The Dalai Lama's Response
In response to the many self-immolations over the past few years, the Dalai Lama recently made a statement calling for outside inquiry into the events. A number of different news sources covered this statement, creating a series of perspectives that had subtle, but varied, opinions on his words. The most intriguing part of this coverage is that the sources’ countries of origin seem to be the greatest influence on how they portrayed to event. Here, we have chosen to look at two classic news sources (New York Times and Huffington Post), an American pop culture source (Examiner), and a Chinese-based web news server (China Digital Times). Each has a unique coverage that shows how much the basis and background of the news source can influence the image they create of the content.
The central source on this article was, not surprisingly, the New York Times. Generally considered a reliable news source, they seemed to have the most detailed information. This was so much the case that the Central Tibetan Administration simply linked to the Times article in response to this event, rather than writing a separate one. This is not to say the article is without bias, though. It opens by referring to the Dalai Lama as a “spiritual leader in exile”, and later goes on to describe him as “soft-spoken” and his statement as “ambiguous compared with his previous criticisms.” These descriptions of him, though seemingly innocent, reinforce the western conception of a gentle man who is persecuted by a relentless Chinese government. The article also made a focus on the fact that the Dalai Lama made this statement in Norway, where government leaders decided not to meet with him because of their allegiance to China. Playing it off as a shock, and one that needed to be “justified”, they spent much of the article examining the Norwegian parliamentary response. Earlier in the article they also mentioned China, remarking on their accusing the Dalai Lama that he incentivized the self-immolations. These condemnations of the integrity of the Chinese people and their allies are further reinforcement to readers that the self-immolations are a tragic cry for help from the innocent and terrorized Tibetan people.
The Huffington Post took an entirely different look at the situation. Although they covered the same news, they did not even mention the Norwegian relations with China. The article is titled, “Dalai Lama: Tibetan Self-Immolations Have Little Effect, But Are Understandable” making us feel from the very beginning that there is sympathy to be had for the people who have self-immolated, though the Dalai Lama himself commented that our sympathy should extend mostly to those who did it out of compassion, not out of anger. The article is much of the same, detailing and recounting the words of the Dalai Lama, and then it goes on to judge the Chinese, describing their response as tightening “already strict controls”. The article shows a number of slight biases that paint China, again, as a tyrannical ruler of an innocent and increasingly angry Tibet.
Another source, the Examiner, has a sense of urgency not found in the other sources that we looked into. Though it is titled “Dalai Lama wants an outside inquiry into Tibetan self-immolations”, which doesn’t sound very pressing, the article begins by saying there “has been no let-up” to the immolations. The urgency of the author’s words may make readers feel more pressed on the issue and can also make them feel sympathetic towards the situation at hand. This article was reliant on other sources, citing the Central Tibetan Administration, who had simply cited the New York Times. It places focus solely on the Dalai Lama and his take on the self-immolations, which are a very sensitive issue. This article does less in the way of fighting against China, though it does continually reinforce the wise and calm demeanor of the Dalai Lama. There is not much depth to it though, which may be expected from a source that often reports on celebrity gossip. If nothing else, their coverage of this issue in the first place is further sensationalizing the Dalai Lama and increasing his celebrity status.
The last article is from a very different source, the China Digital Times. The article is titled similarly to the Times, but is much more curt and to-the-point. It refers to the situation in Tibet as “Beijing’s policies in the region,” making it seem much less menacing than in other articles. It also states that the Dalai Lama hasn’t taking a strong stance on the immolations. It goes on then to quote a bulk of the Times, showing that this source is seen as reliable universally. The article then closes in a single sentence, regarding the Norwegian decline of meeting the Dalai Lama. This ending may make the audience believe that this is the most important part of the situation, and certainly to the Chinese people, it may be.
This event was covered in a number of ways, often times focusing less on the words of the Dalai Lama, and more on the Chinese-Tibetan (and even Norwegian) relations. Most consistently, there was condemnation of China, sensationalizing of the Dalai Lama and Tibet, and confusion at Norwegian response. If nothing else, this series of articles shows that much of the world feels strongly against China, and the geographical source of the news definitely influences the stance (or lack of stance) that they take in this relationship.