中文摘要：灾难从一开始就与人类社会的发展如影随形，无论自然灾难或是人为灾难都会给人类带来巨大的影响、损失和伤痛。地震、海啸、暴风雪、洪灾等比起一般的自然灾害更具有突发性，不可预测性和毁灭性。因此关注灾难，避免灾难发生成为了人类的本性。这种本性驱使媒体将焦点放在灾难性新闻的报道中，对灾难进行有效、真实、全方位、大规模的报道。然而，对于同一类型灾难的报道，中美两国主流媒体的报道呈现不同的图景。本文以中国党报《人民日报》对台风 “桑美” 的报道和美国主流媒体《纽约时报》对 “卡特里娜飓风” 的报道为对比样本，研究两者的差异，并进行深层次文化因素的分析。研究表明，中美文化及价值观的不同导致两国在灾难性新闻报道中的差异。同时，本文试图在解读差异的同时为我国媒体取长补短，提高对外报道能力。

关键词：灾难报道；中美媒体；文化差异 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

中文摘要

ABSTRACT

Chapter One Introduction-1

Chapter Two Disaster News Reports (DNRs) and Culture-3

2.1 News and Disaster News Reports-3

2.1.1 Definition of News-3

2.1.2 Definition of Disaster-4

2.1.3 Definition of DNRs-4

2.1.4 Functions of DNRs-5

2.2 Culture-5

2.2.1 Definition of Culture-5

2.2.2 Characteristics of Chinese Culture-6

2.2.3 Characteristics of American Culture-7

Chapter Three Differences Between Chinese and American DNRs-8

3.1 Differences in Subjects-9

3.1.1 Chinese Media’s Subjects of the DNRs-9

3.1.2 American Media’s Subjects of the DNRs-10

3.2 Differences in Journalism Values-11

3.2.1 Journalism Values of the Chinese Media-11

3.2.2 Journalism Values of the American Media-12

3.3 Differences in Purpose and Functions-13

3.3.1 Purpose and Functions of the Chinese DNRs-13

3.3.2 Purpose and Functions of the American DNRs-13

Chapter Four Chinese and American Cultural Differences Reflected in the DNRs-15

4.1 Cultural Reasons for the Differences Reflected in the DNRs-15

4.1.1 High Context and Low Context-15

4.1.2 Collectivism and Individualism-16

4.1.3 Low Uncertainty Avoidance and High Uncertainty Avoidance-17

4.2 Enlightenments Gained to Improve Chinese International News Reporting-18

4.2.1 People-oriented Angle and Theme-18

4.2.2 Diversity of the News Reports-18

4.2.3 More Objective Perspectives-19

Chapter Five Conclusion-20

REFERENCES-22

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS-23