International news on the internet: Why more is less

Abstract

This study examines the intersection of news agency political economy and cyberspace information exchange between 2001 and 2006 in an effort to determine if online news has corrected – or replicated – the inequities and limitations of the international journalism provided by ‘traditional media’. Through comparisons of content at major online news sites and the output of major news wholesalers, this research is the first to demonstrate that the international news most online users consult is that of just two news agencies. This research finds an online news environment with little real information diversity – a situation at odds with a decade and a half of fervour for the democratizing potential of new media.