This research comparatively examined 1) The main factors influencing the international news selection processes of television journalists, and newsroom editorial procedures and control mechanisms in the three television news organizations – Cable News Network (CNN), and Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), non-commercial network and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), commercial network – through participant observation of each newsroom, and in-depth interviews and surveys of their news personnel; and 2) The main topics and actors of domestic and international news in the three main news programs – CNN “PrimeNews,” KBS “9 O’clock News” and SBS “8 O’clock News” – using content analysis.
The key finding is that there are significant differences in the selection processes of international news and content between the U.S. CNN, and Korean KBS and SBS news networks. This result suggests that CNN is a more global-oriented news network and is mainly operated by the market-driven business control mechanism, whereas Korean news networks are more national-oriented organizations and thereby focus on maintaining a good relationship with the government, selecting and reporting of news stories.
Another major finding is that there are high similarities in the international news selection processes and content between the KBS and SBS news networks. It arises from the homogeneous profiles of Korean television journalists and highly uniform newsroom editorial procedures and news sources.