Analysis of Media-Shaped Role Models from the Perspective of Transitivity: A Case Study of Rongzhi Lao Criminal Cases

Abstract

News reporting is the carrier of ideology and culture. Although the media claims to be impartial, objective and neutral, they necessarily reflect a certain stance. The media usually constructs characters directly or indirectly in news reports so as to change the audience’s perception of the events. Taking the news headlines related to Rongzhi Lao from thepaper as the data, this paper analyzed the role models of Rongzhi Lao shaped by the media from the perspective of transitivity by using the UAM corpus tool and Python. The result shows that (1) in the news headlines related to Rongzhi Lao from thepaper as the data, the material process accounts for the largest proportion, followed by the relational process, mental process, verbal process, and existential process; (2) through the five processes, Rongzhi Lao is constructed as a guilty person who is good at evading his responsibilities and disguising but does not regret committing felonies on his initiative. This paper gives us insight to clarify the purpose of media news reporting by understanding how the media constructs characters.