Narrative battle: A critical discourse analysis of China and the US's news coverage on COVID-19 origin-tracing

Abstract

The origin of Covid-19 has been a subject of intense public discussion since early 2020, with different countries such as China and the US engaging in propaganda over which laboratory was responsible for the virus's leak. This narrative battle has not only been fought on the basis of scientific evidence but has also become highly politicized, with mainstream media outlets such as newspapers taking sides. This qualitative research employs a critical discourse approach, using Van Dijk's ideological square, to compare newspaper discourses on Covid-19 origin in China (Global Times) and the US (The Wall Street Journal) and identify what images of ingroup and outgroup have the media created through news reporting respectively. The study also analyzes the discursive strategies used by the newspapers to reinforce their narrative. The findings reveal that both newspapers show a dichotomy of "us versus them." In Global Times, The United States is depicted as incompetent, dishonest, politically driven, and unresponsive to concerns regarding its bio labs. Reciprocally, China is portrayed as culpable for Covid-19, uncooperative, and with concerns about its political system and risky lab practices in The Wall Street Journal. The study also indicates that linguistic tactics such as evidentiality, lexicalization,...