A quantitative content analysis of shifting dependency patterns in U.S. foreign news content

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] As major U.S. newspapers undergo changes due to new revenue streams, delivery formats and business models, it is important to look at the effect that a potential diminished international news staff has upon the sources of foreign news. A content analysis of 2,809 foreign news stories and 34,466 paragraphs looks at newspapers that have retained a foreign news staff or experienced a diminished or nonexistent foreign news staff in the last decade. Stories were analyzed as internal foreign news stories (those reported by internal members of the newspaper staff) or external foreign news stories (those from external or outsourced content providers such as wire services). The findings show that newspapers with a robust foreign news staff exhibit little to no dependency on outsourced content providers. Newspapers with a diminished or nonexistent foreign news staff have exhibited a growing dependency on outsourced content providers in the last decade. Trends in story placement, length and visual elements were also discovered.