Social representations in media communication and their effects on the public environmental cognition: Based on a case study of air pollution in China

Abstract

This study focus on analyzes of media representations of smog in the Chinese print press and its effects on environmental attitudes and beliefs about air pollution in Chinese citizens. The relationships between the environment and social development are enduring and complicated in the history of human. In recent years, environmental problems have been a not inconsiderable issue in China. And among them, air pollution is a very important representative environmental issue. It can harm people's respiratory systems. Therefore, it is an urgent and important problem for the quality of life of the public. The study is divided into four parts. First, a literature review is conducted to summarize the basic situation of relevant studies and their characteristics. Secondly, conduct a content analysis. The conceptual map of the informative frames is established to present how Chinese print press cover the topic of air pollution to the public. Thirdly, a study of citizen opinions and social cognition of smog is realized to investigate consequences of cultivation through long-term exposure to journalistic representations of smog in China. Last but not the least, conduct an experimental study under laboratory control with real journalistic contents to look for the causal relationships of the news inference processes about smog.