Description
Book SynopsisThis inductive study investigates the curricula of ten different news organizations from seven different countries that produced news in four languages on the Darfur uprising in Western Sudan: the New York Times, the Washington Post, France''s Le Monde, the UK''s Guardian, BBC.co.uk, Egypt''s Al-Ahram, South Africa''s Mail & Guardian Online, English.AlJazeera.Net, and China''s People''s Daily and China Daily. Mody and her collaborators show how news organizations uniquely and strategically constructed a foreign event for a particular intended audience based on national historical solidarity with global North or South power blocs, current national interest in the country, ownership of the news organization, and the political-linguistic constituency of the intended audience. While previous research on the role of national interest and ownership are supported in this study, the influence of the intended audience (namely, foreign or domestic) on the design of news is a new contributio
Trade ReviewForeign News Matters combines systematic content analyses with insightful interpretation, places this research into theoretical, historical and political contexts, and uses an elegant organizing structure that compares news coverage within and across nation-states, regions, and the globe. The result is a significant contribution to our understanding of the constructed nature of 'news,' the diverse practices of contemporary journalism, and the implications of both for cross-national understanding of the Darfur crises specifically, and foreign 'others' more generally. -- Michael X. Delli Carpini, Dean, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Foreign News Matters reveals a great deal about who decides what is news, the different ways national media define a story, and what this means for the publics that consume the news. Mody's starting point is that news about human abuse is a desirable end in itself, and an investment against future genocides. The analysis of how various media measured up to that standard in covering the crisis in Darfur is fascinating and, in some cases, alarming. The result is a must-read for anyone interested in international journalism. -- Catherine McKercher, Carleton University
Mody combines political economy, international relations, and content analysis in this unique interpretation of foreign news as geopolitically situated knowledge. Her focus on the Global South and the North and on print and online news offers new understandings of global news flows. Her analysis of the potentials and pitfalls of foreign news as international education is illuminating. -- W Lance Bennett, University of Washington
Table of ContentsPart 1 Part One. Benefiting From Previous Researchers Chapter 2 Chapter One. Foreign News: the Geopolitics of Representation and Explanation Chapter 3 Chapter Two. Journalistic Influence in Moral Mobilization Part 4 Part Two. The Study of the Uprising in Darfur Sudan: Representation and Explanation in the World's Press Chapter 5 Chapter Three. Rebellion Within States in the Global South: Explaining the Conflict in Darfur Chapter 6 Chapter Four. Cross-National Comparative Research on Foreign News: Design and Implementation Part 7 Part Three. Findings: The Representation of Darfur by News Organizations from the Global South Chapter 8 Chapter Five. Comparing China's State-Owned English-Language and Chinese-Language Newspapers Chapter 9 Chapter Six. Comparing the South African Mail & Guardian Online with the Egyptian Al-Ahram Part 10 Part Four. Findings: The Representation of Darfur by News Organizations from the Global North Chapter 11 Chapter Seven. Comparing the UK's Guardian with France's Le Monde Chapter 12 Chapter Eight. Comparing the US' New York Times with the Washington Post Part 13 Part Five. Findings: The Representation of Darfur in Online News Intended for Extra-National Audiences Chapter 14 Chapter Nine. Comparing the English-Language Web Sites of the UK's BBC and Qatar's Al Jazeera Part 15 Part Six. Conclusion Chapter 16 Chapter Ten. Foreign News: Journalism for Cross-National Public Education?
