Contesting Discourses: Framing, Power, and Counter-Hegemony in Hong Kong’s 2019 Anti-ELAB Movement

This thesis examines how selected mainstream and alternative media outlets in Hong Kong represented the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement, which was initially triggered by widespread opposition to a controversial bill allowing extraditions to mainland China. The movement quickly evolved into the largest-scale social mobilisation in Hong Kong’s post handover history. This thesis addresses three key research questions: (1) How did mainstream and alternative media outlets frame the 2019 Anti-ELAB Movement? (2) What were the differences and similarities in media framing of the movement across these outlets? (3) What factors contributed to the divergent and convergent patterns in media portrayals? The thesis is situated within the wider socio-political context of Hong Kong, characterised by increasing tensions surrounding press freedom and autonomy under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework, tensions further exacerbated by restrictive legislation such as the National Security Law. Theoretically grounded in media framing theory, the protest paradigm, and the concepts of hegemony and counter-hegemony, this thesis provides a comprehensive examination of ideological contestation within Hong Kong’s hybrid political environment. Methodologically, the thesis combined quantitative content analysis to systematically identify patterns in news coverage with discourse-based qualitative framing analysis to explore the deeper ideological implications. The four media outlets selected for the analysis were the state-owned Ta Kung Pao, the centrist-oriented Ming Pao, and the independent, pro-democracy alternative platforms Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) and InMedia HK. The findings reveal stark contrasts in framing strategies. Ta Kung Pao consistently represented protesters negatively, highlighting themes of violence and disruption to construct the movement as a “colour revolution”. By contrast, Ming Pao presented more balanced coverage, including both societal impacts and protester hardships. Conversely, HKFP and InMedia HK offered sympathetic portrayals, framing protesters as advocates for democracy and illustrating civic resilience against state repression. The analysis further reveals the significant role that political affiliations, media ownership, and legal constraints appear to play in shaping media content and framing choices. This research contributes to media and communication studies by elucidating how ideological contestation unfolds through media framing practices under conditions of political constraint, and advances theoretical discussions on media hegemony and counter-hegemony by affirming the significant role of alternative media in challenging dominant discourse and amplifying dissenting voices.