Articles
Author: Peter Janssens
Given the two important functions of the media, offering a world image and setting the public agenda, the main question in this article is : "What is the image of society offered by the media ?" For that purpose three years of the radio programme "BRT-Aktueel" are analyzed on the basis of a printed index. A distinction is made between home news, news on states, news on groups of countries and international organizations. The main conclusions are :
1. Most of the coverage concerns foreign issues ;
2. Within each category there is a clear influence of temporary events. This influence seems more important for foreign topics ;
3. The news coverage is strongly concentrated on a relatively small number of issues. This conclusion applies on all categories ;
4. Social and domestic policy dominate the home news ;
5. The coverage of international issues deals mostly with Europe, then with the USSR, and the United States. Other countries are part of the periphery and get attention when a major crisis occurs.
The question rises which factors determinate the selection of issues. Within the limits of this research a few factors can be mentioned : geographical proximity, the structure of the media, the role of press agencies, the international status of a country, the selection by the journalist. It is quite clear that this problem of objectivity ofthe media is a major problem which is linked to the role of the media in a democratie society.
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How to Cite: Janssens, P. (1993) “De beleidsagenda en het 'wereldbeeld' dat Vlaamse media aanreiken”, Res Publica. 35(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/rp.v35i2.18800