Observing sourcing patterns and source distribution during a transitional era: a comparative study on political contents of the South China morning post before and after the Changeover

Abstract

This research provides a comparative content analysis of the sourcing patterns in a Hong Kong liberal newspaper's political coverage before and after the 1997 change from British to Chinese sovereignty. The contents to be studied are the coverage of two political media events focusing on local political democratization. The research first examines the dominance of official sources, providing the sourcing pattern of the South China Morning Post before and after the changeover to identify changes that can reasonably be associated with the shift in sovereignty. These changes will provide insights into the following questions: firstly, has the "official source dominance" as a main sourcing pattern been changed for a newspaper in the transitional era? It is expected that the South China Morning Post will alter their source strategies subtly by using more non-official sources to provide the same public information service under the new political and economic realities that exist under Chinese sovereignty. Secondly, the research will then go on to check the diversity and balances of sources in terms of their opinions (pro, con and neutral). The work is expected to provide some insight into the indexing theories. That is, has the transformation of the Post widened the sources range indexed by the official internal consensus? The content analysis finds that the neutral sources have been sacrificed for more space to the pro and con sources, while the balance is delicately maintained. In conclusion, the indexing range has undergone some deviations from its expected results.