Celebrity Suicides in China: How Social Media Shapes News Framing

The proliferation of social media platforms has profoundly reshaped news reporting, particularly concerning sensitive events like suicide. This study investigates how Chinese news media framed the suicides of two high-profile female celebrities, Sulli and Coco Lee, on the influential social media platform Weibo. It examines the dominant reporting frames and explores how Weibo’s unique interactive environment influenced the framing process. Computational thematic analysis was employed to investigate dominant themes from Weibo posts published by verified news media accounts, and three primary frames were identified: mental health, gossip, and nationalism. While the mental health frame marked a shift from traditional Chinese reporting, it often remained superficial and was intertwined with sensational elements. The gossip frame, which centres on personal scandals and conflicts, aligns with the problematic sensationalism often observed in suicide reporting. The nationalism frame positioned the suicides within contexts of cultural comparison and national pride. Findings indicate that social media affordance significantly shaped these frames, resulting in more sensational and dynamically evolving narratives. This has shifted traditional gatekeeping and agenda-setting power, and potentially diminishes the quality and responsibility of reporting. This research highlights the complex interplay between journalistic norms, platform dynamics, and audience interaction in the digital news era, underscoring the need for updated approaches to responsible reporting on social media.