ABSTRACT
In modern, media-saturated society, foreign correspondents deliver us the world. They feed us with pictures from afar that often lie beyond the realm of our direct experience (Perry, 1985; Brewer, Graf, & Willnat, 2003; Wanta, Golan, & Lee, 2004; Ihlen, Allern, Thorbjornsrud, & Waldahl, 2010; Riegert, 2011). Furthermore, by way of reporting events and occur-rences abroad, foreign news contributes to the cultivation of ‘a sense of belonging in the world’ (Hannerz, 2004, p. 34). The primary importance of foreign correspondents, therefore, lies in their power to shape our perceptions of other countries and cultures (Willnat & Weaver, 2003; Ihlen, Allern, Thorbjornsrud, & Waldahl, 2010; Gross & Kopper, 2011; Shoemaker, Cohen, Seo, & Johnson, 2012). Large-scale public opinion surveys have shown that foreign and international news can substantially affect the audience’s knowledge, perception, and attitude toward other nations (Perry, 1990; Salwen & Matera, 1992). It is exactly for this reason that foreign news is ‘a prime example of an area where most of us are reliant on what the media report’ (Ihlen, Allern, Thorbjornsrud, & Waldahl, 2010, p. 31). Moreover, because international diplomacy and foreign policy making increasingly takes place within the media, foreign correspondents assume a key position in public conversation about foreign policy (Wu & Hamilton, 2004; Gross & Kopper, 2011).
