Benefit-Seeking or Risk-Taking? Examining the Portrayal of Cosmetic Surgery in Chinese News, 2000–2019

Shaojing Sun, Jinbo He, Xiaohui Yang and Fan Wang
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Shaojing Sun: School of Journalism, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Jinbo He: School of Humanities and Social Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518172, China
Xiaohui Yang: School of Journalism, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Fan Wang: Department of Politics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 18, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Analyzing 311 news articles published in representative Chinese newspapers, this study investigated how cosmetic surgery (CS) was represented in Chinese media from 2000 to 2019. Employing a coding scheme based on prior literature and sampled data, the study analyzed both features of the articles and profiles of the patients in the media. Results showed significant differences in media reporting across issue categories, reporting frames (benefit-focused, risk-focused, neutral), sources of information, drivers for and impacts of having surgeries. Among all the reasons for obtaining CS, boosting career confidence was ranked at the top. Additionally, significant differences in reporting were observed across types of the newspapers, gender of the patients, and time periods of the coverage. Implications of the findings for health promotion and regulation were discussed in reference to the social, cultural, and media context in China.

Keywords: cosmetic surgery; Chinese media; framing; health risk; content analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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