角色定位

The Role of Australian Media in the Coverage of"China Influence"

近年来,面对中国的崛起,西方社会出现了新一轮“中国威胁论”,其中在澳大利亚体现为“中国影响论”。基于对澳大利亚主流媒体关于“中国影响”报道的分析发现,尽管澳大利亚媒体宣称是独立的,但在涉及“中国影响”的报道中并未履行其看门狗角色,在议程设置与消息来源的使用上均保持与政府的密切互动,对来自对立群体和国家的观点则予以削弱或解构。与政府的态度相比,媒体甚至在“中国影响”议题上的态度更为激进。在民族主义的语境之下,澳大利亚媒体将自己设定为国家利益的捍卫者,但这一角色是通过建构一个二元对立的叙事框架并将中国“他者化”来实现的。澳大利亚媒体报道的内在框架继而影响到公共辩论的视角与公众对中国的认知,导致整个公共话语的失衡,加深了公众对中国的消极认知。该案例表明,无论媒体是否独立于本国的政党和政府,都难以超越国家利益而以中立的立场组织报道。此外,该案例还挑战了全球化与传播技术会改变国际报道中的偏见的观点,因为这种偏见的存在源自媒体的自主选择而不是对外部环境的无知。

In recent years,facing the rise of China,"China threat theory"has emerged again in Western society.The Australian version of this is"China influence"discourse.An analysis of Australian media's coverage of China's influence finds that although the Australian media claimed to be independent from government and parties,they did not fulfill their role as watchdog in their reports on China's influence.They kept closing interaction with the government in agenda setting and sources,while weakening or deconstructing views from opposing groups and countries.They also did not examine the opinions and information from official sources but tried to defend and confirm them through reports.Compared with the government,the attitude of the media was even more radical.Under the cognitive framework of binary opposition,the media have positioned their role as the defender of national interest,but this role was established through the construction of a different and dangerous"other".The frame in Australian media's coverage of China's influence,not only caused heated debate but also affected the perspective of public debates and the public's perception of China.The more concerned national security narrative overwhelmed the optimistic trade and economic narrative and dominated public discourse.Othering China and Chinese made public perception negative.This paper further argues that,whether the media is independent or not in the national media system,it is inevitable for them to reposition their role on the international level.In addition,this case challenges the previous view that globalization and communication technology will change bias in international coverage,because the bias stems from the independent choice of the media rather than ignorance of the external environment.