Theoretical Considerations in Predicting Volume and Direction of International Information Flow

Abstract

At any given moment an extremely complicated process of interaction is occurring between the national systems into which mankind has grouped itself. These nations or countries represent the type of system by which, according to Karl Deutsch, mankind is attempting to carry out the art of government.' The national systems are in a constant process of development or degeneration, as viewed over time. Some are building up, delineating their boundaries from the global environment more clearly, taking their place as nation-states in the world. Others work to preserve and conserve the national systems already achieved. And still others are disintejratin,a. becoming shadowv and permeable, not maintainirg a clear demarcation between themselves and the 'outside'.Yet if we could place ourselves figuratively above the earth and if we had the sensitivity to tell what is going on among mankind below, we would find generally that men have organized themselves into national systems with discernible identities. Some elements of a 'worldsystem' might be present, but the nation-state is still the main unit of governance at this stage of history.But while nations have their unique and separate being with their own processes of interaction and senses of community within their systems, they are no more completely isolated than are the individuals who dwell in a great city. A constant interplay of activity brings nations as well as individuals into contact with others. Events external to the system or to an organism may have the most important consequences for it, and all living systems have provisions for receiving information concerning external events from the 'outside'.The price a living system or organism may pay if it fails to utilize its powers of surveillance of its environment can be death or serious injury to it. Nations, just as biological organisms, must carry out this surveillance of the environment through an exchange of information if thev wish to continue existence in the face of outside hazard. Informational inputs resulting from such survevs of the environment give the controllers and directors of the systems knowledge upon which to base responses appropriate to the maintenance of their system. 1. Nationalism and Social Communication (Rev. Ed.: Cambridge, Mass.: The M.I.T. Press, 1966), p. 4. 240Information -knowledge, facts, intelligence -is the raw material which must be digested and interpreted and the appropriate responses correlated. Lasswell's functions of communication as a surveillance of the environment and then correlation of response by parts of a society apply to a consideration of the relationship between nations of the world.= His third function of communication, passing on the cultural heritage, would seem also to apply, but to a lesser degree.Information exchanged between national systems, then, may be processed to protect the existence of the systems, and to set policies for their governance. The forms such information may take are many. A few of them would include diplomatic messages as purveyors of ...

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

“…Thus, this study can provide an opportunity to examine how the coverage and "domestication" of the U.S. election event by Korean news media can be influenced by those news organizations' partisanship. A number of studies-such as those published by Galtung and Ruge (1965), Ostgaard (1965), Hester (1973), Scammell (2005), and Golan (2006)-have examined the various factors that affect international news coverage by domestic media.…”

50 years of Galtung and Ruge: Reflections on their model of news values and its relevance for the study of journalism and communication today

“…It would take us too far to discuss all qualifications or additions to the field, but it is noteworthy to point out that some scholars such as Harrison (2006), Gans (1979) and Teunissen (2005) did not ignore more contextual or practical factors such as the availability of visual material as a selection factor. To conclude this brief overview, Golan (2008: 44-45) conducted a meta-analysis of the field and identified the following four key factors as basic predictors of news selection and coverage: "deviance (Shoemaker, Chang & Brendlinger, 1986), relevance (Chang, Shoemaker & Brendlinger, 1987), cultural affinity (Hester, 1973) and the prominence of the nation within the hierarchy of nations (Chang, 1998;Kim & Barnett, 1996) (2000) and Hjarvard (2002: 94-95) questioned the assumption of many researchers in the field that it is at all possible to establish once and for all a final or absolute taxonomy of news factors. This assumes a high degree of uniformity in international news reporting and selection practices across different countries, time periods, media sectors and newsrooms.…”

How US television networks cover Korea and Japan: Contrasts in the coverage

“…Hypothesis two was derived from the research findings that the coverage of developing countries is more likely concerned with politics and military affairs (Daniels, 1995;Haile, 1987;Hester, 1978;Lent & Rao, 1979) while the coverage of developed countries shows a higher portion of soft news stories (McCraken, 1987).…”

“…The thematic news frame, in contrast, places public issues in some general or abstract context' (Iyengar & Simon, 1993: 369). Since developed countries are more likely to be treated as important while developing countries are underrepresented in news coverage (Almaney, 1970;Gozenbach et al, 1992;Hester, 1978;Hurrat, 1988;Lent, 1977;Potter, 1987;Semmel, 1976;Weaver & Wilhoit, 1981;Wilhoit & Weaver, 1983), it was hypothesized that Japanese coverage would show a higher proportion with thematic frames than Korean coverage. The assumption was that • 2.…”

“…From the voluminous research (Adams, 1964;Almaney 1970;Charles etal., 1979;Daniels, 1995;ElSarayrah, 1987;Giffard, 1984;Gonzenbach et al, 1992;Haile, 1987;Hester, 1978;Hurrat, 1988;Langton, 1989;Larson, 1979;Lent 1977;Lent & Rao, 1979;McCracken, 1987;Meyer 1996;Mishra, 1979;Morales, 1984;Pasadeos 1982;Pittatore, 1983;Potter, 1987;Pratt, 1980;Ramaparasad & Riffe, 1987;Riffe & Shaw, 1982;Semmel, 1976;Weaver & Wilhoit, 1981;Wilhoit & Weaver, 1983) about the foreign news coverage by American mass media, it might be assumed that the two countries would be described and treated differently because the two countries are different in politicoeconomic status-one is a developed country and the other is still a developing country. 1 In fact, many of these studies (Charles et al, 1979;Daniels, 1995;ElSarayrah, 1987;Giffard, 1984;Haile, 1987;Langton, 1989;Larson, 1979;Lent & Rao, 1979;Mishra, 1979;Morales, 1984;Pratt, 1980;Ramaparasad & Riffe, 1987;Riffe & Shaw, 1982;Weaver ...…”