ABSTRACT
This longitudinal study examines what is ‘‘normal’’ in US newspaper foreign coverage in the twentieth century. A quantitative content analysis of three newspapers among the 40 examined by Woodward (1930) looked at two constructed weeks of each in 1927, 1947, 1977, and 1997. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to explain the findings related to 39,841 articles encompassing 246,301 paragraphs in 168 issues. Our findings support what we call Woodward’s Law: putative lapses in foreign news coverage are actually the norm. Low levels of foreign news are the benchmark that should set expectations; it is the increases, which occur particularly during wars, that are exceptional. This research indicates, first, that the proportion of foreign news is relatively small in times of peace. Second, increases indicate that lamentations about the decline of foreign news during the twentieth century were overstated. Third, neither absolute-item frequency nor front-page analyses provide a complete or accurate picture. Our investigation, one of the most exhaustive ever, suggests a better outcome through examination of the entire news hole using both proportion and absolute-item frequency.
