War and International News Coverage in the Local News
Studies from the Annenberg School of Communication and Public Policy Center show that a majority of Americans do not watch with any regularity international news sources such as CNN, Nightline, PBS's News hour or even the nightly network news. So where are Americans getting international news from? Surprisingly, most US television viewers tend to have most of their exposure to international news from local TV news broadcasts.
This begs the question; if one were to rely solely on local TV news for one's news of the world, what sort of image of the world would that leave one with? Before answering that, it should be acknowledged that the bulk of local TV newscasts are not international stories. Usually news about the world are segments replayed form the parent company, midway through newscasts, generally after the weather and just before sports. Understandably, most stations lack the personnel and resources to send reporters abroad, meaning they have to rely on news feeds from other sources. However, this does not mean that local TV stations are freed from the responsibility to provide accurate information about international news. Local TV stations still are responsible for editorial decisions about which international news stories they will air and what local "hook" they will give these international stories.
Over the past six years GRIID has conducted several studies looking at international issues coverage on the three local Grand Rapids TV stations. Certainly, while coverage varies in some ways from issue to issue, several major trends are apparent in all international coverage. These are:
- International coverage in the Local News is primarily violence or disaster based. According to a GRIID study in 1999 - 2000, almost nine out of ten international news stories on the local news were about war, violence, or disaster.
- The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and the subsequent U.S. military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq led to increased international coverage in local news broadcasts.
- In covering U.S. military actions abroad, the local TV news relied to a great extent on "official" government and military voices. Considerably less often did the local TV news air international voices or voices offering views different from the "official" position. Nor did the Local news regularly challenge or verify facts and information put out by "official" sources.
- In reporting on deaths due to violence, the local TV media were more likely to report on deaths due to the actions of official "enemies" while less likely to report on deaths due to the actions of the U.S. government or it's allies.
- In covering the war in Iraq, the local media took a "pro-troop" stance. The majority of the Iraq stories that were produced by the local TV news stories themselves, were focused on local soldiers and soldiers families.
- Seldom was contextual information provided by local TV news broadcasts on international issues. GRIID noted that very rarely did the local TV news give any information that would help the news consumer more fully understand the wider context beyond just the immediate events reported.
International Coverage: War and Disaster Based
| Station | Total # of International stories | Violence/Disaster-based stories & percentage |
|---|---|---|
| WOOD 8 | 251 | 210 - 83% |
| WZZM 13 | 147 | 122 - 83% |
| WXMI 17 | 213 | 195 - 91% |
| Totals | 611 | 527 - 86% |
- From GRIID Report A View of the World: International News on Local Newscasts"
Chart #2: Examples of Pre- and Post 9/11 International News Coverage
Before Sept. 11, 2001
611 international news stories in six months
Sept 1, 1999 - Feb 28, 2000 - 3.3 international stories per day
After Sept. 11, 2001
272 stories on Afghanistan in a 75 day period
October 7 - December 21, 2001 - 3.6 Afghanistan stories per day
678 stories on Iraq in a45 day period
March 17 - May 2, 2003 - 15 Iraq stories per day
52 stories on Iraq in a sixty day period -January 12 - March 12, 2004
.9 Iraq stories per day
102 stories on Iraq in a 45 day period
Sept. 13 - Nov.1 - 2.3 Iraq stories per day
International coverage on the local news was primarily violence or disaster based. The amount of international coverage on the local news varies considering what world events are occurring. Primarily, the local TV news focused on "crisis" reporting, that is, as dramatic events were unfolding such as a war or great calamity, coverage of that event increased. The most striking example of this was the period March 17 - May 2, 2003, the U.S. invasion of Iraq. During this period we saw an average of 15 stories a day about Iraq. Considering that over a six month period in 1999 - 2000, there was an average of just over three international stories on all topics, the large increase in airtime given the Iraq invasion three years later illustrates the tendency to focus on "crisis" in local TV news.
Another tendency noted in international coverage by local TV was a marked decrease in coverage of a "crisis" type story over time, regardless of whether or not the crisis had actually ended. This was clearly seen in Iraq war coverage. Despite the fact that fighting in Iraq continued throughout 2004, actually increasing in intensity, the local coverage decreased dramatically. In early 2004, coverage of Iraq fell to less than one story a day total for all three stations. By the end of the year the coverage was at a little over two stories a day, still a far cry from the fifteen stories a day seen in early 2003.
Local TV News War Reporting: Relying on "Official" Voices
GRIID looked at several different time periods pertaining to ongoing military campaigns and occupations. These included three different time periods of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, the U.S. operations in Afghanistan in late 2001, and a 90 day period of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 2003. During these five study periods, it was noted that all four news outlets relied almost exclusively on official sources, government or military, for war reporting. More than four out of five of the people given voice in the local news broadcasts on the Iraq war came from either the U.S. government or military.
While the Local TV news relied almost exclusively on "official sources" for war information, seldom did they question these "official" sources or provide critical perspectives. In this way, all four news outlets acted primarily as a conduit for government and military supplied information.
As the charts to the right show, the only competition to "official" voices provided in the broadcasts were from local family members of soldiers stationed in Iraq and family members of a local man beheaded in Iraq. These voices became more prominent in the 2004 study period as the local news dramatically reduced the number of news stories about Iraq, focusing primarily on human interest type pieces tied to local soldiers and victims.
| Official Voices | 199 |
|---|---|
| Bush | 53 |
| Bush administration | 30 |
| Rumsfeld | 30 |
| US Military spokesperson | 36 |
| US Soldiers | 28 |
| FBI | 1 |
| US Politicians | 21 |
| Other Voices | 64 |
|---|---|
| Northern Alliance | 12 |
| International | 5 |
| Experts | 1 |
| Former Afghan "Freedom Fighter" | 1 |
| Religious | 6 |
| Bin Laden spokesperson | 1 |
| Anti-war | 5 |
| Family of US soldiers | 17 |
| Unidentified Afghan Rebel | 1 |
| University Prof. | 1 |
| Local Muslim | 12 |
| Arab Journalist | 1 |
| Taliban | 1 |
Voices used in Local TV reporting on Iraq
March 17 Ð May 1, 2003
| Official Voices | 397 |
|---|---|
| Bush Administration | 154 |
| US Congress people from MI | 49 |
| Other Politicians | 19 |
| CIA | 1 |
| US Military | 174 |
| Other Voices | 81 |
|---|---|
| Iraqi voices | 42 |
| International voices | 21 |
| Experts | 15 |
| Humanitarian Workers NGO | 3 |
Voices used in Local TV reporting on Iraq
January 12ÑMarch 12, 2004
| Official Voices | 20 |
|---|---|
| Bush Administration | 10 |
| US Congress people from MI | 1 |
| Other Politicians | 3 |
| CIA | 1 |
| US Military | 5 |
| Other Voices | 11 |
|---|---|
| Iraqi voices | 3 |
| International voices | 1 |
| Experts | 0 |
| Humanitarian Workers NGO | 2 |
| Military Families | 5 |
Voices used in Local TV reporting on Iraq
September 13 - November 1, 2004
| Official Voices | 30 |
|---|---|
| Bush Administration | 4 |
| US Congress people from MI | 3 |
| Other Politicians | 1 |
| CIA | 2 |
| US Military | 20 |
| Other Voices | 54 |
|---|---|
| Iraqi voices | 5 |
| International voices | 1 |
| Experts | 4 |
| Humanitarian Workers NGO | 0 |
| Military Families | 13 |
| Beheading victim's family | 12 |
| Veterans | 3 |
| Citizens/Residents | 16 |
| Other | 9 |
Worthy and Unworthy Victims: Reporting on War Victims
One consistent pattern that GRIID has noted in local media coverage of war and violence is that the deaths of U.S. troops, civilians, and our allies, are more likely to me mentioned than the deaths of people killed by U.S. military or our allies. This trend was noted in both TV coverage of the U.S. war in Iraq as well as in coverage of the conflict in the occupied territories of Palestine.
Media Coverage of Iraq: March 17 - Friday, May 2, 2003
US Troop Casualties/POWs: Mentioned 73 times
Iraqi Civilians Casualties: Mentioned 15 times
War stories - 8/2/2005 through 9/5/2005
| All Stations | 101 |
|---|---|
| WOOD 8 | 36 |
| WZZM 13 | 33 |
| WXMI | 32 |
| All Stations | 1 hour, 50 min, 25 sec |
|---|---|
| WOOD 8 | 53:48 |
| WZZM 13 | 22:40 |
| WXMI | 33:57 |
| All Stations | 66 seconds |
|---|---|
| WOOD 8 | 90 seconds |
| WZZM 13 | 41 seconds |
| WXMI | 64 seconds |
Individual Story Topics
| Number of Stories | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| All Stations | 47 stories | 49 min 57 sec |
| WOOD 8 | 20 stories | 24 min 4 sec |
| WZZM 13 | 17 stories | 12 min 58 sec |
| WXMI | 10 stories | 12 min 55 sec |
| Number of Stories | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| All Stations | 11 stories | 7 min 54 sec |
| WOOD 8 | 4 stories | 2 min 50 sec |
| WZZM 13 | 3 stories | 1 min 51 sec |
| WXMI | 4 stories | 3 min 13 sec |
| Number of Stories | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| All Stations | 12 stories | 11 min 4 sec |
| WOOD 8 | 4 stories | 2 min 40 sec |
| WZZM 13 | 6 stories | 4 min 54 sec |
| WXMI | 2 stories | 3 min 30 sec |
| Number of Stories | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| All Stations | 17 stories | 9 min 1 sec |
| WOOD 8 | 3 stories | 1 min 16 sec |
| WZZM 13 | 4 stories | 1 min 37 sec |
| WXMI | 10 stories | 6 min 8 sec |
| Number of Stories | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| All Stations | 1 story | 20 seconds |
| WOOD 8 | 1 story | 20 seconds |
| WZZM 13 | - | - |
| WXMI | - | - |
| Voice | Number |
|---|---|
| Family of dead local soldier | 12 |
| Friends/neighbors of dead local soldier | 25 |
| Military voices | 8 |
| Government | 7 (Bush- 4) |
| Anti-war voices | 9 (Sheehan - 4) |
| Family of soldiers in Iraq | 4 |
| Iraqi | 2 |
| Afghani | 0 |
Israel/Palestine Coverage on Local TV News
August 11 - November 4, 2003
| Fox 17 | Israeli Victims: civilian Ð 34, soldiers - 3 | Palestinian Victims: civilians Ð 7, "militants" - 5 |
|---|---|---|
| WOOD TV 8 | Israeli Victims: civilian Ð 27, soldiers - 0 | Palestinian Victims: civilians Ð 0, "militants" - 4 |
| WZZM 13 | Israeli Victims: civilian Ð 33, soldiers - 0 | Palestinian Victims: civilians Ð 0, "militants" Ð 0 |
| Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians | 54 |
|---|---|
| Israeli security forces personal killed by Palestinians | 18 |
| Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces personnel | 122 |
The Missing Context
During the GRIID study on Israel/Palestine, all 18 local TV news stories that ran during the 90 day period were violence based, reporting either on a suicide bomber or a targeted assassination. Very little context was provided in any of these TV news stories. Not once were viewers provided with the role of the US government Ð economically, diplomatically or militarily. On only 2 occasions were the terms US Peace Plan or Middle East Road Map used. On three occasions we are told that Israeli helicopters fired on suspected terrorists or members of HAMAS. Providing viewers with the fact that Israel gets its helicopters from the US, would be contextual information. However, the only attempt to provide contextual information were the following statements - "Nearly 6 hours after that attack in Baghdad a suicide bombing in Jerusalem" (Fox 17), or "Sadly enough terrorists did not limit themselves to Iraq today, they struck in Israel as well." (WOOD TV 8) Both of these statements were at the beginning of news stories and both attempt to link a bombing of a United Nations facility in Baghdad, Iraq and the Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel. Not only is there no documented relationship between these two bombings, but the Fox 17 station actually used video footage of the bombed UN building in Baghdad while the news reader is talking about the Israel/Palestine conflict. (FOX 17, 8/19/03)
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID)
711 Bridge St. NW
Grand Rapids, MI
49504
616-459-4788x122 (phone)
616-459-3970 (fax)
www.griid.org
The contents of this page are also available in a PDF version: War and International Coverage Summary.
