Covering China - Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): How ‘The News' and 'People's Daily' Develop Social Media Discourse Since Its' Inception

Abstract

The present study explores how 'CPEC' is covered and treated by the two eminent English newspapers The News (Pakistani Newspaper) and the People's daily (Chinese Newspaper) through their Facebook's official pages through the keyword search “China – Pakistan Economic Corridor” from the year 2015-19. The broader aspects, categories are formed; as development, economy, political, social, strategic and other, examined the treatment on their frequency and semantic network analysis on positive, negative and neutral frames through coding sheet. For this purpose, the quantitative content analysis is conducted to examine that how 'CPEC' is covered, framed and treated by the said newspaper at their official Facebook pages. The findings of the study reveal that 'China – Pakistan Economic Corridor' is projected significantly more strategic than economic on the posts appeared on the Chinese and Pakistani newspaper. The coverage appeared on The News is varied from positive, neutral and negative.