Media

1
Media International Affairs

• Americans are highly ethno-centric
• Rarely seek out foreign policy or international
  news
• 10,000 deaths in Nepal equals 100 deaths in
  Wales equals 10 deaths in West Virginia equals
  one death next door.

2

• Graber- two-thirds of public mostly unaware of
  important international news and issues.
• International coverage limited mostly to elite
  newspapers, some cable news channels, and weekly
  news magazines. New York Times, Washington Post,
  LA Times, Wall St. Journal, Time, Newsweek, CNN
• Local media (print and TV) find little use for
  international coverage.

3

• Most foreign news is collected by 3 major wire
  services, AP (American), Reuters (British), and
  AFP (French)
• Higher threshold.
• For foreign/international news to be covered in
  the US, it has to have a higher standard of news
  value then comparable domestic/political news.

4

• Higher costs.
• Can cost over 300,000 a year to keep one
  correspondent abroad.
• Often rely on stringers instead of regular
  correspondents.
• Hopscotch Journalism
• Patchwork of coverage spread out over the globe.
  Limits ability to monitor and report world
  events. Supplemented by foreign news agencies.

5

• The International Beat
• State Dept., Pentagon, White House,
• Cong. Leaders, policy think tanks
• More coverage from areas with ties to US,
  diplomatic, economic, historical
• Western Europe, Russia, Japan, Israel, Egypt,
  China, etc.
• Audience appeal
• 1. American activities in foreign countries

6

• 2. Events that affect Americans directly
• 3. Events in totalitarian, former communist
  countries and dictatorships
• 4. Foreign elections/royalty
• 5. Dramatic political conflicts, wars, violent
  protests

7

• Cable and satellite explosion
• CNN, FOX, MSNBC, BBC, Al-Jazeera, etc.
• The CNN Effect
• Policymakers respond to media coverage?
  Political/military decisions?
• Faster news cycle, 24-hour news, global coverage

8

• Media/Government/Military relations
• Pentagon Papers Case
• Vietnam A Defining Experience
• Tet
• The Gulf War Press Pools
• Bosnia/Kosovo/Somalia
• Iraq Embedded Journalists
• Christiane Amanpour
• Peter Arnett