THROUGH OUR LENS
International Context
How is coverage from U.S. newsrooms informed by power imbalances between the U.S. government and other international governments, assumptions about migrants, and American exceptionalism?
Defense Secretary Robert McNamara points to a map of Vietnam during a press conference in 1965. Credit: Library of Congress / Marion S. Trikosko.
THROUGH OUR LENS
International Context
How is coverage from U.S. newsrooms informed by power imbalances between the U.S. government and other international governments, assumptions about migrants, and American exceptionalism?
About this lens
U.S. news organizations often cover international affairs by privileging U.S. government narratives over the experiences and expertise of people living through the events being reported. These assumptions also shape reporting on migration and displacement, which can portray people crossing borders as threats or crises without examining the circumstances driving their movement.
Constant news coverage and narrative frames about events outside the U.S. have affected foreign policy, a phenomenon referred to as the “CNN effect”.
Our coverage examines how U.S. journalism both reflects and influences political power. We also examine what U.S.-based journalists can learn from reporting in places such as Palestine and the Philippines, where journalists contend with different political pressures and threats to press freedom, and how U.S. news coverage shapes debates about migration, displacement, and anti-immigrant sentiment.
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