Media of the world and world of the media: A Cross-National Study of the Rankings of the ‘Top 10 World Events’ from 1988 to 1998

This article studies the rankings of the top 10 world events from 1988 to 1998 by 11 media representing eight countries and examines the similarities as well as differences between/across media and nations. Findings indicate that all media display biases of their own in their rankings of world events and are myopic to those stories that are culturally, geographically and psychologically close. Media from the same national settings show strikingly similar patterns in their evaluations of world news. The US media are the most provincial in their approach to world news while the USA is the top news-maker with all media. The study also reveals some general patterns among media from different national contexts in their approach to evaluating world events.