How Chinese Social Media Frames COVID-19. Communications & Media Essay

How Chinese Social Media Frames COVID-19
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Abstract
Now it is more than three months since the first case of coronavirus officially termed as COVID-19 was identified in China. By the time of writing this, approximately 96,000 persons worldwide have been diagnosed with this disease (Live Science, 2020). Like any other major outbreak in history, COVID-19 has made headlines in mainstream and ignited debates in social media. Purpose of this paper is to apply framing theory to assess how Chinese social media has framed this disease.
Based on a general idea gathered from the initial scanning of posts over Chinese micro-blogging platform Weibo, three major frames identified include an uncontrolled threat (coded as UCT), a controlled threat (coded as CT), and no threat at all (coded as NT). The responses categorized as implying uncontrolled threat are ones in which users have shared their critical concerns and fear about COVID-19. The comments and posts in which people have shared their concerns but with a touch of optimism are considered to be implying controlled threat. Then, the posts from the groups o...