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Coups, Earthquakes and Hostages? Foreign News on Canadian Television

1989; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 22; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0008423900020266

1744-9324

Robert A. Hackett,

Media Influence and Politics

Abstract Foreign news coverage on Canadian national television was content analyzed in light of Third World criticisms of Western news agencies. Using a sample of CBC and CTV national English-language newscasts in 1980 and 1985, four hypotheses were considered: (1) the geographical distribution of foreign news is highly concentrated, focussing on the West and regions of violence involving Western interests; (2) news from the industrialized West and from the Third World tends to be characterized by different formats and topics; (3) differences between networks are limited; and (4) differences between the two years studied are minor. The results support these hypotheses, with the partial exception of the fourth one, to the detriment of the image of the Third World on Canadian television.