Metaphor in Chinese ‘Entertainmentalised’ News

Abstract

The booming entertainment industry and the desire for markets in China has made entertainment a crucial element in news production and writing. This has given rise to what Chinese media researchers term as ‘entertainmentalisation of news’.¹ Even political news and current affairs, which represents the most serious news genre in China and is under the tight control of the Communist Party, is no exception (Luo 2005; Yan 2005): political clichés are removed or replaced with novel expression; the rigid writing style has become more flexible; and the page layouts are more vividly designed. Sports news, which lies in close proximity to entertainment news, is also inclined to be written in a highly dramatised and sensationalised style in order to maximise the entertaining experience for the readers (Luc 2003; Zhang, M. Z. 2005). Therefore, it is interesting to compare the use of metaphors between entertainmentalised news and entertainment news.