Framing the 2015 Tianjin Explosions Crisis: A Content Analysis of People’s Daily WeChat Official Account

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine how People’s Daily WeChat official account framed 2015 Tianjin explosions crisis and analyze any other factors that influence the news framing process in WeChat official accounts. 2015 Tianjin explosions is a very serious crisis and caused hundreds of people dead and injured. The news reports from new media such as WeChat official account, plays a significant role in news dissemination and rescue work. 28 news reports were selected from People’s Daily WeChat official account during the crisis period to do content analysis. The study has established three main frames: human interest, attribution of responsibility and consequence in those 28 news reports. Each news report was looked as a coding unit to research which frames were used to portray and disseminate the 2015 Tianjin explosions crisis news. All the analysis was concluded that which frame is applied most frequently and other factors may influence the news framing process in WeChat official account as well. The findings revealed that the three main frames and their sub-frames were applied in the news reports and the human interest frame was used most frequently. Some other internal factors such as the features of WeChat official account platform and external factors such as policies or regulations for Internet news also influence crisis news framing of People’s Daily WeChat official account.