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A content analysis examined factors that could predict coverage of international elections on US newscasts. All 138 elections held between 1 January 1998 and 1 May 2000 were included in the analysis. Many of the results run counter to previous findings. Countries with few ancestral ties with the US, with nuclear arms or developing nuclear arms, with close relations with China, with low trade with the US and in regions with conflicts were more likely to receive election coverage than other nations. In general, while the elections offer the news media the opportunity to show positive news — democracy in action — coverage continues to concentrate on the negative by highlighting elections in those countries that pose potential threats and are relatively unknown to the US.
Golan et al. (Sat,) studied this question.