ABSTRACT
In contrast to the United States, Germany has a strong public service broadcasting system that reaches all parts of the country and is mandated to deliver news from around the world each day. We discuss the key characteristics of the German public service broadcasting system and compare the quantity of foreign affairs news in evening news programs on the flagship public service (ARD and ZDF) and private channels (RTL and SAT.1) from 2001 to 2007. We find that while the amount of foreign affairs new ebbs and flows, it remains substantial and within the range of 40–50 percent of the programs on both the public service and the private channels. We then compare programs in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, South Africa, United States and on transnational Arabic channels, for one year from April 2007 to April 2008, to assess what regions are covered and what predicts foreign news. Geographic proximity and national interest were shown to be important factors in explaining the regional focus of foreign news in these countries and outlets.
