THE MASS MEDIA AND INFERENCE ABOUT OTHER NATIONS
- 1 October 1985
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Communication Research
- Vol. 12 (4) , 595-614
- https://doi.org/10.1177/009365085012004008
Abstract
Previous research into claims that the Western press provides an inadequate picture of developing countries has neglected effects of media content on audiences. This study examines the influence of news about foreign countries on the accuracy of people's inferences concerning both Third World and more developed countries. An experiment on 109 U.S. residents tested whether unrepresentative news content creates unrepresentative mental images of foreign countries. Those who read an unrepresentative news story about a prototypical European or African country made less accurate judgments about the country than did participants who read no story.Keywords
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