jsq@ut-sally.UUCP (John Quarterman) (04/02/85)
I posted this to net.nlang.india a while back, and received a suggestion
that it would be of interest in net.politics. Here it is again.
An issue that keeps popping up in this newsgroup is how the U.S. media
view India, or the world at large outside the U.S. Here is some information
on newspapers that addresses the more general question. Also note where
the one Indian newspaper included is on the list.
>From World Press Review, March 1985, Vol. 32, no. 3, page 4:
The Editor's Corner
Which newspapers print the most international news, and
do U.S. papers pay more or less attention to is than others?
A recent study by the Nihon Shinbun Kyokai (Japan Newspaper
Publishers & Editors Assn.) of Tokyo, in cooperation with
the East-West Center of Honolulu, provides some interesting
- and troubling - partial answers.
The study, summarized in the NSK News Bulletin [Dec.],
encompasses twenty-nine newspapers in fourteen nations
during the week of Oct. 24-30, 1982. In that week, the News
Bulletin notes, ``there were no big developments in
international politics. The main news included the UN
Disarmament Week, economic friction, and depreciation of the
yen. In the U.S., it was just before the midterm elections,
campaigns were on for a referendum on a nuclear fereze, and
the National Conference of Bishops drafted a letter calling
for the total abolition of nuclear arms.''
Based on that week's coverage, the independent South
China Morning Post of Hong Kong ranks first in precentage of
total news space allocated to international reports: 60.8
per cent. Its closest challengers are the liberal Le Monde
of Paris (48.5 per cent) and the conservative Times of
London (40.1 per cent).
The New York Times is the highest ranking American
newspaper - in 22d place, with 14.1 per cent of its news
space ``international.'' That figure, the News Bulletin
notes, ``is almost the same as that of such Japanese
regional newspapers as Nishi-Nippon Shimbun (in Kyushu) and
Kochi Shimbun (in Shikoku).'' Two other American dailies are
at the bottom: the Los Angeles Times (28th, with 9 per cent
of its news space ``international'') and the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (29th; 7.5 percent). The rankings:
1. South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 60.8 %
2. Le Monde (France) 48.5
3. Times (Britain) 40.1
4. Nation Review (Thailand) 39.2
5. Nan Yang (Malaysia) 39.2
6. Sin Chew Jit Poh (Singapore) 37.0
7. Straits Times (Singapore) 35.2
8. Australian (Australia) 34.4
9. Age (Australia) 29.8
10. Times of India (India) 29.6
11. Asahi Shimbun (Japan) 28.7
12. Renmin Ribao (China) 27.5
13. Sing Tao Jih Pao (Hong Kong) 26.6
14. Kompas (Indonesia) 25.1
15. Pusan Ilbo (South Korea) 24.5
16. Donga Ilbo (South Korea) 21.6
17. Harapan (Indonesia) 21.1
18. Utisan Melayu (Malaysia) 20.3
19. Daily Mirror (Britain) 19.1
20. Le Provencal (France) 18.0
21. Bulletin Today (Phillipines) 14.6
22. New York Times (U.S.) 14.1
23. Nishi-Nippon Shimbun (Japan) 14.0
24. Kochi Shimbun (Japan) 13.9
25. Daily Express (Phillipines) 13.8
26. Wen Hui Bao (China) 13.6
27. Thai Rath (Thailand) 11.6
28. Los Angeles Times (U.S.) 9.0
29. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (U.S.) 7.5
The list, it should be emphasized, is not of the
world's preeminent newspapers in international coverage; it
is only a ranking of the papers selected. Also, as the News
Bulletin points out, ``it should be noted that the absolute
total space in American newspapers is very large.''
Nonetheless, the study provides little comfort for citizens
who believe that international coverage has too low a
priority in the U.S.
--
John Quarterman, jsq@ut-sally.ARPA, {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!jsq