In recent years, with digitization and young people’s disengagement from newspapers and television advancing, more people have begun using the Internet and smartphones as tools for gathering information. However, smartphones are used for various purposes such as communication and games, and only about 30% of users use news apps. While relatively few people actively seek out news, there is a clear trend of many obtaining it through social media (SNS) apps such as LINE, Twitter, and Facebook.

But how is the world conveyed in the news provided by these SNS apps? This time, we focus on LINE NEWS, provided by LINE, the most widely used SNS app in Japan, and examine its international coverage.

LINE NEWS does not conduct its own reporting; instead, it aggregates reports from multiple traditional media such as newspapers and news agencies. It further narrows these down and delivers eight articles each in the morning, afternoon, and evening (※1) as the LINE NEWS DIGEST. According to LINE, this DIGEST consists of “news the editorial team has carefully selected that you should know and that are being talked about.” In this study, we analyzed the LINE NEWS DIGEST。

LINE NEWS DIGEST (Photo by the author)

Proportion of international coverage

Let us look at international coverage in the LINE NEWS DIGEST. We analyzed the period from May 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. Because we could not access data prior to mid-April, this is an eight-month analysis rather than a full year.

First, we examine the proportion of international news among all articles. The figure below shows the share of international articles relative to the total number of articles (※2).

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As a result, international news accounted for 8.3% in the LINE NEWS DIGEST, or 7.8% when Japan-related international news is excluded. By Japan-related international news we mean items classified as international but concerning Japan, such as reports on Japan–U.S. relations. Compared with the overall figures for international coverage in newspapers in FY2016 (Asahi: 11.7%, Mainichi: 11.0%, Yomiuri: 11.0%, all including Japan-related international news), although the periods are not identical and direct comparison is difficult, we can see that the LINE NEWS DIGEST carries relatively little international news.

International coverage by region

Next, let us look at the volume of international coverage by world region (※3). The figure below shows the results.

In descending order, the shares are Asia, North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Oceania, with Asia dominating at 40.9%. Next come the advanced regions of North America and Europe. Remarkably, these three regions—Asia, North America, and Europe—alone account for 90% of all international coverage. By contrast, the combined coverage for Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Oceania is only 5.6%. Compared with the regional shares in newspapers (based on the total character count of international news in the three major national dailies), in 2016 the order was Asia 46.5%, North America 22.5%, Europe 17.6%, Latin America and the Caribbean 3.8%, Africa 2.1%, and Oceania 0.5%. Although the periods differ and a direct comparison is difficult, the overall tendencies of the LINE NEWS DIGEST and newspapers are broadly similar.

Next, we look in more detail at coverage by country.

Top 10 countries by volume of coverage

The figure below shows the top 10 countries with the greatest volume of coverage in the LINE NEWS DIGEST’s international news. The values on the far right indicate, within international news, the volume of Japan-related international coverage.

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Coverage of the United States is exceptionally high: fully 28% of international news in the LINE NEWS DIGEST is about the U.S. Looking beyond that, the next most-covered are North Korea (18.7%), the United Kingdom (8.4%), South Korea, France, and China—East Asian and European countries. The top three alone account for 55.1%, more than half, and the top 10 together make up 75.0% of all coverage. By contrast, the top 10 countries by coverage in newspapers in FY2016 were the United States, China, South Korea, North Korea, the United Kingdom, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Taiwan, and France. In 2015 they were the United States, China, France, South Korea, Russia, Greece, Syria, Germany, Myanmar, and the United Kingdom. Setting aside countries such as Turkey, Taiwan, and Myanmar whose coverage rose temporarily due to events like terrorism, a coup attempt, or elections, the list is largely similar from year to year.

So what events drew attention in 2017? In the United States, interest centered on statements and actions by Mr. Trump and the U.S. administration. Articles also stood out on incidents such as the collisions involving U.S. Aegis destroyers and the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. There was also extensive reporting on North Korea’s missile launches, as well as on the responses of various countries, summit meetings, and the U.N. Security Council’s actions. In the United Kingdom, terrorism and a residential fire in London were heavily covered. For France, there were many stories related to the presidential election. In short, the top 10 countries are mostly advanced nations or countries considered important to Japan’s security, and coverage focused on military-related events, terrorist incidents, and elections in those countries.

What, then, makes the news in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Oceania, which did not make the top 10? Of 15 stories on Latin America and the Caribbean, nine concerned Mexico, and all were about earthquakes. Of nine stories related to Africa, four were about terrorism. Thus, even in regions that receive little coverage to begin with, most stories are skewed toward countries that experienced major disasters or terrorist attacks, leaving many countries largely overlooked。 

Concluding remarks

Constraints such as limited print space and broadcast time are often cited as obstacles to robust international coverage, but online publishing is cheaper than traditional media and free of such limits, making it possible to cover more stories. This could be seen as an opportunity to increase the volume of international news and reduce imbalances. In practice, however, online outlets such as the LINE NEWS DIGEST select articles from traditional media, so—as with newspapers—the share of international news remains small, and even when it is covered, the same regional and national biases persist.

Although the growing number of people who do not actively seek out news remains a serious issue, the LINE NEWS DIGEST is easy to use and widely adopted because people can check the news while using LINE as a communication tool, and its presence in society is increasing. Yet even as news consumption shifts online, the world people come to know may still be skewed under the current situation. We call for a reconsideration of how international news should be covered.

LINE booth (Photo: Solomon203/Wikimedia Commons)[CC-BY-SA-3.0]

※1 The lineup consists of one large item with a photo, one or two medium items with photos, and five headline-only items.

※2 We consulted each company’s online databases. For the definition of international news articles, see GNV Data Analysis Method [PDF].

※3 Following the standards of the UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division), regions were divided into six: Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Writer: Sayaka Ninomiya
Graphics: Sayaka Ninomiya