Content Analysis: Why Is It That Many Us Citizens Are Not Well Informed About International Events

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Media coverage of local and international events plays a critical role in reproduction, dissemination, construction, and expression of prevailing perspectives and dominant ideologies when carried out without bias.

Unbalanced treatment in the provision of local and international news by different sources of media as well as the perception of media on domestic news has drawn much concern on the level of information citizens of a country get on international news.

This paper examines the excerpts of New York Times and Los Angeles Times media coverage of local and international news to determine the reporting bias of their content on whether they are positive, negative, or neutral. Hence, this paper focuses on the front pages of the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times newspapers of 1st February 2012.

Research Question: Why is it that many US citizens are not well informed about international events?

Hypotheses

The disclosure made by media on both domestic and international news plays an important role of revealing how events or even power interplay across cultural encounters. Groeling argues that balanced media coverage that considers both positive and negative dimensions of international matters acts as a very powerful tool that influences citizens of a nation on how to develop global public opinions.

However, this has not been the case with many US newspapers due to their biased coverage of international news. In most cases, they have given more attention to domestic events and covered some sections of international news which are of less significance to the American public.

Groeling posits that less significant does not mean that it lacks value per se, but that most stories of international events are normally negative reports of either terrorism, loss of lives, or war with little on developments and inventions. From these concerns, the paper develops the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: News outlets stressing US domestic over international news coverage causes US citizens to be uninformed about international events.

Hypothesis 2: News outlets tending to report primarily negative stories about international events causes US citizens to be uninformed about international events.

Hypothesis 3: News outlets tending to focus their international coverage on Mexico, Canada, Western European countries, and countries where US military forces are engaged in conflicts cause US citizens to be uninformed about international events.

Definition of terms

Negative media coverage: Refers to the media presenting stories which are of negative nature. Issues which are negative in the society are often highlighted with an intention of awakening members of the society on the bad issues that are happening in the modern world or in people’s lives.

Neutral coverage: Offering of stories or events that are neither negative nor positive.

Positive media coverage: Refers to presentations by media on stories which are of positive nature such as those which involve accomplishments and award.

Newspaper Content Analysis

New York Times stressing local and domestic news over international news

New York Times newspaper is one of the major American newspapers whose main sections business news, Washington updates, national, sports, and international news as well as an opinion and features section. Of greatest importance for this paper is the newspaper for 1^st February 2012 whose front page clearly depicted how unbalanced it is in presenting both domestic and international news.

Babad and Peer point out that inasmuch as events in a nation should take a better portion of media coverage, international events are also important in informing a population on matters that would affect them and that have significant information. In the New York Times 1^st of February 2012 edition, over 60% of the front page events were domestic news.

Some of the key news included Romney’s election campaigns in Florida where he won in primary, issues of health especially cancer in America, and matters related to donors who are interested in rising above Obama. The front page had very little on international news band and whatever was presented was a negative report related to violence in Syria.

In fact, international bits of news have been included in inside pages such as in section A of page ten which gives international events only the negative perception. A case example is the massive deaths occurring in Eastern Europe. Limited reporting of positive international news as well as biased coverage of international news on the front page denies the American public better and sufficient international information.

Los Angeles Times and negative media reporting on international news

Los Angeles Times is a daily American newspaper that offers both national and international news coverage on areas such as politics, business and sports. Its coverage for 1^st February 2011 has about 75% local or domestic news on its front page and about 25% of international news most of which are negative reports.

One such report was published by Brian Bennett on threats of terror and a possible attack on US by Iran. Domestically, Los Angeles News presents positive news such as that of Romney’s win, and other neutral ones like raising cash to develop a cash reserve in California.

Media coverage on Mexico, Canada, Western European countries, and countries where US military forces are engaged in conflicts

While this may be partly true to newspapers such as Washington Post whose front page has a section on US developments in war zones, it is important to note that international news related to war do not take center stage in front pages like domestic news. International news for this paper is mostly negative and features in inside pages.

Inasmuch as the events presented in the newspaper as international news are real, they create the impression that many international events are negative this deny most Americans the ability to gain other useful information on matters happening around the world.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is vital to note that unbalanced media coverage of domestic and international news and the perspectives both positive and negative created by news on daily events play a critical role of denying American public sufficient and beneficial information on international matters.

Media coverage on most front pages of US national newspapers such as Los Angeles and New York Times gives a lot of cover mostly positive and neutral to US’s domestic events and paint a bad impression on international events by negative news.

There is great need for media groups to create a balance of both local and international news and major on positive aspects of events happening internationally as these not only motivate readers’ interested international affairs but also provide them with information they can use to develop opinions.

Bibliography

Babad, Elisha & Peer, Eyal. “Media bias in interviewers’ nonverbal behavior: potential remedies, attitude similarity and meta-analysis.” Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 34, no. 1 (2010): 57-78.

Bennet, Brian. “Al Qaeda weakened, Iran a threat, U.S. intelligence officials say”. Los Angeles Times. 2012. Web.

Gadner, Amy. “Panetta says U.S. hopes to end Afghanistan combat mission in 2013”. Washington Post. 2012. Web.

Groeling, Tim. “Who’s the fairest of them all? An empirical test for partisan bias on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 38, no. 4 (2008): 631-657.

Shear, Michael. “Still Battling G.O.P. Foes, Romney Turns to Face Obama”. New York Times. 2012. Web.

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