4~ Comparative Analysis of the Selection Process and Content of Television International News in the United States and Koreai.A Case Study of the U.S. CNN PrimeNews, Korean KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News Programs. A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty ofthe College ofCommunication of Ohio University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor ofPhilosophy by Chun n Park June, 1994 © 1994 Chun II Park All Rights Reserved 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my committee members, Dr. Don M. Flournoy, Dr. Sung Ho Kim, Dr. Guido H. Stempel III and especially Dr. Charles E. Clift III for their guidance, encouragement and support, both in the classroom and during this project. My deepest gratitude in particular goes to Dr. Clift, the committee chair, who believed in and backed the research from the start. His constant input was greatly appreciated and helped keep the research in focus. He was a thorough, patient and supportive editor ofevery chapter, which he promptly returned. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. Flournoy, for his advice and support throughout my doctoral program, and giving me the opportunity to do research in CNN. Without his cooperation this project would have been impossible. My sincere thanks also go to the Dr. Stempel and Dr. Kim who gave their support, comments and suggestions. Acknowledgments must be paid to the professors of Telecommunications, who in various fields have helped me during the course. Their enthusiastic instruction has been ofmuch help in the completion ofthis work. I would like to thank Dr. Woo Hyun Won, my former advisor, for his support and encouragement for the past fifteen years. IV Thanks are also due to the two special persons at Athens--Paster Ken Sang Lee and Dr. Sung Sik Hong--who made my sojourn there special. I wish to express my appreciation to my parents, Dr. Si Woo Park and Dr. Jung Hee Suh, for their patience and love. They have been not only my first educators but also my lifelong supporters. The pray, devotion and reassurance ofmy mother have always been great influences on my life. My warmest gratitude also goes to my uncle, Tae Woo Park, and my aunt at New York for their love and support. I want to say thanks my brothers, Chun Wook Park and Chun Bo Park, and their family in my country for their patience, love and support. And especially, I am eternally grateful for the love, devotion and support of my wife, Rye Kyeong. I could not have completed my course work and dissertation without her. My two sons, Han Seung and Kyung Seung, provided significant inspiration and motivation. v CONTENTS CHAPTER I. mTRODUCTION I 1.1 Purpose and Significance ofthe Study 2 1.2 Three Theoretical Approaches to the Study ofNews Organization and News Selection Process 4 1.3 Outline ofthe Study 8 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 9 2.1 Studies oflntemational News Gatekeeping and Selection Process 9 2.2 Participant Observation Studies on the Newsroom Control Mechanisms and Factors ofthe News Selection Process 14 2.3 Comparative International Studies ofTelevision International News Content 17 2.4 Studies ofMain Actors in News Content 20 2.5 Theoretical Framework ofthe Study 22 2.6 Research Questions 24 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGy 26 3.1 Research Methods and Sample Periods 26 3.2 Sample Selection ofTelevision News Organizations 30 3.3 Content Analysis 33 3.3.1 Coding 33 3.3.2 Coding Reliability 35 3.3.3 Coding Instruction 35 VI 3.4 Survey 37 3.5 Data Analysis ofthe Content Analysis and Survey 38 3.6 OperationalDefinitions 39 3.7 Participant Observation 42 3.7.1 Data Collection 42 3.7.2 Observationand InterviewAnalyses : 44 CHAPTERIV. RESULTS 46 4.1 SurveyResults 46 4.1.1 Comparative Analysis ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Internal Journalist/Organization and External Political/ SocialFactors for the InternationalNews Selection Across the U.S. CNN, and Korean KBS and SBS Television News Organizations 47 4.1.2 Comparative Analysis of the Degree ofinfluence of the IntrinsicContent-Oriented and ExtrinsicContext­ OrientedFactors for the InternationalNews Selection Across the U.S. CNN, and Korean KBS and SBS Television News Organizations 49 4.2 Participant Observation Results 60 4.2.1 Observation Analysis ofNewsroom EditorialProcedures for the Selection ofInternational News in CNN, KBS and SBS 60 4.2.2 InterviewAnalysis ofTelevision Journalists' Perceptions on the International News Selectionand Control Mechanisms in C'NN, KBS and SBS 80 4.3 Content Analysis Results 88 4.3.1 Comparative Analysis ofthe Main Topics ofIntemational and DomesticNews Stories in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clockNews and SBS 8 O'clock News 89 Vl1 4.3.2 Comparative Analysis oftheMain Actors ofInternational and Domestic News Stories in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News 94 CHAPTER V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 104 5.1 Summary and Implications ofFindings 106 5.1.1 Survey Results for Research Question One 106 5.1.2 Participant Observation and Interview Results for Research Questions Two and Three 107 5.1.3 Content Analysis Results for Research Questions Four, Five and Six 111 5.2 Conclusions 114 5.2.1 Uniformity ofCoverage in the Korean News Network 114 5.2.2 Economic Consideration at CNN and Political Consideration at KBS and SBS 115 5.3 Contribution ofthe Research Method 116 5.4 Further Research................................................................................... 117 BffiLIOGRAPHY 120 APPENDICES 127 ABSTRACT Vl11 LIST OF TABLES 1. Sample Time Periods ofthe Three Research Methods. 30 2. The Number ofNews Workers Interviewed in CNN, KBS and SBS. 42 3. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Internal Journalist! Organization (I) and the External Political/Social Factors (E) for the International News Selection Between CNN and KBS/SBS. 52 4. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Internal Journalist! Organization (I) and External PoliticallSocial Factors (E) for the International News Selection Among CNN, KBS and SBS. 54 5. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Intrinsic Content- Oriented (N) and Extrinsic Context-Oriented Factors (X) for the International News Selection Between CNN and KBS/SBS. 56 6. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Intrinsic Content- Oriented (N) and Extrinsic Context-Oriented Factors (X) for the International News Selection Among CNN, KBS and SBS. 58 7. Comparison ofthe Lead Stories ofCNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 83 8. Comparison ofthe Main Topics ofAll News Stories in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 97 9. Comparison ofthe Main Topics of International News Items in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 98 10. Comparison ofthe Coverage ofNinety International Events Between CNN PrimeNews and KBS 9 O'clock News. 99 11. Comparison ofthe Coverage ofNinety International Events Between CNN PrimeNews and SBS 8 O'clock News. 99 12. Comparison ofthe Coverage ofNinety International Events Between KBS 9 O'clock New and SBS 8 O'clock News. 99 IX 13 Comparison ofthe Main Topics Between Domestic and International News in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 100 14. Comparison ofthe Quoted Main Actors ofAll News Items in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 101 15. Comparison ofthe Quoted Main Actors ofInternational News Items in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 102 16. Comparison ofthe Quoted Main Actors ofInternational News Items in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 102 17. Comparison ofthe Social Status ofthe Main Actors ofAll News Items in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 103 18. Comparison ofthe Social Status ofthe Main Actors oflntemational News Items in CNN PrimeNews, KBS 9 O'clock News and SBS 8 O'clock News. 103 x LIST OF FIGURES 1. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Internal Journalist! Organization and External Political/Social Factors for the International News Selection Between CNN and KBS/SBS. 53 2. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Internal Journalist! Organization and External Political/Social Factors for the International News Selection Among CNN, KBS and SBS 55 ..., -'. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Intrinsic Content- Oriented and Extrinsic Context-Oirented Factors for the International News Selection Between C~~ and KBS/SBS. 57 4. Comparison ofthe Degree ofInfluence ofthe Intrinsic Content- Oriented and Extrinsic Context-Oirented Factors for the International News Selection Among CNN, KBS and SBS. 59 5. The Flow Chart ofthe International News Selection Process of the CNN " International News Gathering. tI 68 6. The Flow Chart ofthe International News Selection Process of the KBS " International News Division." 69 7. The Flow Chart ofthe International News Selection Process of the SBS It International News Division.It 70 8. The Flow Chart ofthe International News Selection Process of the CNN " PrimeNews." 77 9. The Flow Chart ofthe International News Selection Process of the KBS " 9 O'clock News. It 78 10. The Flow Chart ofthe International News Selection Process of the SBS " 9 O'clock News." 79 Xl Chapter I. Introduction Television news organizations. Television journalist. Television news content in the United States and Korea. Domestic and International news. Gatekeeping. International news selection process. Internal and external factors. Organizational control system. Newsroom editorial procedure. Government regulation of broadcasting. Main actors in the news content. The daily agenda of reports, called "news," produced by the television news organizations is not the inevitable product ofchance events; it is the result of decisions made by the television journalists within a news organization. Journalists have the discretion to select their own news events.