Origin of news

The majority of stories for both The New York Times (83.6%) and People’s Daily (84.7%) were obtained from staff journalists. The second-most common source for both newspapers was expert quotes, opinions, or other cited information (9.2% NYT; 4.8% PD). The People’s Daily used more direct government sources (2.9%) than The New York Times (1%), while the New York Times published more reader contributions and ordinary people’s voices (3.9%) than People’s Daily (1%). Other wire and news services were seldom credited, except for photo credits or brief news summaries, with The New York Times citing AP or Reuters in 2.4% of the sample, and 3.8% of the People’s Daily sample, x² (5, 624) = 23.55, p<. 0001.

57 3. News sources

Politicians and government officials made up the most common source of quotes,

statistics and other information for articles about the Syrian Refugee Crisis in both The New York Times (44.1%) and People’s Daily (56%). As consistent with its role as a state-run newspaper, the Chinese newspaper (PD) used government sources more frequently than NYT.

Table 3

Major news sources

NYT (n=415) PD (n=209)

Politicians/ officials 183 (44.1%) 117 (56%)

Ordinary people 70 (16.9%) 6 (2.9%)

Experts 31 (7.5%) 27 (12.9%)

Non-governmental agencies 85 (20.5%) 18 (8.6%)

Other media outlets 9 (2.2%) 22 (10.5%)

Other 6 (1.4%) 19 (9.1%)

No specific source 31 (7.5%) 0 (0%)

Total 415 (100%) 209 (100%)

Note: each cell shows the number of published articles from each media outlet containing each type of news source, followed by the percentage in parentheses, x² (6, 624) = 98.17, p< .0001

Quotes and other information sourced from ordinary people, including both refugees and the residents and citizens who encountered them, made up 16.9% of NYT articles, but only 2.9%

of People’s Daily articles. This suggests that the NYT style of coverage incorporates more

58 testimony from ordinary people and emphasizes the importance of individual voices in their stories, therefore displaying more of an individual focus than the Chinese newspaper. This trend is further exhibited in each newspaper’s portrayal of refugees as individuals or as masses, which will be explained in more detail in the following section.

Expert sources, including researchers, professors, specialists, think-tank representatives, and other expert statistics and quotes made up 7.5% of NYT articles and 12.9% of PD coverage.

Therefore, expert sources were utilized more by PD than NYT. Furthermore, nongovernmental agencies or staff, including the UN agencies, were quoted often in NYT articles (20.5%), but less so in PD (12.9%). Nongovernmental agencies prominently quoted in NYT included statements from UN officials and representatives and official statistics, as well as quotes and figures from aid groups and volunteer organizations working to address the Refugee Crisis. NYT only referred to other media organizations as sources 2.2% of the articles, while PD did in 10.5% of the selected articles.

Table 4

Relation between news sources and frames Conflict Economic

Consequences

Human Interest

Morality Attribution of Responsibility

Politicians/ officials 168 (61.3) 25 (42.4) 4 (5.6) 12 (25.5) 60 (48.4)

Ordinary people 9 (3.3) 4 (6.8) 44 (62) 11 (23.4) 8 (6.5)

Experts 27 (9.9) 8 (13.8) 2 (2.8) 1 (2.1) 16 (12.9)

59 Non-governmental

agencies

45 (16.4) 14 (23.7) 10 (14.1) 9 (19.1) 20 (16.1)

Other media outlets 11 (4) 1 (1.7) 4 (5.6) 3 (6.4) 6 (4.8)

Other 7 (2.6) 2 (3.4) 4 (5.6) 3 (6.4) 7 (5.6)

Not mentioned 7 (2.6) 5 (8.5) 3 (4.2) 8 (1.7) 7 (5.6)

Total 274 (100 59 (100) 71 (100) 47 (100) 124 (100)

Note: each cell shows the number of published articles from each media outlet containing each type of news source, followed by the percentage in parentheses, x² (6, 624) = 98.17, p<. 0001

It is significant to measure which source is quoted most frequently within the sample population, because the use of certain news sources may influence how the article is framed. For instance, articles which predominantly quote politicians and use the government as sources of news will use the conflict and economic consequences frame much more frequently (see Table 4).

Ordinary people as the main source of information, on the other hand, will result in the articles framing the Refugee Crisis through the human interest or attribution or morality frame.

Therefore, the more a newspaper quotes ordinary people, and uses ordinary people as a source, the more likely the outlet is to portray a more emotional, sympathetic, and moral outlook on refugees than an outlet that utilizes politicians and government statistics as news sources.

4. Topic

Policy was the primary topic of both NYT articles (34.2%) and PD articles (46.4%). Stories with policy as the primary topic focused on government actions, plans, meetings, political

60 tensions, international relations, and diplomacy. People – refugees, European citizens, local (U.S.

or Chinese) citizens, etc. – were the primary subject of stories about the Syrian refugee crisis in 18.1% of NYT coverage, but only 8.1% of PD articles. Therefore, people as a primary topic appeared significantly more in American versus Chinese coverage of the Refugee Crisis, which could emphasize how the U.S. views the crisis as a humanitarian problem that raises questions of human rights and the tension between personal liberties and security.

China, according to the results of this study, focuses more on the Syrian conflict and the actions that have led up to the Syrian Refugee Crisis in its newspaper coverage of the crisis.

Meanwhile, only 8% of NYT coverage focused on action as a primary topic. The action topic encompasses articles that describe various actions taken to address the Crisis, including relief efforts, the enactment of policy, military strikes, protests, etc. As for People’s Daily, action made up a significant portion of PD coverage on the crisis (19.6%), as most of the PD articles on the Syrian Refugee Crisis used conflict, specifically the Syrian Civil War, as a frame. The use of the conflict frame will be discussed in more detail in the Framing section.

The impacts of the Syrian refugee crisis, including economic risks or benefits, threats to national security, and influences on local culture or religion, appeared as the primary topic in 26.5% of NYT articles and 11% of PD articles. This could suggest that NYT reflects the U.S.

concerns that the Crisis could have profound impacts for American domestic and foreign policy.

Meanwhile, PD does not seem as concerned with the impacts – both current and future – that the crisis may have on China, or on Europe. Pd articles focusing on the impacts topic generally speculated on the broad, devastating effects that a failure to handle this crisis might have on the global economy and on world peace in general.

61 Responsibility was the main topic of 13.3% of NYT articles, but only 3.8% of PD articles.

This reveals that PD is also less interested in focusing on blame and responsibility for the crisis than its American counterpart in the study, x² (6, 624) = 104.23, p< .0001.

RQ2:

The researcher first identified which frames were used most often in the news coverage of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and how the frequency differed between American and Chinese media. The results indicate that both newspapers employed the conflict frame most frequently;

however, they differed according to how, when and how frequently they employed other frames.

Figure 2. Framing by New York Times and People’s Daily, x² (6, 624) = 73, p < .0001.