Competing and Diverse Media Discourses in Hong Kong: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis of Media Representation of Alibaba’s Acquisition of SCMP

Kaiming SU*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferenceConference paperpeer-review

Abstract

Considering the intricacies of the social and political context of Hong Kong, this study attempts to explore the patterns amidst the complexity of media discourses in the city, with the focal point on a controversial case of cross-border acquisition in the media sector—Alibaba’s acquisition of South China Morning Post. Moving beyond the binary tradition in comparative discourse studies, this study has tried to analyze the discourses from a multiculturalist perspective. Methodologically, the approach of Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is adopted to analyze the media reporting of this event by newspapers in Hong Kong with divergent political stances, i.e., Apple Daily (AD) representing pro-democracy camp, Ming Pao (MP) representing centrist camp, and Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po, and Hong Kong Commercial Daily (TWC) representing pro-establishment/Beijing camp.
AD corpus emphasizes the ideological underpinning rather than economic logic in the acquisition, framing China and Alibaba as hegemonic control from the Beijing government, with Hong Kong and SCMP represented as victims of political suppression. TWC frames the acquisition as a normal commercial action, and promotes the harmonious synergy of Alibaba and SCMP, as well as of Hong Kong and Mainland China. Though MP is observed to be ambivalent in stances, it attempts to evaluate the event from both ideological and commercial perspectives, embracing various voices and practicing comprehensive reporting. Such confrontation and struggling in the discursive practices of these newspapers explicates and resonates with the notion of multiculturalism, mapping the competing and diverse spectrum of media discourses in Hong Kong.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2025
Event75th Annual International Communication Association Conference, ICA 2025 - Hyatt Regency Denver, Denver, United States
Duration: 12 Jun 202516 Jun 2025
https://www.icahdq.org/mpage/ICA25 (Conference website)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.icahdq.org/resource/resmgr/conference/2025/ICA25_Abstracts_Program.pdf (Conference program)

Conference

Conference75th Annual International Communication Association Conference, ICA 2025
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityDenver
Period12/06/2516/06/25
Internet address

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