中美關(guān)于中國災(zāi)難性報道的案例分析

尹小路

【摘要】在當(dāng)今社會，新聞的作用越來越重要。新聞的作用更有兩個：一方面，它用于分享和交流信息；另一方面，它大體上詳細(xì)闡明了公眾視角，這樣就在社會生活“議程設(shè)定”擔(dān)當(dāng)至關(guān)重要的角色。這篇文章主要是通過中西方關(guān)于中方發(fā)生事件的報道的分析，尤其是對發(fā)生地災(zāi)難性事件的報道的分析，闡釋了美國和中國一些媒體報道的不同之處還有導(dǎo)致此種不用的原因。同時，本篇文章還提出了解決沖突的方法。

【關(guān)鍵詞】災(zāi)難 新聞 不同 解決方法 沖突

1. Introduction

In the international mass communication， the reports on China in other countries news media especially those in the western countries are not always “satisfactory” or “optimistic”. The two major frequently occurred topics in their news reports are： human rights abuses， and Chinas threats towards the world security. In the American newspapers， China is portrayed as having various kinds of problems （Qu Zhen， 2005）.

So the negative reports on China account for a large percentage of their news coverage which has severely ruined Chinas image and reputation in the world， and has also damaged the harmonious and friendly diplomatic relationship between China and other countries. All these factors will further influence Chinas position in the international community and hinder its future domestic development. （Wu Yuzhen，2005）

In this essay the author will try to analyze how the culture differences influence the way people report events between China and western countries. Besides， the author wants to share you with some solutions to solve this conflicts caused by culture difference. In this paper you can see four aspects that cause the differences of news reporting.

2. Comparison of Samples in Different Countries

Recent years， the whole world， as well as China， suffered many disastrous events， such as SARS， earthquakes， tsunami， the gun attack and mine disasters etc. These events bring people sorrow， anxiety and panic. They have also exerted serious effect on China and the whole world.

The following news will be picked up from the Chinese media and the American media.

2.1 News about the Jiaoji Railway Crash

①The Chinese news：

胡錦濤、溫家寶就膠濟(jì)鐵路重大事故作出重要批示 張德江趕赴現(xiàn)場指導(dǎo)救援善后工作

新華社北京4月28日電 28日凌晨，膠濟(jì)鐵路發(fā)生一起客車脫線相撞重大事故。事故發(fā)生后，黨中央、國務(wù)院高度重視，中共中央總書記胡錦濤、國務(wù)院總理溫家寶分別作出重要批示，并指派中共中央政治局委員、國務(wù)院副總理張德江立即趕赴現(xiàn)場，指導(dǎo)救援善后工作。目前，張德江一行已抵達(dá)事故現(xiàn)場開展工作。

淄博境內(nèi)膠濟(jì)線列車相撞 受傷旅客得到全力救治

人民網(wǎng)淄博視窗電 （記者查曉東 吳芬 劉春軍 攝影報道）

旅客生命大如天。事故發(fā)生后，中國鐵道部和山東省委、省政府迅速啟動緊急預(yù)案。鐵道部部長劉志軍、山東省委書記姜異康、省長姜大明，以及淄博市委市政府的主要領(lǐng)導(dǎo)同志等迅速趕赴事故現(xiàn)場指揮調(diào)度，對事故進(jìn)行處理，盡全力把事故損失壓低到最低限度；胡錦濤總書記、溫家寶總理聞訊后作出緊急批示，張德江副總理迅速趕到事故現(xiàn)場，對事故的善后處理提出了更高的要求。中央、省、市領(lǐng)導(dǎo)同志要求附近醫(yī)院將全部醫(yī)護(hù)人員動員起來，緊急救治受傷旅客，絕不讓一位受傷旅客因時間耽擱而失去生命。

②The USA news：

Train collision kills dozens in China

BEIJING — A predawn collision between two passenger trains in Eastern China on Monday has killed at least 66 people and injured 247， according to Xinhua， the state news agency， making it one of the deadliest rail accidents in recent years. The two trains， one heading from Beijing to Qingdao and the other traveling between Yantai and Xuzhou， collided at 4：40 a.m. in the town of Zibo， Shandong Province.

Witnesses said one train derailed at a bend and then struck the other， throwing at least ten cars into a ditch. Wire reports quoted a rail official saying that a new timetable introduced on Monday might have contributed to the crash.

China has one of the world's most heavily used rail systems. In recent years， at least $100 billion has been spent on improvements and expanded service. Reached by phone on Monday morning， hospital officials in Zibo said the injured began arriving around 5 a.m. with about 100 ambulances ferrying the injured to local hospitals. （This is from New York Times）

Comparison of the two pieces of news

Similarities：

Both of the two pieces of news report the accident that happened in China. Both news media in two countries were concerned about the crash.

Differences：

American media explored not only the crash itself but also the crash impact. What they described about is severer than the Chinese media did. They quoted not only the named authorities but also much more unnamed authorities and critics. Especially， there are a lot of common peoples words. But the Chinese focalizes on the crash relief works， and quoted a mass of named authorities. What the government did is stressed. The positive reports to encourage the people and the relief works are much more than the negative ones.

2.2 News about Sanlu Milk

①The Chinese news：

衛(wèi)生部要求各地開通“問題奶粉”咨詢熱線12320引導(dǎo)群眾正確就醫(yī)

新華網(wǎng)北京9月2.日電（記者吳晶）衛(wèi)生部20日發(fā)出緊急通知，要求沒有開通嬰幼兒奶粉事件健康咨詢熱線12320的省份，應(yīng)在最短時間內(nèi)開通，并及時告知公眾。

為及時解答公眾的健康咨詢和醫(yī)療救治等問題，科學(xué)地進(jìn)行解疑釋惑，及時引導(dǎo)群眾正確就醫(yī)，衛(wèi)生部將北京市和上海市公共衛(wèi)生公益電話12320設(shè)置為服務(wù)于全國的嬰幼兒奶粉健康咨詢熱線電話。

據(jù)了解，目前，全國已有8個?。ㄊ校╅_通了12320電話服務(wù)。衛(wèi)生部在通知中要求，已開通12320的省份，要按照全國12320管理中心制定的《三鹿牌嬰幼兒奶粉事件公眾咨詢指南》，結(jié)合本地實(shí)際情況，增強(qiáng)接聽能力，解答公眾咨詢，引導(dǎo)群眾正確就醫(yī)。沒有開通12320的，應(yīng)向社會公布其他熱線電話，組織專家和相關(guān)人員回答公眾咨詢，滿足本地群眾對于嬰幼兒奶粉事件的健康咨詢需求。

②The USA news：

Tainted milk formula poisons Chinese babies： This is not the first time the safety of Chinese products has been called into question. Consumer confidence was badly dented after recent cases involving tainted toothpaste and pet food. （This is from CNN.）

Chinese Baby Formula Scandal Widens as 2nd Death Is Announced： It seems likely that contaminated formula had been distributed for several months.

The two deaths attributed to the bad formula， both in Gansu， occurred long before the scandal became public. One was a 5-month-old boy who died on May 1； the other was an 8-month-old girl who died on July 22， according to the Health Ministry.

Chinese regulators responded last year with a high-profile crackdown and banned such uses of melamine. Regulators expressed outrage about the latest problems， but did not clarify why it took so long to uncover. （This is from New York Times）

Comparison of the two pieces of news

Similarities：

These two pieces of news report are related to the Sanlu milk. Both of them tell people the evolvement of the incident.

Differences：

The Chinese new is about the solution of the contaminated milk. The newly built phone line 12320 in eight provinces that give the people a positive impression. The American news is about the consequences caused by the Sanlu milk. It concerns more about the death and the victims.

3. Cases Analysis

From the above samples the author analyzes four aspects that influence the differences between China and western countries on China news reporting： first， the political reason； second， the economical reason； third， the cultural reason； fourth， the historical reason.

3.1 The Political Reasons

In China， there is a saying goes that do not wash your dirty linen in public. So most propaganda departments prefer to report the inspiring aspect of an accident rather than show its ugly aspect of an accident to the open world. However， in most western countries they have a hostile attitude toward China. In their report， they try to reveal the most disadvantaged factor of an accident so as to fulfill their political needs and make great achievements in both the military and political spheres in world affairs.

3.2 The Economic Reasons

In USA， the mass media are private station. They are competing with each other. In order to gain more benefits from their report， they often try their best to figure out some explosive news especially about China （since China becomes more and more concerned by people all over the world） to attract more readers and buyers. While in China， most of the newsagents are supported by the government both financially and politically.

3.3 The Historical Reasons

The author found that the American media described a weak and frail Chinese image. The Chinese government is incapable of relieving. Our country is short of resources， especially the coal. The transportation infrastructure is so weak that it can not afford the large disaster. The economy also has some problems. In conclusion， it is a negative Chinese image. To Chinese media， however， they paid more attention to the snow storm itself， and reported the relief works and the restored situation so that it gave a positive and an optimistic Chinese image.

4. Conclusion

Different cultures employ different ways of reporting news. What we consider as effective to an event seem quite the opposite to someone from another culture. As a result， to be an effective reporter， one should recognize and accept the differences， respect the opponents culture， and understand how culture shapes the goals and strategic preferences in three stages of news reporting. It is crucial to resolve such cultural conflicts and help different countries to better understand each other. In doing so， conflicts may be reduced to the least， or even be eliminated.

Therefore， in the actual process of deepening understanding of cultural differences，in communication process to maintain awareness of the issue， use of various communication skills， and continuing to resolve differences，it will continuously promote news reporting smoothly.

References：

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[2]段靜.Critical Discourse Analysis of Western Political News Discourses[D].廣西大學(xué)，2005.

[3]李黎.A Contrastive Analysis of Modality Orientations in English and Chinese Political News Reports[D].東北師范大學(xué)，2009.