網路熱點議題中黨媒、市場化媒體的媒體間議題設定效應：以2013-2020年微博熱點議題為例

The Intermedia Agenda-Setting Effects between Party News Media and Commercial News Media: A Study of Weibo Hot Issues from 2013 to 2020

本研究以議題設定理論為基礎， 運用網絡議題設定（ network agenda setting ） 及媒體間議題設定（ intermedia agenda setting ） 理論， 結合QAP （ quadratic assignment procedure）及時滯交叉相關分析，探討以《人民日報》為代表的黨媒與以《新京報》為代表的市場化媒體，於2013-2020 年間八個微博熱點議題中，媒體報導之異同與媒體間議題設定關係。研究發現，黨媒與市場化媒體在報導上存在高度相關，但呈現不同的報導特點。在2015 年天津港812 特大爆炸事故、2018 年中國兩會及2019 年新中國成立70 週年議題中，《人民日報》設置了《新京報》的議程。但在2016 年山東問題疫苗議題中，《新京報》則對《人民日報》進行了議題設定。 本研究為首個結合網絡議題設定與媒體間議題設定理論，探究黨媒與市場化媒體報導特點及議題設定效應的縱貫性研究。本研究檢驗了議題設定於中國大陸特殊媒體環境中的適用性，具有一定的理論意涵；方法上，運用QAP 及時滯交叉相關分析檢驗議題設定方向，也具有一定創新價值。本研究提供新媒體時代下，中國大陸黨媒與市場化媒體的景觀，並發現市場化媒體具有其能動性，已撼動黨媒一統中國媒體的局面，為民眾開啟新聞報導的另一種可能性。

Background: Following the guidance of revolutionary experiences and the Marxist-Leninist theory of journalism, the news media have long been regarded as a propaganda apparatus of the Chinese Communist Party since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. However, after the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, two different types of media, party news media and commercial news media, have emerged and shown different coverage patterns. With the development of Internet technology, the media in China have also undergone tremendous changes. Social media like Sina Weibo have become a collaborative network of content production for information sources. Both party news media and commercial news media need to engage in social media platforms to attract the audience. Literature Review: News media can shape public opinion by underscoring the salience of certain issues, which is known as agenda setting. By selecting issues and attributes, the media further construct a network of objects and attributes, and the salience of network relationships can also be transferred from the media to the public. In other words, the news media not only tell us “what to think” or “how to think”, but also determine how audience members connect different pieces of information to construct their perceptions and judgments of social phenomena. This is called the network agenda setting (NAS) effect. Moreover, while intermedia agenda setting focuses on the interactions between different types of media and the relationships of agenda setting, NAS effects may also occur between different types of media. This study thus incorporates NAS and intermedia agenda setting theories to test the differences and relationships between China’s party news media and commercial news media in their Weibo coverage of eight hot issues from 2013 to 2020. Using this longitudinal perspective, this study presents a more comprehensive media landscape in today’s China. Research Purpose and Questions: This study aims to break through the limitations of previous literature on a single issue at a single time. It investigates the agenda setting effects between party news media and commercial news media with a long-term vision. It first examines the content, frequencies, and attributes of news coverage on hot issues of the two types of media in recent years and proposes the first research question. RQ1: What are the attributes and characteristics of the hot issues by the party media and the commercial news media from 2013 to 2020? It then analyzes the relationships between the party news media and the commercial news media and tests whether the cross-media agenda setting theory is valid in China’s particular media environment. The second research question is proposed as follows. RQ2: What is the intermedia agenda setting relationship between the party media and the commercial news media in the hot issues from 2013 to 2020? Method: This study selects People’s Daily as representative of party news media and The Beijing News as representative of commercial news media. It collects 1,545 microblogs on Sina Weibo from People’s Daily and 711 microblogs from The Beijing News, making a total of 2,256 microblogs. According to the attributes of eight different events from 2013 to 2020, the study codes these microblogs and presents the co-occurrence matrices based on Python language. It then uses QAP (quadratic assignment procedure) analysis and cross-lagged analysis to test the correlation of network agenda attributes and the causality between the attribute network agendas of the two types of media. Results: Evidence reveals a strong correlation between the two types of media in terms of network agenda attributes. Further analysis shows that People’s Daily set the agenda of The Beijing News for the explosion accident in Tianjin Binhai New Area in 2015, “two sessions” (the National People's Congress [NPC] and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference [CPPCC]) in 2018, and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC in 2019. However, for the “Problematic Vaccine” scandal in Shandong in 2016, The Beijing News set the agenda of People’s Daily. The results demonstrate that although China’s controlled media environment is dominated by party news media, commercial news media still is able to set the agenda of party news media for some particular issues concerning social and people’s livelihood. Discussion: This study is the first longitudinal one that combines theories of network agenda setting and intermedia agenda setting to investigate the attributes and the relationships of agenda setting effects of different types of news media. It explores the network agenda setting and intermedia agenda setting effects across party news media and commercial news media in China. This study also uses QAP analysis and cross-lagged analysis to test the direction of network agenda setting, demonstrating its methodological value. Overall, the results offer a picture of party news media and commercial news media in China’s new media era and discover that commercial news media still have voices that may shake the party news media’s domination, further opening up a possibility of alternative news reporting for the public.