Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

We examine how American media’s coverage of international news influences public opinion. Results from 500 survey responses (N = 500) support agenda-setting effects, positing that positive perceptions of international news coverage led to positive views of both foreign nations and nationals. Public knowledge and interest, furthermore, shape public opinion. The influence, nevertheless, is different across four groups of countries (i.e., most- vs. least-covered and Global North vs. Global South countries).

Keywords

journalism international news news diversity public opinion international affairs xenophobia

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aalberg

Papathanassopoulos

Soroka

Curran

Hayashi

Iyengar

Jones

P. K.

Mazzoleni

Rojas

Rowe

Tiffen

(2013). International TV News, Foreign Affairs Interest and Public Knowledge: A comparative study of foreign news coverage and public opinion in 11 countries. Journalism Studies, 14(3), 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2013.765636

Aarts

Semetko

H. A.

(2003). The divided electorate: Media use and political involvement. The Journal of Politics, 65(3), 759–784. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2508.00211

Ahmed

Chen

V. H. H.

Chib

A. I.

(2021). Xenophobia in the time of a pandemic: Social media use, stereotypes, and prejudice against immigrants during the COVID-19 crisis. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 33(3), 637–653. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edab014

Anderson

J. C.

Gerbing

D. W.

(1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411

Besova

A. A.

Cooley

S. C.

(2009). Foreign news and public opinion: Attribute agenda-setting theory revisited. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 30(2), 219–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560054.2009.9653403

Cazzamatta

(2021). The role of the ‘negativity’ factor in international news coverage: A case study of Latin America in the German press, 2000–2014. Global Media and Communication, 17(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766520946465

Chandler

Rosenzweig

Moss

A. J.

Robinson

Litman

(2019). Online panels in social science research: Expanding sampling methods beyond Mechanical Turk. Behavior Research Methods, 51(5), 2022–2038. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-019-01273-7

Cho

Cannon

Lopez

Song, C. (Chuck). (2021). Testing three explanations for stigmatization of people of Asian descent during COVID-19: Maladaptive coping, biased media use, or racial prejudice? Ethnicity & Health, 26(1), 94–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2020.1830035

Choi

(2009). Diversity in foreign news in US newspapers before and after the invasion of Iraq. International Communication Gazette, 71(6), 525–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048509339788

10.

Coleman

McCombs

Shaw

Weaver

(2009). Agenda setting. In Wahl-Jogensen

Hanitzsch

(Eds.), The handbook of journalism studies (pp. 167–180). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203877685-20

11.

Contractor

F. J.

(2017). Global leadership in an era of growing nationalism, protectionism, and anti-globalization. Rutgers Business Review, 2(2), 163–185. https://rbr.business.rutgers.edu/article/global-leadership-era-growing-nationalism-protectionism-and-anti-globalization

12.

Curran

Iyengar

Brink Lund

Salovaara-Moring

(2009). Media system, public knowledge and democracy: A comparative study. European Journal of Communication, 24(1), 5–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323108098943

13.

Curran

Salovaara-Moring

Coen

Iyengar

(2010). Crime, foreigners and hard news: A cross-national comparison of reporting and public perception. Journalism, 11(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884909350640

14.

Dados

Connell

(2012). The global south. Contexts, 11(1), 12–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536504212436479

15.

Delli Carpini

M. X.

Keeter

(1996). What Americans know about politics and why it matters. Yale University Press.

16.

Demers

D. P.

Craff

Choi

Y.-H.

Pessin

B. M.

(1989). Issue obtrusiveness and the agenda-setting effects of national network news. Communication Research, 16(6), 793–812. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365089016006004

17.

de Vreese

C. H.

Boomgaarden

(2006). News, political knowledge and participation: The differential effects of news media exposure on political knowledge and participation. Acta Politica, 41(4), 317–341. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.ap.5500164

18.

Golan

(2006). Inter-media agenda setting and global news coverage: Assessing the influence of the New York Times on three network television evening news programs. Journalism Studies, 7(2), 323–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700500533643

19.

Guo

Vargo

C. J.

(2017). Global intermedia agenda setting: A big data analysis of international news flow: Global agenda setting. Journal of Communication, 67(4), 499–520. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12311

20.

Ray

Chen

Guo

(2022). U.S. public opinion on China and the United States during the U.S.–China trade dispute: The role of audience framing and partisan media use. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 99(4), 930–954. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211049451

21.

Halpin

Katulis

Juul

(2019). America adrift. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/america-adrift/

22.

Harcup

O’Neill

(2017). What is News? News values revisited (again). Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1470–1488. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1150193

23.

Heine

(2023, July 3). The Global South is on the rise—But what exactly is the Global South? The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/the-global-south-is-on-the-rise-but-what-exactly-is-the-global-south-207959

24.

Hogan

Patrick

(2024). A closer look at the Global South. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/05/global-south-colonialism-imperialism?lang=en

25.

Iyengar

Hahn

K. S.

Bonfadelli

Marr

(2009). “Dark areas of ignorance” revisited: Comparing international affairs knowledge in Switzerland and the United States. Communication Research, 36(3), 341–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650209333024

26.

Kim

B. W.

Lee

Kim

(2020). A time-series analysis of public diplomacy expenditure and news sentiment: A case study of the U.S.–Japan relationship. International Journal of Communication, 14. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/13675

27.

Kundnani

(2001). In a foreign land: The new popular racism. Race & Class, 43(2), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396801432004

28.

Lee

Toth

E. L.

Shin

(2008). Cognitive categorisation and routes of national reputation formation: US opinion leaders’ views on South Korea. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 4(4), 272–286. https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2008.17

29.

Lee

S. H.

Wang

(2016). A comparative investigation into press–State relations: Comparing source structures in three news agencies’ coverage of the North Korean missile crisis. International Journal of Communication, 10. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/3239/0

30.

Lynch

McGoldrick

(2013). Responses to peace journalism. Journalism, 14(8), 1041–1058. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884912464175

31.

McCombs

M. E.

(2005). A look at agenda-setting: Past, present and future. Journalism Studies, 6(4), 543–557. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700500250438

32.

McCombs

M. E.

Reynolds

(2009). How the news shapes our civic agenda. In Bryant

Oliver

M. B.

(Eds.), Media effects (pp. 17–32). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203877111-7

33.

McCombs

M. E.

Shaw

D. L.

(1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990

34.

McCombs

M. E.

Shaw

D. L.

Weaver

D. H.

(2014). New directions in agenda-setting theory and research. Mass Communication and Society, 17(6), 781–802. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2014.964871

35.

McCombs

M. E.

Valenzuela

(2020). Setting the agenda: Mass media and public opinion. Polity.

36.

McGoldrick

Lynch

(2016). Audience responses to peace journalism: Merging results from a four-country research study. Journalism Studies, 17(5), 628–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.992621

37.

Mckay

F. H.

Thomas

S. L.

Kneebone

(2012). “It would be okay if they came through the proper channels”: Community perceptions and attitudes toward asylum seekers in Australia. Journal of Refugee Studies, 25(1), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fer010

38.

McNelly

J. T.

Izcaray

(1986). International news exposure and images of nations. Journalism Quarterly, 63(3), 546–553. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769908606300315

39.

Milner

(2002). Civic literacy: How informed citizens make democracy work. University Press of New England.

40.

Moïsi

(2010). The geopolitics of emotion: How cultures of fear, humiliation, and hope are reshaping the world. Anchor Books.

41.

Muscat

(2019). Misrecognising the value of voice: Anticipating inclusion beyond mainstream mediations of race and migration. Media, Culture & Society, 41(8), 1160–1175. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443719842077

42.

Perloff

R. M.

(2018). Mass communication research at the crossroads: Definitional issues and theoretical directions for mass and political communication scholarship in an age of online media. In Wei

(Ed.), Advances in foundational mass communication theories (1st ed., pp. 273–298). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315164441-15

43.

Reynolds

Falger

V. S. E.

Vine

(Eds.). (1987). The sociobiology of ethnocentrism: Evolutionary dimensions of xenophobia, discrimination, racism, and nationalism. University of Georgia Press.

44.

Rising

(2023, September 7). Everyone’s talking about the Global South. But what is it? AP News. https://apnews.com/article/what-is-global-south-19fa68cf8c60061e88d69f6f2270d98b

45.

Robitzsch

Lüdtke

(2022). Why measurement invariance is not necessary for valid group comparisons. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/cjyqp

46.

Rogers

Dearing

(1988). Agenda-setting research: Where has it been, where is it going? Annals of the International Communication Association, 11(1), 555–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.1988.11678708

47.

Schudson

Tifft

S. E.

(2005). American journalism in historical perspective. In Overholser

Jamieson

K. H.

(Eds.), The press (p. 510). Institutions of American Democracy.

48.

Segev

(2019). From where does the world look flatter? A comparative analysis of foreign coverage in world news. Journalism, 20(7), 924–942. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884916688292

49.

Shanor

D. R.

(2003). News from abroad. Columbia University Press.

50.

Shine

Rogers

S. L.

(2021). Parents and teachers’ perceptions of the tone and emotional impact of education news coverage. Journalism and Media, 2(2), 193–207. https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia2020011

51.

Sparkes

V. M.

Winter

J. P.

(1980). Public interest in foreign news. Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands), 26(3), 149–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/001654928002600301

52.

Thussu

D. K.

(2022). De-colonizing global news-flows: A historical perspective. Journalism Studies, 23(13), 1578–1592. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2022.2083007

53.

Tunstall

(2008). The media were American: U.S. mass media in decline. Oxford University Press.

54.

Umamaheswar

(2015). 9/11 and the evolution of newspaper representations of incarcerated Muslims. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 11(2), 177–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659015588403

55.

U.S. Department of State. (2020, December 3). U.S. relations with Finland. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-finland/

56.

U.S. Department of State. (2021, January 20). U.S. relations with Poland. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-poland/

57.

U.S. Department of State. (2024, July 18). U.S. relations with Uruguay. https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-uruguay/

58.

Van Der Meer

T. G. L. A.

Kroon

A. C.

Verhoeven

Jonkman

(2019). Mediatization and the disproportionate attention to negative news: The case of airplane crashes. Journalism Studies, 20(6), 783–803. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2018.1423632

59.

Van Der Veer

Ommundsen

Yakushko

Higler

Woelders

Hagen

K. A.

(2013). Psychometrically and qualitatively validating a cross-national cumulative measure of fear-based xenophobia. Quality & Quantity, 47(3), 1429–1444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-011-9599-6

60.

Van Der Veer

Yakushko

Ommundsen

Higler

(2011). Cross-national measure of fear-based xenophobia: Development of a cumulative scale. Psychological Reports, 109(1), 27–42. https://doi.org/10.2466/07.17.PR0.109.4.27-42

61.

Véron

(2023). Much of the Global South is on Ukraine’s side. Bruegel. https://www.bruegel.org/first-glance/much-global-south-ukraines-side

62.

Wanta

(2018). Media influence on the public’s perceptions of countries. In Ingenhoff

White

Buhmann

Kiousis

(Eds.), Bridging disciplinary perspectives of country image, reputation, brand, and identity (1st ed., pp. 230–241). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315271224-13

63.

Wanta

Golan

Lee

(2004). Agenda setting and international news: Media influence on public perceptions of foreign nations. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 81(2), 364–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900408100209

64.

Wanta

Y.-W.

(1993). The agenda-setting effects of international news coverage: An examination of differing news frames. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 5(3), 250–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/5.3.250

65.

Wang

Shen

(2018). Perceived party polarization, news attentiveness, and political participation: A mediated moderation model. Asian Journal of Communication, 28(6), 620–637. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292986.2018.1494204

66.

Yakushko

(2009). Xenophobia: Understanding the roots and consequences of negative attitudes toward immigrants. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(1), 36–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000008316034

67.

Yang

(2008). U.S., Chinese newspapers frame Iraq war differently. Newspaper Research Journal, 29(3), 80–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/073953290802900307

68.

Young

Atkin

(2023). An agenda-setting test of Google news world reporting on foreign nations. Electronic News, 17(2), 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/19312431221106375

69.

Zhang

Conrad

(2014). Speeding in web surveys: The tendency to answer very fast and its association with straightlining. Survey Research Methods, 8(2), 127–135. https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2014.v8i2.5453

70.

Zhang

Meadows

C. W. M.

(2012). International coverage, foreign policy, and national image: Exploring the complexities of media coverage, public opinion, and presidential agenda. International Journal of Communication, 6. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1424

“Gotta report ‘em all”: How international news diversity impacts public knowledge,perceptions of foreign nations and nationals and fear-based xenophobia

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References