Where in the World Is Africa?

Abstract

The current study investigates coverage of African nations by four US television news-casts. It focuses on the news period between 2002 and 2004 and reveals that despite presence of wide-scale famine, civil conflict, disputed elections and an AIDS epidemic, the African continent received limited coverage. Based on research on the determinants of international news coverage, the study investigates how deviance, relevance, cultural affinity and location in the world system may be used to predict coverage. Results identify trade with the US and gross domestic product as the two key predictors of coverage of African nations. In the discussion, the study's results are incorporated into the larger theoretical application of world system theory into research on the determinants of international news coverage.