Introduction
From March to December of 2019, Hong Kong experienced a wave of democracy protests that began peacefully but slowly progressed to extreme violence. What was officially known as the “The Anti Extradition Law Amendment Movement”, originated due to a case where a Hong Kong man allegedly murdered his girlfriend while they were on a trip in Taiwan. Problems began after the man returned to Hong Kong and the Taiwanese judicial system wanted to have the man extradited, but Hong Kong authorities could not grant this due to a lack of an extradition agreement with Taiwan. A new extradition bill was then introduced by the Hong Kong government in February 2019, which would allow requests from any country, including mainland China, for the extradition of criminal suspects. This concerned Hong Kong citizens as they feared if criminals were sent to China, they would not be given a fair trial and might even be subjected to torture.
In March, peaceful strikes were organised to oppose the bill and the Chinese government. However, as months went on, the protests became violent between citizens and the Hong Kong police. Activists argued the police were too harsh with their crowd management tactics, but the police remained persistent in their efforts to reprimand law breakers. Thus, the violence amongst protesters and officers became increasingly severe towards the end of 2019. This dissertation aims to evaluate whether The Guardian is a relatively Western biassed newspaper, and whether the South China Morning Post (SCMP) tends to be in favour of China.
Methodology
This dissertation will be a critical discourse analysis of the 2019 Hong Kong protests between one British and one Hong Kong newspaper. The Guardian is known to be excellent at providing reliable world news, while SCMP is similarly one of the most popular newspapers in Hong Kong for global news. According to Wodak, critical discourse analysis is defined as “the common interest in demystifying ideologies and power through the systematic and retroductable investigation of semiotic data (written, spoken, or visual).” (Wodak, 2012, 303). This study will be structured to go back and forth between newspapers to compare the typography, diction, and imagery. It will also be easily understandable for those who may not have any prior knowledge on the protests. Additionally, Van Dijk said critical discourse analysis “requires true multidisciplinarity, and an account of intricate relationships between text, talk, social cognition, power, society and culture.” (Van Dijk, 1993, 253). This study will take a holistic approach in considering the socio-political context and history of the protests to adhere to Van Dijk’s criteria of critical discourse analysis. Six specific dates from 2019 will be explored, 8, 15, 28 of September, and 11, 13, 14 of November. The reason for focusing on these dates is because there was a particularly high frequency of violence during these two months, and coverage of the protests were more controversial during this time. Amidst the damage that was caused during the protests, there was a large debate on whether the protestors or the police were at fault. For this reason, news outlets were able to frame the situation according to their own agendas and ultimately sway the reader’s opinions.
Literature Review
The way journalists report can be affected by the political and diplomatic situation at any point in time, a theory which remained true throughout history. The economic, cultural, and religious factors that surround the journalist can determine which conflicts will happen, who will be involved, who needs to know about them, and who should distribute the information (Rodgers, 2012). The political context of the Hong Kong protests will be considered during the analysis of each chosen article in order to understand why it took place and what may have led to the journalistic decisions that were made in reporting the event.
Rogers defined an objective journalist as someone who “strives to keep their political and religious views, professional allegiances and financial interests from influencing their reporting.” (Rogers, 2012, 65). This academic paper will particularly look out for these specific influences mentioned by Rogers to determine whether The Guardian or SCMP has demonstrated a biassed stance. Roger further mentioned Philo’s research which concluded that TV audiences have a lack of understanding events in the developing world due to TV coverage that tends to be dramatised, and hyper focused on violence and tragedy, while providing little context to the situation surrounding the event (Roger, 2012). Similarly, this theory will be tested by analysing whether or not each newspaper has only chosen to focus on the dramatic aspects of Hong Kong’s conflict. It will be interesting to investigate the consequences of doing so, especially when The Guardian’s audience may have significantly less knowledge on Hong Kong’s political history compared to that of SCMP. Conboy listed several questions which will be used in the observation of any significant language choices made by either publication. “Who is the protagonist, the dominant actor in the theme of a story? Who is first mentioned? Who is given more space? Whose opinions are valued?” (Conboy, 2007, 31).
A study analysing Hong Kong’s sense of national identity argued that young citizens are worrying that the city is gradually losing its freedom of expression and information. However, the study also showed that people from the mainland may rebut this statement by saying that it is natural for Hong Kong to be like China anyways, as the city is technically a part of the country of China. Furthermore, the study said that Hong Kongers believe Beijing has broken their promise of permitting the city to operate with autonomy and democracy, which was stated in their 1990 agreement. In response, mainlanders have said that Hong Kong has been infiltrated by Western propaganda and lacks any genuine appreciation of being Chinese (Matthews, 2020). Matthews’ essay reveals the juxtaposing relationship between China and Hong Kong and provides context to the tensions that lay behind the protests. It is essential to consider both of these oppositions to understand Hong Kong’s desperation for democracy, and why the protesters felt the need to escalate to violence.
In a discussion on Britain’s role as a mediator during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, critical discourse analysis was used on British newspapers to explore the historical and socio-political relationship between the two places (Wang, 2021). Events such as the handover of Hong Kong from Britain back to China must be considered in this paper to provide a basic understanding of why Hong Kong people may prefer the West. Another academic study on how The Times has represented post-colonial Hong Kong in the past 20 years, used critical discourse analysis to discover that portrayals of Hong Kong have been crisis and conflict oriented (Liu and Jiang, 2019). This trend seems to continue until the present day as the articles chosen for this dissertation share common themes of violence and public disruption.
An essay exploring advertising said that typography can create its own evocations without taking into account the text’s contents (Amar, Droulers, and Legoherel, 2017). To apply this theory to this dissertation, the possible intentions behind the typographical decision made by the newspaper will be investigated independently from the text. For example, the size of the text will be analysed as bigger fonts may suggest that something is particularly important. As Conboy’s theory states, “The enlarging of words of the main stories is a call for attention, a manifestation of what the newspapers consider most important within their own view of the news on any particular day.” (Conboy, 2007, 74). Another study looking into typography as a semiotic resource said that typography is considered complementary with the narrative and should be judged on whether it “honours, dishonours, enhances or expresses the emotions, meanings and intentions of the authors.” (Serafini and Clausen, 2016, 5). Furthermore, to adhere to Serafini and Clausen’s theory, this dissertation will look at how different typographies represent “meanings, actions, and ideas, interpersonally to realise, enact and establish relationships and emotions through 1) weight, 2) colour, 3) size, 4) slant, 5) framing, 6) formality, and 7) flourishes.” (Serafini and Clausen, 2016, 8).
Additionally, the use of diction can change “how an event is interpreted or understood by the reader or listener.” (Hoglund and Oberg, 2011, 63). Hoglund and Oberg’s study mentioned the importance of 3 elements of diction analysis. Their study said that when understanding information in relation to conflict situations, the reader must have an understanding of how the vocabularies in the source relate to the real world. The reader must also make a clear distinction between description and interpretations, as certain aspects of events are rarely directly observable. Lastly, news reports may include poorly supported generalisations and reifications (Hoglund and Oberg, 2011). This dissertation will particularly focus on the latter 2 elements of analysis to evaluate the extent to which each article exhibits impartiality and accuracy.
Furthermore, the register of each publication will also be explored. Conboy said, “Register can reveal as much about the media institution as it can about its perceived audience because it articulates a version of the language of its target social grouping.” (Conboy, 2007, 41). Language can be used to match a particular lifestyle, age group or professional identity. An example is when formal or specialist language is used in the financial pages of the elite press, it can reveal the assumptions the publication had of its readers’ prior political knowledge. Whereas similarly, media reporting pop-culture may reduce the complexities of its contents by relating them to soap operas which they assume their audience is familiar with (Conboy, 2007).
A study examining the purpose of using photographs in the news said that imagery often comes in handy to frame subtle messages, especially messages that may be socially risky if stated explicitly (Messaris and Abraham, 2001). This is a concept that will be explored within the photographs used in each chosen article for this dissertation. For example, each article’s top photo will be critically analysed by looking at the denotations and connotations in order to understand why it has been chosen to be the representative picture for the article in the first place. Messaris and Abraham also said the lack of explicitness in images can shield journalists in deniability, thus visual imagery can be effective for ideological exposition and manipulation. Depending on what is pictured in each article, the way a reader judges who is at fault during the protests may differ. This concept is further proven by a text discussing the effects of visual framing on the emotional responses and evaluations of news about the Gaza conflict in 2009, which said that if journalists use images that mainly highlight a certain aspect of an issue, the readers will be more likely to fall short of a holistic view of the issue (Bratner, Lobinger, and Wetzstein, 2011).
Body
Typography
Of the seven measures of typography outlined by Serafini and Clausen, this study will specifically focus on the stylistic intentions behind the weight, colour, size, framing and formality of the text. The discussion of weight refers to the thickness or boldness of the font, and framing refers to any borders or lines used to visually organise the text. An article from SCMP published on 8 September 2019, was headlined, “As it happened: violent clashes escalate in Hong Kong as protesters corner officers in Sha Tin MTR control room” (SCMP, 8 September 2019, Article A). The text was written in a black bold serif font. The heavy weight and dark colour of the headline may have been used to bring strong emphasis to the violence that had occurred. Additionally, the house style of using a serif font adds to the formality of the newspaper, which suggests that their readers are of a mature demographic who are interested in worldly topics such as politics and breaking news. Therefore, an event which involved violence between citizens and police officers would be of great interest to SCMP’s readers.
However, a different approach was used in an article published on the same day by The Guardian. Their headline, “Hong Kong: violence follows calls for Trump to ‘liberate’ territory” (The Guardian, 8 September 2019, Article B) was written in a medium-bold serif font, but in a bigger size than that of the headline in Article A. So instead of using weight to attract the eye’s attention, they used size, which takes up more of the web page. The large font suggests the importance of mentioning President Donald Trump which hints that The Guardian’s audience is often from a Western background and they are knowledgeable of American politics, thus mentioning his name would attract them to click the article. Furthermore, a serif font gives a sophisticated and professional appearance. The formality of the serif font conveys reliability which suggests The Guardian believes their news is accurate and dependable.
In the headline of The Guardian’s article (Article B), the term “liberate” was written in quotation marks which implies a specific tone, often sarcastic. This suggests that portraying the USA as a saviour to Hong Kong, is only a suggestion and is not to be taken literally. The sell was written in a bolder font than the headline, which proposes the contents of the sell is of higher importance. Emphasis may have been placed on the sell to specifically highlight the phrase “‘resist Beijing’”, which was also written in quotation marks. This can allude to the political stance of The Guardian whereby they believe that whether or not the USA can act as a liberator to Hong Kong, Beijing’s government should be resisted and condemned.
Furthermore, red was used to highlight particular words and phrases in Article B. In the first two paragraphs, the terms “Donald Trump” and “Hong Kong” were written in red. This decision may have been to create a binary between Hong Kong and the USA, which assumes that The Guardian’s readers are aware of American politics and their socio-political relationship with Hong Kong. Another phrase, also written in red, described the actions of the Hong Kong police officers and said, “but fired teargas for a second night”. The dark red colour typically connotes concern and emergency, so when used in this article, it may be criticising the Hong Kong police officers’ choice of using teargas. This further hints the political bias of The Guardian’s audience to be Western leaning. Moreover, on the left side of the page, there was a pull quote framed in a square, where the name attributed to the quotation was written in red. Without prior knowledge, the reader would not know the name belongs to one of The Guardian’s columnists. This implies the publication likely has a high trust and high loyalty relationship with their audience. Their readership may already be familiar with the writers’ names due to their frequency of using The Guardian as a source for their daily news. Hence, this suggests that the newspaper can have a significant impact on the opinions and interpretations of their readers.
Additionally, all the red words in the article were hyperlinked, leading readers to other related articles. This suggests The Guardian values accessibility and believes the Hong Kong protests are important and readers should be aware of the full scope of events before making a judgement on the issue. Moreover, they prioritise accuracy, which can be seen through their use of framing. The sentence “This article is more than 2 years old” is placed at the very top in a bright yellow square. The words “2 years old” are also bolded which brings even more emphasis. By doing so, it can be interpreted that despite certain political biases the newspaper may have, they aim to avoid spreading outdated news to prevent any misinterpretation of their articles.
SCMP’s article (Article A) only used black in their text, but did use colour to frame their article into sections. The article was written in a live-report format, with subheadings to separate each update throughout the 8th of September. Yellow horizontal lines were used to divide each update, with the exact time of day it was reported running through the yellow line. This method of framing helps the reader’s eyes to easily compartmentalise each reported event and navigate the story more effectively. To further increase the readability of the article, certain vocabularies were hyperlinked which led readers to related articles. On the left side of the page, there was a chronological dotted timeline which summed up all the timestamps of updates that were written throughout the day. On the vertical timeline, each time stamp was hyperlinked to directly lead the reader to the corresponding part of the story. This not only increases the readability of the article but also suggests SCMP’s readers are on the go and may not have time to read every detail. By including this timeline, it reveals the newspaper has a high level of understanding of their audience’s lifestyle, thus highlighting their possible influence over their readership. It also suggests that the newspaper considers the protests as highly newsworthy and hopes to bring more awareness by making the article easier to digest.
Both publications used weight and size to draw emphasis, while using formality to increase their credibility. However, their uses of colour and framing were specific to cater to their readers’ prior knowledge and lifestyles, to avoid having the information be misinterpreted by their respective audiences. Ultimately, the stylistic choices of both publications were able to demonstrate the newsworthiness and importance of the Hong Kong protests.
Diction
As mentioned by Hoglund and Oberg, by exploring the connotations and denotations as well as any stylistic features of certain vocabularies, this dissertation can determine the subtle biases of each publication. When looking at an article by SCMP, which was headlined, “‘West can’t solve your problems’, China’s Communist Party tells Hong Kong protesters” (SCMP, 15 September 2019, Article C), the term “West” was used rather than the name of a specific nation or region, whereas “China'' was clearly named in the title. The non-specific generalisation of the West, places importance on the East instead. In the sell, the West was described as offering “empty words of freedom and democracy”. This phrase was written in quotation marks which draws attention and creates a sarcastic tone. SCMP’s disapproving attitude towards the West may be influenced by the historical context that Hong Kong was colonised by Britain from 1841 to 1997. Thus, in an attempt to reclaim a sense of patriotism, SCMP rejects the West as Hong Kong’s hero by using a condescending tone. The word “empty” denotes something that is not there, which suggests the newspaper has a lack of trust in the West to provide substantial help to the citizens of Hong Kong, and can imply the West lacks reliability.
Additionally, the word “fantasy” was used to describe the reality of Western nations helping Hong Kong with their domestic problems. The term “fantasy” connotes a world where objects are often imaginary and unrealistic. It also often alludes to something that is childish and naive. Thus, this adds to the mocking tone of SCMP by comparing the sentiment of the West as a saviour, to a childlike fairytale. Immediately, a contrast between SCMP and The Guardian can be identified, whereby this article denounces the West as a means of escape for the Hong Kong citizens, but Article B by The Guardian chooses to focus on President Trump as a form of liberation for the city.
Furthermore, “abused” was used in Article C to describe the way the emotions of Hong Kong people were being treated by the West. This suggests that SCMP believes Western media has purposefully and carefully publicised the frustrations and anger of Hong Kong’s protesters just to claim themselves as Hong Kong’s potential saviour. This article further states that Hong Kong people should look north for more life opportunities in order not to “lock” themselves in their “‘Cantonese-speaking’ circle”. The word “lock” connotes a situation of being trapped or being punished for doing something wrong. It can be implied SCMP believes that by fully rejecting China as a whole, Hong Kong citizens are disadvantaged. Moreover, by using the name of the local language, added with the name of a geometric shape to refer to the city as a “‘Cantonese-speaking’ circle”, it reduces the complexities of Hong Kong and may be a metaphor of the tunnel vision some activists had during the protests.
The related articles presented on the right side of the page were titled “China blasts German minister who met Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong'', and “High-profile Hong Kong activists targeted in wave of arrests”. The newspaper’s decision in choosing to display these specific articles further exemplifies their value in China’s opinions as it puts the activists in a bad light. The terms “blasts”, “targeted” and “arrests” allude to a guilty party or a response to criminal behaviour, thus when attributed to the protesters, it portrays the activists as the antagonists. Moreover, a semantic field of negative words such as “problems”, “damaging” and “downturn”, were used to describe the consequences of the protesters’ activities on Hong Kong’s economy. All three words suggest a decline in the quality or productivity of something, which is an outcome that is typically unwelcomed. “Problems'' connotes a frustrating and unsolvable situation, and “damage” suggests the result of violent or uncivilised behaviour. By using such language, SCMP is condemning the actions of the protesters.
When describing the results countries have faced after receiving help from the West, SCMP said they were “in trouble”. The negative connotations of the phrase suggests countries were disadvantaged or their domestic issues did not improve despite Western influences. The newspaper also used the phrase “thousands of miles away” when highlighting the distance between the East and the West. The use of the words “thousands” and “miles” emphasises the literal and sociopolitical gap between both nations by giving it a quantitative measure, and thus further displays SCMP’s lack of faith in the West.
Interestingly, The Guardian’s article, published on the same day, contrasts the SCMP as they reported that demonstrators “waved the union flag”, “sang God Save the Queen” and chanted “stand with Hong Kong”. The visual imagery paints a grand scene of patriotism and glorifies the UK. References of the “union flag’ and “God Save the Queen” would only be understood if one were to have prior knowledge of the UK, which suggests the article is aimed at a westernised audience who may have Western political biases. The article was titled “Police fire teargas and water cannon at Hong Kong protesters” (The Guardian, 15 September 2019, Article D), which paints the police as the adversaries. Although part of the article highlighted the demonstrators glorifying the UK with songs and flags which portrays them in a calm manner, the sell described them throwing “rocks” and “molotov cocktails”. By specifically detailing the types of items protesters had thrown, it suggests The Guardian is able to convey the extremities citizens had to resort to in order to defend themselves as they called for support from the UK.
Juxtaposition was used when The Guardian used “peaceful” and “chaos” to describe the trajectory of the protests. These extreme opposites bring out the degree of destruction that has been caused, where “peace” connotes stillness but “chaos” signifies an uncontrollable environment. The term “force” was used to depict the police’s approach when trying to contain the protesters. “Force” connotes an abuse of power and harm being inflicted onto others, which may imply that the police used unnecessary measures to control the activists. Additionally, a police statement was quoted in the article, where they justified using “crowd management vehicles” to disperse “unauthorised assembly”. Both phrases were written with quotation marks which connotes disagreement from The Guardian’s behalf and suggests a belief that much harsher measures were administered by the police than they admit, and that the protesters had every right to gather in public. Furthermore, “Lashed out” was used to describe China’s response to the UK offering their support to Hong Kong citizens. This term alludes to aggressive behaviour which suggests China was being unreasonable and barbaric in their reaction.
The Guardian reported members of the public experiencing feelings of “suffering” and being “scared” when coming into contact with police officers. “Suffering” connotes the result of torturous behaviour, and “scared” alludes to fear tactics being used. This paints the picture that the police are predatorial, and consequently the citizens are their prey. When asked what would happen if the protests fail, the article showed protesters saying they would not likely have a “second chance” and they would become “repressed” by the Chinese communist party. “Second chance” suggests activists believe the protests must happen now, as there will not be an opportunity for Hong Kong citizens to redeem themselves in the future. While the term “repressed” connotes being controlled and silenced, which further implies how Hong Kong people feel they are being backed into a corner. Furthermore, the article quotes citizens claiming they would not “surrender” to China. The term “surrender” suggests being threatened by a higher authority, thus by depicting Hong Kong people as powerful and brave for standing up against China, a stark contrast from the way SCMP condemned the protesters in Article C is revealed.
Meanwhile, The Guardian used the word “skirmishes” to refer to the groups of demonstrators that formed across Hong Kong even after the police’s dispersal. This word has a negative connotation and is used to describe unpremeditated fighting between military soldiers. The term connotes a harsh scenario where people are exhibiting war-like violence. Furthermore, a semantic field created by the words “clashes”, “ugly” and “brawls” was used to describe altercations between “anti-government” groups and those who were “pro-Beijing”. “Clashes” and “brawls” connotes rough and uncontrollable behaviour, while “ugly” describes something that is unattractive. The Guardian attributed words with negative implications and connotations of violence to both “anti-government” and “pro-Beijing” groups, which allows them to avoid taking explicit sides and attempts to balance out their direct criticism of the police in their previous articles.
Similarly, to balance their critique of the protesters’ actions in previous articles, SCMP also portrayed themselves as a parental figure in trying to protect the youth from damaging their own futures. On 28 September 2019, SCMP released an article titled “Hong Kong police caution against rise in arrests of students over anti-government protests” (SCMP, 28 September 2019, Article E). The term “caution” connotes being careful and giving a warning, hence this term suggests SCMP disagrees with the youths’ involvement in the protests. The sell includes a quotation from the Chief Superintendent where he said it is “worrying to see youths breaking the law and risking themselves to face criminal convictions at a young age”. When the term “worrying” is coupled with “youths”, it alludes to SCMP’s parental concern as if caring for a child, while the phrase “breaking the law” recognises that the youth are not fully in the right. Thus, by including this sentence, it suggests SCMP believes protesters can be blamed for putting themselves in danger, but it is the publication’s responsibility to prevent that from happening again in the future. An even more explicit approach was used in the sentence, “urge the youngsters not to join potentially dangerous protests.” This statement directly discourages the act of partaking in the demonstrations, while using the word “youngsters”, which carries a casual and friendly tone, and further depicts the newspaper as a caring figure.
The term “alarming trend” was used to describe the nature of the protests. “Alarming” further connotes the element of concern from the SCMP’s behalf, while “trend” reduces the protester’s behaviour to being part of a craze or being performative. Furthermore, the newspaper proposed that protesters were committing crimes under “peer pressure” and were being “manipulated”. This makes it seem that SCMP views the activists as childish and naive, which is comparable to the mindset of young children. This feeds into the idea that because the protesters are mostly young, they are easily influenced, which subtly lowers the validity of the demonstrators’ actions. Moreover, the article stated that the Chief Executive of Hong Kong should address the protesters’ demands in order to “assuage people’s anger”. “Assuage” denotes making something less intense, which may further imply that SCMP believes the protesters need to be stopped.
The article continues to report that students should be “educated to respect the national flag”. “Respect” connotes a sense of importance and hierarchy, and in this quotation, SCMP implies the respect should be attributed to China. By writing this sentence, it suggests the recognition that China is the rightful motherland of Hong Kong, which contradicts the freedom and democracy the protests have been aiming to achieve. Ultimately, a trend has begun to form where SCMP tends to focus their articles on the people of Hong Kong, and is more open to giving China the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand, The Guardian’s pattern of uplifting protesters and denouncing the police continues when looking at an article also published on 28 September 2019. The article’s headline said, “‘Hong Kong can’t go back to normal’: protesters keep Umbrella spirit alive” (The Guardian, 28 September 2019, Article F). The phrase “can’t go back to normal” suggests the post-protest state of Hong Kong has become irreversible and people should embrace the new reality. The capitalization of the word “Umbrella” uses a symbol from the 2014 Hong Kong democracy protests and turns it into a noun. In 2014, umbrellas were used by citizens to shield themselves from the teargas and pepper spray of the police, thus it became a symbol of resistance for the protests in 2019. This nuanced reference exhibits The Guardian has taken the time and care to report the protests in a historically accurate way, and that they value the political history of Hong Kong. The words “spirit alive” connotes protesters who have yet to be defeated, as if in a situation of life or death. Thus suggesting the publication feels a sense of comradery with the demonstrators and respects the cause they are fighting for.
The article also described the protesters “preparing for clashes” in regards to the police. The word “preparing” connotes the act of bracing one’s self, while “clashes” implies an attack. Hence, the sentence indirectly reveals the violence of the police. The Guardian stated the police force as a whole had “lost considerable public trust”. By using the word “public” to refer to citizens as a whole, it suggests the policemen have done something objectively wrong that can’t be revoked by anyone living in Hong Kong. Examples of unwarranted actions from the police that were mentioned include “firing thousands of rounds of teargas and pepper spray on protesters”. By using such a large unspecified number such as “thousands”, the degree of violence that came from the police becomes amplified and connotes the gesture of being trigger-happy, or exhibiting careless and reckless behaviour.
When addressing the possible reality of surrendering to China, the implication of an authoritarian power dynamic was highlighted through a semantic field. The words “stifled”, “jailed” and the phrase “taking over” were used to describe the state Hong Kong would be in if they accepted the ruling of the motherland. “Stifled” connotes the feeling of being suffocated, and “jailed” similarly alludes to lack of freedom. “Taking over” implies an invasion and a dictatorship, which paints China as a ruler who would have the final say.
The phrase “fuck Communists” was reported later in the article as a direct quotation from the protesters. The lack of censorship for such a vulgar term could mean that The Guardian does not feel the need to hide these extreme sentiments against China, and may suggest they partially agree. The newspaper’s anti-government attitude is further exemplified when they reported the Hong Kong police allegedly being “mainland spies”. Despite this phrase being written in quotation marks to signal that it is not to be taken seriously, it paints mainland Chinese people in a harmful way. “Spies” connotes actions being done covertly, which suggests they are up to no good. Spies are also often dangerous, suspicious, and manipulative people. Quotation marks were used to describe one of the political demonstrations as a “police-sanctioned rally”. By placing “police-sanctioned” in front of “rally”, it highlights the intrusions of the police on the freedom of expression of Hong Kong citizens, and suggests the police are making life more difficult by placing restrictions unnecessarily. Additionally, quotation marks were also used when reporting that “violent protesters” were “posing a serious threat to the safety of everyone at the scene”. This stylistic choice alludes to The Guardian disagreeing with these sentiments and using the quotation marks to suggest this is just an exaggeration.
Imagery
However, in addition to lexical choice, visual Imagery can also sway an audience and reveal certain biases. As stated by Messaris and Abraham, the framing, contents, and placement of images within articles can reveal subtle messages or explicitly convey an idea to readers. In The Guardian’s article “Hong Kong protests: man shot by police and burns victim in critical condition” (The Guardian, 11 November 2019, Article G), a video was placed at the very top. Using videos allows the newspaper to take advantage of being an online platform by including more content than a physical newspaper as well as keeping viewers engaged with dynamic pictures. The video compiled various clips of policemen attempting to contain protesters, specifically using violent tactics. The thumbnail of the video depicted policemen standing guard around a cordoned off area with a lot of debris on the ground. For this reason, readers can already tell the focus of the article will be on the policemen without even starting the video.
At 0:07 minutes, the video portrays a police officer detaining a citizen in one arm and raising their gun at another citizen with their other arm. The gun implies the policeman was being faced with a threat, but the citizen being aimed at did not have anything in their hands and appeared to be simply walking. This paints the police as the clear antagonist while the citizen is the victim. The frame also included a member of the press on the right side of the screen, attempting to capture the moment with his camera. By including this man in the frame, it shows that The Guardian believes this incident is newsworthy.
At 0:19, the screen captured police scattered everywhere which conveys chaos and implies a lot of illegal activity occurring at once. The ambulance at the centre suggests a sense of emergency and the presence of heavily injured people. The foreground also pictured broken public property which further reveals the violent nature of the protests. The irony of this moment is that despite the police being scattered everywhere, there was only one citizen being restrained on the left side of the screen who was calmly sitting on the ground with his hands placed in front of him. The contrast between the behaviour of the police and the quantity of them in the frame, versus the single protester, suggests that The Guardian wanted to portray the officers acting unnecessarily.
At 0:47, a caption appeared which said, “The two incidents came as thousands of demonstrators had been taking to the streets”. Although the caption referred to the protesters, the imagery showed a large barricade of police officers heading towards a large group of citizens. By placing the camera behind the police, it amplifies the intimidating nature of the officers, making them bigger in the foreground. Facing the policemen, the protesters were pictured standing in a line while using umbrellas to barricade themselves. By depicting them hiding and protecting themselves, it suggests there had been previous instances where the officers had exhibited violent behaviour and the citizens were afraid of that becoming a pattern. The police were also fully covered in professional gear, such as helmets and bulletproof vests, whereas the protesters were in casual clothing. This portrays the police in an aggressive manner and suggests a power imbalance between the citizens and the officers.
After the video, there was a photograph which portrayed protesters using home made catapults to launch objects at the police. The make-shift catapults suggests a desperation for retaliation and can imply that the extent of the protester’s anger reached a breaking point, thus they were willing to take time to build their own weapons. The demonstrators were captured wearing gas masks as they fought, which can insinuate they were anticipating another possible tear gas attack from the police and may imply repetitive abuse from the police force. In the background of the photo, a Swarovski storefront, a high end jewellery brand, could be seen. This juxtaposes the war-like imagery in the foreground and creates a shock factor as it suggests that Hong Kong was once a modern and developed city, but it has now become a battleground.
The last image in this article displayed one man lying on the ground as he was surrounded by officers trying to restrain him. The man’s explicit pain and discomfort was portrayed by his scrunched up facial expression and red skin. The police wore helmets which kept their faces hidden, making them anonymous to readers and can convey their intent to not be held accountable for their actions. Furthermore, because only the victim’s face could be seen in the photo, it may draw out a sympathetic response from readers. In the foreground, two police officers were facing towards the camera, with their backs turned to the man on the ground. By facing away from the man, it can imply an establishment of authority or that they did not have any concern for what the victim was experiencing.
Contrarily, when SCMP published an article covering the same story of a man suffering a police gunshot, their chosen imagery was focused on the protesters’ actions instead. The article headlined “Policeman who shot protester ‘did not deviate from guidelines’” (SCMP, 13 November 2019, Article H) used the same picture of a police officer with his gun raised towards a protester as their first image. This image, depicting a life or death situation, may have been chosen as the first picture to shock the audience and convince them to keep reading on.
Below the image, there was a video filled with clips of how protesters were causing public disruptions. At 0:11 minutes, the screen showed officers piled on top of the man who was shot by the policeman pictured in the first image of the article. The imagery of the policemen on top of the man suggests their desperation to make sure he was okay despite his serious wound, and may imply they felt immediate remorse after the extreme incident. A member of the press stood on the right side of the policemen with his camera pointed at them, which suggests the newsworthiness of the incident. In the foreground, boxes and mounds of debris were scattered across the ground, alluding to an intense fight.
Protesters could be seen vandalising a public bus and a public road sign at 0:15. The bus driver was still inside which suggests his job was being disturbed, thus painting the protesters as inconsiderate people. At 1:31, seven masked protesters were portrayed destroying the inside of a cafe. Within the frame, none of the shop’s staff could be seen, which suggests the protesters had broken into the store after it was closed or while it was empty. Additionally, at 1:37, students at a university were shown throwing items, such as chairs and tables, down a large staircase to block anyone from coming up. However, no one could be seen coming up the steps nor were there any threats captured on camera, hence making the students’ behaviour seem excessive.
At 1:46, a masked protester was captured on a bridge using a water hose to spray those on the highway below. By placing the camera behind the protester, it puts them in the foreground and makes them seem bigger. This camera angle causes them to become backlit which makes them look more ominous. The highway below was completely filled with cars and many people were scattered between each vehicle. The heavy traffic shows how many people were being affected by the protester’s actions, while the people running in between the cars creates a sense of chaos.
The 1:42 timestamp depicted protesters on another bridge throwing a large garbage bin down onto the highway, further exemplifying dangerous and uncivilised behaviour. Residential buildings were captured in the background which tells the reader that this is not happening in a remote area and suggests many people could have been affected by these demonstrations. At the bottom right corner of the screen, the street signs below the bridge appeared very tiny which puts the height of the bridge into perspective. This provides context as to how dangerous it would be to throw something off the bridge from that height. Furthermore, At 2:15, a big group of protesters were trying to pull down a tree to block the highway. The protesters were all dressed in black which connotes a team, thus by depicting them pulling down the tree together, it suggests herd mentality.
The portrayal of extreme patriotism displayed by protesters continued in an article published on the 14th November by SCMP. The headline, which read “Hong Kong protests: city crippled for third day as radicals torch tunnel tollbooths, take over roads in 10 districts and vandalise train stations'' (SCMP, 14 November 2019, Article I), immediately lists many criminal activities that were acted upon by protesters. The elongated and overly detailed headline makes it feel as though the list of actions are never ending.
The first picture in this article depicted a group of protesters from a low camera angle. This effect makes readers feel small and connotes that protesters may believe they have an upper hand in these protests. A waving flag was pictured behind the protesters with the phrase “The HK Revolution'' printed on it. This displays their patriotism and pride for being a part of Hong Kong, and makes it seem as though they are reclaiming their land. One of the protesters was holding a pair of binoculars which implies they could be anticipating danger. A makeshift barricade made out of umbrellas and metal sheets surrounded the protesters, which shows there were limited materials available and suggests that this level of violent protesting is unusual for the city.
In another image, the riot police were pictured in a troop, which suggests the protests were about to escalate. However, unlike the way the police are portrayed in The Guardian, the officers in this image were not exhibiting any hostile behaviour and were simply crossing the road, seemingly harmless. By portraying the police as tame and unprovoked, it undermines the first image’s intense portrayal of the protesters actively looking out for danger.
An image of an abandoned subway was pictured next, where the floor was covered in shattered glass and debris. A tree trunk and a beer carton was left behind on the ground of the train, which suggests the damage to the train was intentional as foreign objects had been brought in from the outside. The caption of the photograph revealed this subway was parked at “University station”, which may hint that the damage was inflicted by students. More public disruptions were pictured in the next photograph where a make-shift barricade had been put up to block a full highway of traffic. A wide variety of vehicles were shown being stalled on the road, which demonstrates the scope of people that were being affected and amplifies the consequences of the protesters’ actions. One protester was pictured walking adjacent to the barricade but making no effort to clear it up, thus further painting the protesters as inconsiderate.
Conclusion
In summary, despite using similar techniques and stylistic choices, different angles were used to frame the protests between The Guardian and SCMP. Both publications were able to apply Serafini and Clausen’s theory of using weight, colour, size, framing and formality to place emphasis on certain parts of the story, or to convey a certain message. It is arguable The Guardian and SCMP were able to increase the readability of their articles and prove the newsworthiness of the protests by using typography to make their content more eye-catching and organised.
Through analysing word choice in The Guardian, the possibility of a Western political bias became evident. The lexical choices mainly denounced the police’s behaviour, and glorified the actions of the protesters. The negative connotations of certain vocabularies and the inclusion of specific details, such as the types make-shift weapons built by protesters, were able to convey fear and desperation amongst the citizens. While The Guardian portrayed the protesters glorifying the West’s freedom by singing a British song and waving Britain’s flag, the newspaper consistently used a disapproving tone when referring to China. Additionally, the imagery used by The Guardian only portrayed the police when they were exhibiting aggressive behaviour, which further suggested their preference of the West.
On the other hand, SCMP’s lexical choices denounced the idea of turning to the West for help and used an optimistic tone when regarding China instead. Their sentiments towards the police remained relatively positive through using respectful language and a non-critical tone. They condemned the protesters’ behaviour by using negative vocabulary such as “damaging” and “problems” to highlight the consequences of their actions on Hong Kong as a whole. Moreover, the imagery chosen for each article mainly depicted the protesters breaking the law while the police were exhibiting non-threatening behaviour.
Ultimately, it can be interpreted that The Guardian and SCMP each took a side when representing the protests, despite their efforts to include all involved parties in their articles. As a result of their lexical choices and imagery, both publications struggled to stay impartial.
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