Foreign images: A content analysis of international coverage in American television network news

Abstract

How does television news present the world to American viewers? This study employs a content analysis of selected international news stories reported by the four major American networks between October and December 1995 to answer this question. International news has been the target of much critique, which this study puts to an empirical test. Specifically, claims about unfairly negative coverage of the Third World were supported, but not in the entirety in which they are often voiced. Coverage of international events is primarily crisis-oriented and secondarily politics-oriented and focuses on events with American involvement. The prevalence of episodic international coverage and the corresponding lack of stories conveying substantive information makes television a less than ideal source to learn about the "big picture" in global events. Methodologically, this study uses new, more precise measuring techniques, including the often omitted visual analysis of newscasts and the concept of unifying story themes.