Peace or War? Framing Analysis of Taiwan Media’s Military News Reports on the Conflict in the Taiwan Strait

Abstract

<p>本研究以2020 年8 月中國人民解放軍對臺軍事演習為案例，借徑國際衝突常見的戰爭／和平新聞學及愛國主義框架等理論，從四家主流媒體的消息來源、關鍵詞、描繪形象等面向，探究報導內容分歧，及對臺海衝突議題的態度與立場傾向。量化研究發現，臺灣四家媒體對國際衝突中母國與敵國的好惡表達，及認定臺、美能否阻止中共武力犯臺，報導立場與使用框架皆有顯著差異，而消息來源使用和報導數量則相反。《中國時報》使用和平新聞學，《自由時報》、《蘋果日報》傾向戰爭新聞學、愛國主義等框架、表達對中共政府的負面情緒，認定中共無法成功犯臺；《聯合報》在各種框架呈現上則較持平。本文也以質性分析闡釋、討論，並在末尾提出探討限制及對未來研究的建議。</p> <p> </p><p>This study examined the news coverage of the August 2020 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military exercise against Taiwan in order to investigate the content discrepancies, attitudes, and political leanings of the four mainstream media outlets in Taiwan regarding cross-strait conflict issues. Using the theories of war/peace journalism framework and patriotism framework, the study analyzed and compared the choices of news sources, the uses of keywords, and the portrayals of events among different media. Quantitative findings reveal that there were significant differences in the coverage of four different media in Taiwan in terms of the expressions of favorability towards the home country or the adversary in international conflicts, the positions adopted in reporting on whether Taiwan and the United States can deter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military aggression against Taiwan, and the uses of reporting frameworks. No significant differences were found in terms of choices of news sources and the number of news items. The findings indicate that the China Times tended to use peace journalism frameworks. The Liberty Times and the Apple Daily leaned towards war journalism frameworks and patriotism framework, tended to express negative sentiments towards the Chinese government, and believed that China cannot successfully invade Taiwan by force. The United Daily News, in comparison, maintained a relatively neutral stance. Qualitative analysis and discussion were included to interpret the findings at the end of the study, as well as the limitations of the study and suggestions for future study.</p> <p> </p>