Framing of the Uyghurs in China Daily after 9/11

Abstract

This research aims to investigate how the international Chinese newspaper China Daily represents the Uighur minority after the events of September 11, 2001 in the United States of America, a Muslim minority that speaks the Turkish language and lives in the far west of China, specifically in the Xinjiang region. The research is classified as a descriptive research, as it adopted the survey method, and used the content analysis method. The research sample was determined by the news stories published by China Daily on its website in the English language for the period from 9/11/2001 to 9/11/2004, and from 7/4/2009 to 7/4/2011, which numbered (45) news stories. The research concluded that China Daily newspaper represented the Uighurs in a biased manner by linking them to terrorism, crime and riots, and the newspaper did not show the cultural, artistic and historical aspects of this minority. The results of the research also showed that the newspaper relied on official government sources in its coverage to a greater extent than other sources.