Image and constraint: Factors affecting foreign news selection in regional newspapers in France, Britain and the United States

Despite different journalistic images and traditions in France, Britain and the United States, foreign news coverage in the newspapers of those countries appears to be very similar. This study uses a combination of content analysis, participant observation and survey, to determine whether this similarity is real or only apparent, and to explain the disparity that exists between journalistic role perceptions and actual journalistic practices.; Systematic content analysis of a two-week period of news in Le Courier de l'Ouest, in Angers (France), the Eastern Daily Press in Norwich (Britain), and the Courier in Evansville, Indiana (United States), shows a remarkable uniformity of foreign news coverage. Data collected during a two-week period of observation at each of the newspapers, combined with the results of a survey of journalists responsible for foreign news selection at these and other newspapers, suggest that this uniformity may be explained by influences associated with competition and changing patterns of ownership.; Existing research on news content has tended to view the influences affecting the news selection process as independent factors. This study proposes a taxonomy that divides these factors into "managerial influences" determined by management decisions, "professional/personal values" directly governing news selection, and "intrinsic news values" contained within news items themselves. This system of classification enables the researcher to see how these factors interact with each other.; The study concludes that three general factors are bringing uniformity to foreign news coverage in the countries studied. They are: management, which is constrained by competition and group ownership; increasing professionalization among European journalists; and the agenda-setting role of the news agencies. Together, these influences may be producing a growing Americanization of regional newspapers in France and Britain, and, possibly, by extension, of other media in other countries.