A comparative analysis of Channels TV and CNN's coverage of World News
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2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Abstract
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This study did an analysis of the Western and Third world coverage of World News using the broadcast stations
(CNN and Channels TV) as case study. In other words, the study sought to examine if the Western and Third World
nations are still guilty of imbalance, bias and distortion in their treatment of news. The findings showed that both the
North and South nations are guilty of bias and imbalance in their coverage of World News and that each nation seeks
to promote their interest rather than a true world interest or the interest of their counterpart nations. The study further
revealed that the Third World media still depend heavily on Western media sources for its news albeit their
standpoint on the News Flow debate. About 50% of the entire World News stories on Channels TV were sourced
'outside', while about 40% were unidentified. Only 10% were from the in-house personnel. It was also observed that
about 55 and 67% of World News coverage by Channels TV and CNN, respectively, were focused on 'bad news'; an
age-long controversy that has bedeviled news coverage globally. In view of the foregoing, it has been recommended
that there is need for the acceptance of 'imbalance' as a major feature of all media systems as well as a re-evaluation of
the standards and values of news evaluation. The rapid industrialization of Third World economies will also go a long
way to stop the one-way traffic in international communication which is what encourages media dependence.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), HE Transportation and Communications, NE Print media