Discourse Presentation of China's National Image in Indian Mainstream Newspapers' Coverage of the Beijing Winter Olympics

Abstract

: The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and The Hindu are three English-language newspapers (online versions) with significant influence in India. With textual analysis and qualitative approaches, the paper first examines them in terms of the number of reports and then applies the content mining software ROST to analyze the coverage of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the following levels: (1) The issue setting of the Beijing Winter Olympics in Indian English mainstream newspapers. (2) The discourse presentation of China’s national image in Indian English mainstream newspapers. The results show that the mainstream English newspapers in India present a more positive image of China as a powerful country. Although the shaping of the national image saw some success in terms of communication effects, to actively set up issues and change the “pre-determined” perspective is needed in order to fully comprehend and recognize China’s ideas and values. This paper uses textual analysis and qualitative approaches to examine the China-related reports of The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and The Hindu (online versions). The national image of China, as it appears in reports of the Beijing Winter Olympics in Indian English-language mainstream newspapers, is analyzed and the opportunities and challenges facing the communication of China’s image are explored.