Inter-Media Agenda Setting and Global News Coverage

For several decades, media scholars have attempted to identify the key variables that shape the complicated international news selection process. At the heart of the research lies the question of what make a nation or an international event newsworthy? Research findings point to several key determinants of international news coverage including deviance, relevance, cultural affinity and location in the hierarchy of nations. The current study suggests that the newsworthiness of international events may result from an inter-media agenda-setting process. The current analysis points to significant correlations between the international news agenda of the morning New York Times and the international news agendas of three evening television news programs. The current study argues that inter-media agenda setting should be considered in future studies on the international news selection process.