Month / December 2021

by Lu Tang

Semantic Network of China’s State-Run Media’s Weibo posts during the COVID-19 pandemic

China’s state-run media are the mouthpiece of the government. During public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, they are responsible for disseminating essential information to the public on behalf of the government. This study examined the Sina Weibo posts published by three leading state-run media entities (CCTV, People’s Daily, and Xinhua News Agency) during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Semantic networks were extracted from posts during each stage of the outbreak, and clusters of nodes representing communication themes were identified, including investigations of the coronavirus, governmental policies and response efforts, case updates, prevention and control, and medical treatment. These themes indicate the use of information and bolstering strategies to maintain and increase government legitimacy.

Semantic Network of Top Three State Media Sina Weibo Messages about COVID-19 (Stage 1): Themes: (1) the government’s response efforts (gold), (2) expert investigations of a virus of unknown cause (purple), and (3) medical treatment (green).
Stage 2: Themes: (1) the government’s policies and response efforts (gold), (2) case updates (purple), and (3) medical treatment (green).
Stage 3: Themes (1) the government’s response efforts (gold), (2) report of inbound cases from overseas (green), (3) virus containment and report of global cases (purple), and (4) investigations of prison cases (red).

Stage 4: Themes (1) international collaboration and reopening (gold), (2) report of inbound cases from overseas (green), (3) global case updates and prevention (red), and (4) treatment (purple).

Meadows, C.Z., Tang, L., Zou, W. (2022). Managing government legitimacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: a semantic network analysis of state-run media Sina Weibo posts. Chinese Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2021.2016876 [Full text]