TY - JOUR
T1 - INTERNATIONAL TV NEWS, FOREIGN AFFAIRS INTEREST AND PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE
T2 - A comparative study of foreign news coverage and public opinion in 11 countries
AU - Aalberg, Toril
AU - Papathanassopoulos, Stylianos
AU - Soroka, Stuart
AU - Curran, James
AU - Hayashi, Kaori
AU - Iyengar, Shanto
AU - Jones, Paul K.
AU - Mazzoleni, Gianpietro
AU - Rojas, Hernando
AU - Rowe, David
AU - Tiffen, Rodney
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - This article investigates the volume of foreign news provided by public service and commercial TV channels in countries with different media systems, and how this corresponds to the public's interest in and knowledge of foreign affairs. We use content analyses of television newscasts and public opinion surveys in 11 countries across five continents to provide new insight into the supply and demand for international television news. We find that (1) more market-oriented media systems and broadcasters are less devoted to international news, and (2) the international news offered by these commercial broadcasters more often focuses on soft rather than hard news. Furthermore, our results suggest that the foreign news offered by the main TV channels is quite limited in scope, and mainly driven by a combination of national interest and geographic proximity. In sum, our study demonstrates some limitations of foreign news coverage, but results also point to its importance: there is a positive relationship between the amount of hard international news coverage and citizens' level of foreign affairs knowledge.
AB - This article investigates the volume of foreign news provided by public service and commercial TV channels in countries with different media systems, and how this corresponds to the public's interest in and knowledge of foreign affairs. We use content analyses of television newscasts and public opinion surveys in 11 countries across five continents to provide new insight into the supply and demand for international television news. We find that (1) more market-oriented media systems and broadcasters are less devoted to international news, and (2) the international news offered by these commercial broadcasters more often focuses on soft rather than hard news. Furthermore, our results suggest that the foreign news offered by the main TV channels is quite limited in scope, and mainly driven by a combination of national interest and geographic proximity. In sum, our study demonstrates some limitations of foreign news coverage, but results also point to its importance: there is a positive relationship between the amount of hard international news coverage and citizens' level of foreign affairs knowledge.
KW - commercial television
KW - foreign affairs
KW - information environment
KW - international news
KW - media systems
KW - news interest
KW - public broadcasting
KW - public knowledge
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877876848&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1461670X.2013.765636
DO - 10.1080/1461670X.2013.765636
M3 - Article
SN - 1461-670X
VL - 14
SP - 387
EP - 406
JO - Journalism Studies
JF - Journalism Studies
IS - 3
ER -