The theory of newsworthiness applied to Mexico's press. How the news factors influence foreign news coverage in a transitional country

Abstract

Empirical studies which examine the theory of newsworthiness and the predictability of news coverage in transnational or developing countries still remain on the agenda of journalism research. Therefore, this study examines the influence of news factors on the foreign news coverage of three Mexican newspapers. Two main questions guide the research. First, is the theory of newsworthiness a valid approach for predicting news selection in a cultural context that is significantly different from western industrialized countries? Secondly, which are the relevant news factors that predict foreign news coverage in the Mexican press and thus shape the image of foreign nations? The results of a quantitative content analysis confirm the hypotheses of selection, additivity, and replication as they were originally postulated by Galtung and Ruge and thus prove the external validity of the theory of newsworthiness beyond western journalism.

7. Discussing Africa’s Media Image in Ghana

“…Like Eilders (2006), Schwarz (2006), Johnson (1997), and Staab (1990), this study proposes that news selection research should be comprehensively approached at the micro-, meso-and macro-levels of analysis. The theory of newsworthiness is applied in this study to the behaviour of journalists in selecting the news.…”

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“…Despite these findings, very little research has investigated the cumulative effect of these characteristics on newsworthiness. To elaborate, although many studies investigate variables that predict newsworthiness independently, to our knowledge only one study (Schwarz, 2006) has investigated the additive/cumulative effect of ‘newsworthy’ characteristics to predict prominence by using a composite variable. 1 Schwartz’s findings indicate that the index was significantly related ( p < 0.01) to all three measures of prominence (i.e.…”

“… 1. In Schwarz’s (2006) assessment of news factors as predictors of foreign news coverage in Mexican newspapers, rather than focusing on the influence of a single news factor (i.e. indicators of newsworthiness), Schwarz used a ‘composite intensity index’ to sum the news factors present for each story. …”

Issue Salience in the U.S. Elections: “Partisan Domestication” between South Korean Newspapers

“…Despite this recurring editorial task, the reasons why journalists select some news items for publication and discard others remains enigmatic (Reinemann & Shulz, 2006;Schwarz, 2006). The components of "news value" include "sensationalism, proximity, relevance, unambiguity, and facticity" (Eilders, 2006).…”