TY - JOUR
T1 - Tv news and U.S. Public opinion about foreign countries
T2 - The impact of exposure and attention
AU - Semetko, Holli A.
AU - Brzinski, Joanne Bay
AU - Weaver, David
AU - Willnat, Lars
N1 - Funding Information:
* Dr Semetko would like to thank the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for funding the US survey, and particularly Dr Fritz Fliszar, the Foundation's Executive Director and Dr Juergen Wickert, Head of the International Division. A Research Fellowship from the German Marshall Fund of the US supported Dr Semetko's work in Germany in 1990, during which time a first draft of this article was written. The helpful comments of Wolfgang G. Gibowski, Director of the Press and Information Agency of the German Federal Government in Bonn, and Professor Ingwer Borg, Research Director at the Zentrum fuer Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen (ZUMA) in Minnheim, on an earlier version of the paper are much appreciated. The comments of the fJPOR's anonymous reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged.
Funding Information:
1 The survey was supported by a grant from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Professor David Weaver obtained support from the Roy W. Howard chair at Indiana University for the content analysis of US news coverage, for which we are very grateful.
Funding Information:
2 This work was also supported by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. The 'Two Nations Study' reports the preliminary results of comparable surveys in West Germany and the US conducted in March 1990, comparing attitudes on US-German relations. See Gibowski and Semetko, 1990 and forthcoming.
PY - 1992/3
Y1 - 1992/3
N2 - This article assesses the potential for US news coverage of foreign affairs to influence US public opinion about foreign countries during the latter part of 1989 and early 1990, a time of dramatic changes in central Europe. The study draws on two sources of data: content analysis of US network news and wire service coverage of nine countries (West Germany, East Germany, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, Great Britain, France, Japan, and Israel) over a six month period, and a nationally representative survey of 1,117 US adults which measured opinions about these countries, conducted in early 1990. The study shows that there is an important relationship between the visibility of foreign countries in TV news and US public opinion about these countries. TV is more important than newspapers for influencing public opinion about foreign countries. And attention to foreign affairs news, rather than simple exposure to news, best predicts general liking of a country. Finally, attention to television news coverage had a positive and significant influence on sympathy with West and East Germany in 1990, even if one had German friends, relatives or ancestors, or had visited Europe.
AB - This article assesses the potential for US news coverage of foreign affairs to influence US public opinion about foreign countries during the latter part of 1989 and early 1990, a time of dramatic changes in central Europe. The study draws on two sources of data: content analysis of US network news and wire service coverage of nine countries (West Germany, East Germany, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, Great Britain, France, Japan, and Israel) over a six month period, and a nationally representative survey of 1,117 US adults which measured opinions about these countries, conducted in early 1990. The study shows that there is an important relationship between the visibility of foreign countries in TV news and US public opinion about these countries. TV is more important than newspapers for influencing public opinion about foreign countries. And attention to foreign affairs news, rather than simple exposure to news, best predicts general liking of a country. Finally, attention to television news coverage had a positive and significant influence on sympathy with West and East Germany in 1990, even if one had German friends, relatives or ancestors, or had visited Europe.
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U2 - 10.1093/ijpor/4.1.18
DO - 10.1093/ijpor/4.1.18
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0010107198
VL - 4
SP - 18
EP - 36
JO - International Journal of Public Opinion Research
JF - International Journal of Public Opinion Research
SN - 0954-2892
IS - 1
ER -