U.S., Chinese Newspapers Differ on Reports of Tainted Milk Scandal

Abstract

In September 2008, the Sanlu Group, which operates one of China's largest dairy firms, recalled 10,000 tons of infant feeding formula after hospitals in Gansu province in the northwest part of the country reported 59 cases of kidney stones in infants.1 The milk powder was found tainted with melamine, a low-toxic industrial chemical used in plastics, fertilizers and cleaning products, to make the milk appear higher in protein content.2 Over a three-month period, the Ministry of Health reported that about 51,900 babies were hospitalized, 294,000 developed urinary tract stones, more than 1,000 were confirmed to have formed kidney stones and six died.3According to the media dependency theory, crisis situations like this tend to trigger greater public dependence on the mass media because people come to rely upon the media's structural connectedness with the best available sources of information to help them cope with the threat.4 How the media perform during crisis times, however, may be affected by journalistic processes and routines, the constraints faced by news organizations, the culture of news groups, and the ideological leanings of journalists, among others.5 This study compares how the Chinese and American financial newspapers performed in covering the Sanlu milk scandal.Literature ReviewRisk reporting during crisis situations is particularly challenging considering that hazards interact with psychological, social, institutional and cultural processes in ways that may amplify or attenuate public responses, according to the social amplification of risk framework.6 Thus, journalists strive to improve their methods of presenting risk information.7 Fischoffsuggests a number of protocols reporters may use to explain and clarify risk issues.8 One of these, titled Questions to Ask of Risk Analysis, outlines nine items to consider whenever risk analysis is applied in news reports. Pertinent to the current study are items that ask:* Does the story discuss the probability of harm as well as the amount of harm expected?* Does the risk analysis estimate the number of people likely to suffer damage?* Are considerations of individual sensitivities, exposure to multiple hazards and cumulative effects included?* Does the story disclose forthrightly the points at which risk analysis is based on assumptions and guesswork?* Are all data and processes of risk analysis open to public scrutiny?* Are questions of involuntary exposure, who bears the risk and who reaps the benefits considered?* If the answer to any of these questions is no, then the utility of these news reports should be questioned.Technical risk assessment is but one of several news frames reporters apply to depict risk events. News frames result when journalists organize stories in ways that provide meaning to related events.9 Through complex processes of interpretation, readers form impressions of the stories' central theme and attitudes toward the incident, and the solutions offered by actors.News frames about an event that happened in one place vary from country to country because reporting is influenced by politics, economic systems, the media infrastructure and the political system that supports it, and journalistic norms and values, among others. Of these, perhaps the most potent is the context under which reporters operate.10 Many contend that the Chinese press system falls in between Siebert et al.'s authoritarian and Soviet communist models. To date, the Party guard dog principle is still being reinforced as the government struggles to maintain control of the media. Although stories about corruption and inequality sometimes see print, the press is not allowed to criticize the Party leadership and the prevailing ideology. The libertarian press model to which the United States subscribes, on the other hand, holds that the press should serve as the government's watchdog, and should thus be free from outside interference and restrictions. …