Representations of Foreign Places outside the News: An Analysis of Australian Newspaper Travel Sections

Abstract

Despite continued growth over recent decades, travel journalism has so far gained little attention in journalism research, with scholars often ridiculing it and other forms of lifestyle journalism as not being ‘real’ journalism. This article aims to shift the focus by arguing that non-news journalism is becoming increasingly important as a site for research. It reports the results of a content analysis of Australian newspaper travel sections and examines the role they play in mediating foreign places. The results demonstrate that travel stories mostly can be classed as service stories in that they focus on destinations that are already popular with Australians. At the same time, they report very little about local cultures at the destinations, demonstrating a focus on the tourist experience and representing a missed opportunity for improving intercultural understanding. A visual analysis of photographs shows stereotypical portrayals of destinations broadly in line with tourism promotion materials.