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1成见根深蒂固浅谈美国媒体对中国的“刻板印象”一年前，发生在美国弗吉尼亚校园的枪击案牵动了无数中国人的心，不仅因为那是一桩血腥命案，还因为案发不久，美国《芝加哥太阳报》称“凶手可能来自中国”。当天夜里，许多华人无法安睡。很快，凶手身份水落石出，经查明为韩裔学生。一位华人回国后告诉我，那种失实报道、尤其是对中国人的那种成见报道实在太可恨了，让他打心底感到窝囊和愤懑。Ayearago,intheUnitedStates,VirginiacampusshootingstouchedtheheartsofmanyChinesepeople,notonlybecauseitisabloodymurder,butalsobecausetheincidentsoon,theUnitedStates,ChicagoSun-TimescalledkillermaycomefromChina.Thatnight,manyChinesecouldnotsleep.Soon,asthekillergettothebottom,identifiedasaKoreanstudent.AChinesehomeandtoldmethatthekindoffalsereports,especiallyreportsofChinesepeoplethatissohatefulstereotypes,andmakehimfeeluselessandfrustrationatheart.如果说那仅仅是一家小报犯的低级错误尚可原谅，那么近些年美国等西方国家媒体在报道中国时不断出现的偏颇甚至是歪曲事实的现象，尤其是最近西方主流媒体在3·14西藏问题上的态度和在北京奥运火炬在旧金山传递时美国有线电视新闻网主持人攻击中国的言论，中国人对西方媒体的傲慢无理就无论如何也不能忍耐了。Ifitwasonlylow-levelerrorscommittedbyatabloidcanstillforgive,thentheUnitedStatesandotherWesterncountriesinrecentmediacoverageofChinaevenwhenthebiasisemergingphenomenonofdistortionofthefacts,especiallytherecentWesternmainstreammediainTibetinthe3•14AttitudeontheissueoftheBeijingOlympictorchpassinSanFranciscowhentheCNNhost'sremarksattackingChina,theChinesepeopletoWesternmedia'sarrogancecannotbeenduredinanycase.自诩为“客观、公正、平衡”的美国主流媒体，为什么在涉华报道中一再出现大量虚假的、倾向性极强的、失衡的报道？传播学者李普曼1922年在《舆论学》中曾提出“刻板印象”的概念。他指出，“刻板印象”即成见，是人们对特定事物所持有的固定化、简单化的观念和印象，很大程度上左右着人们对该事物的价值评价和好恶感情。一方面，大众传播在形成、维护和改变一个社会的“刻板印象”方面拥有强大的影响力；另一方面，“刻板印象”也有很明显的无目的性、无意识性、不可控性和有效性，从而决定了它对传播效果的影响是强力和深层次的。Self-proclaimedobjective,fairandbalancedmainstreammediaintheUnitedStates,whyChina-relatedreportsinalargenumberofrepeatedfalseandtendentiousstrong,unbalancedcoverage?MediascholarWalterLippmannin1922inthepublicschoolhadthatstereotypeconcept.HepointedoutthatstereotypesServeseeisthatpeopleareheldtospecificthingsfixed,simplifiedideasandimpressionsabouttheextentofthingsthatpeoplevalueevaluationofthefeelingsandlikesanddislikes.Ontheonehand,themassmediaintheformation,maintenance,andchangeasocialstereotypeshasastronginfluence;otherhand,thestereotypeshavenoobviouspurpose,unconsciousness,uncontrollableandeffectivenessTodeterminetheeffectofitspropagationisapowerfulanddeep-seated.20世纪初，美国了解中国的渠道十分有限。20世纪20年代，随着美国《时代》周刊等一批极具影响力的报刊的出现，美国媒体开始从大洋彼岸正式远眺中国。不过那个时候，它们关注更多的还是波澜起伏的中国时局变迁。应该承认，美国媒体对中国的成见（即刻板印象）是根深蒂固的。Early20thcentury,theU.S.understandingofChina'schannelsisverylimited.20thcentury,20years,withtheU.S.Timemagazineandanumberofinfluentialnewspapers,theU.S.mediabegantoformallysideoftheoceanoverlookingfromChina.Butthen,theyfocusedmoreupsanddownsinChina'scurrentpoliticalsituationisstillchanging.ShouldberecognizedthatU.S.mediabiasagainstChina(immediateplateimpression)isdeeplyrooted.解放后，尤其是改革开放之后，新中国各方面迅速发展，国际地位日益上升，中外交流得到不断加强与拓展，然而，令人遗憾的是这种“刻板印象”非但没有被淡化，反而因为中国的发展、强大而变得更加复杂。美国媒体除了在所谓的中国民主、人权、西藏、台湾等政治议题上无视事实，赤裸裸地表达其政治偏见外，就连中国经济的快速发展也成了它们负面报道的素材，各种“威胁论”层出不穷。有学者统计，在2001年第一季度内，2《纽约时报》、《华盛顿邮报》以及美联社、CNN的684篇涉华报道里，负面以及带有负面倾向的报道多达530篇，占总数的78%。Aftertheliberation,especiallythereformandopeningup,therapiddevelopmentofvariousaspectsofthenewChina,therisinginternationalstatus,andforeignexchangehasbeencontinuallystrengthenedandexpanded,however,regrettablethatthisstereotypeRatherthanbeingdiluted,butbecauseChinaThedevelopmentofpowerfulandmorecomplex.U.S.mediainadditiontotheso-calledChinesedemocracy,humanrights,Tibet,Taiwanandotherpoliticalissuesignorethefacts,nakedoutsidetoexpresstheirpoliticalbias,andevenChina'srapideconomicdevelopmenthasbecomeanegativereporttheirmaterial,allkindsofthreatafteranother.Somescholarshavestatistics,inthefirstquarterof2001,theNewYorkTimes,WashingtonPostandtheAssociatedPress,CNN's684China-relatedreports,thenegativeandthenegativetendenciesofthereportwithasmanyas530,78%ofthetotal.有学者统计，全世界90%以上的信息是从以美国为主的西方国家传播出来的，70%以上由西方国家的跨国媒体传播。以美国为主的西方媒体掌控着全球“话语霸权”，因此“刻板印象”还能在其中继续发酵。必须指出的是，媒体的客观性和公正性直接决定媒体的声誉和影响力，新闻媒体的天职是对事实负责，核心是核实事实。唯如此，以美国为首的西方媒体才能够在公众面前全面再现一个真实的中国，才能够减少成见、增进交流、共同发展。（李巨川）Somescholarsstatistics,over90%oftheinformationismainlyfromWesterncountries,theUnitedStatesspreadout,morethan70%inWesterncountriesbytheinternationalmedia.Westernmedia,theUnitedStates-basedcontrolofglobalhegemonyandthereforestereotypesinwhichcancontinuetoferment.Itmustbenotedisthatthemedia'sobjectivityandimpartialityofthedecisiondirectlytothereputationandinfluenceofthemedia,thenewsmedia'sboundendutyisresponsibleforthefactthatthecoreistheverificationoffacts.CDcase,theUS-ledWesternmediatobeabletoreproduceinfullbeforethepublicatrueChina,tobeabletoreduceprejudice,enhanceexchangesandcommondevelopment.(LiJuchuan)