Honey, They've Shrunk the News

__"The Shrinking of Foreign News" by Garrick Utley, in Foreign Affairs (Mar.–Apr. 1997), 58 E. 68th St., New York, N.Y. 10021.__

Wearing the obligatory trenchcoat or safari jacket, the foreign correspondent was once a familiar sight on TV’s nightly network newscasts. But no more. Believing that with the Cold War over, the American public has lost interest in events abroad, and facing increased competition from entertainment offerings on cable, the networks have drastically cut back on international coverage. The number of minutes devoted to foreign affairs at ABC News—the only network news division that has kept its overseas operation largely intact—plummeted from 3,733 in 1989 to 1,838 last year. At third-place NBC, it fell even lower, to 1,175.

Paradoxically, notes Utley, former chief foreign correspondent at both of those networks and now a contributor at CNN, this shrinkage is occurring even as American influence in the world is spreading through increased commerce and exports of American popular culture. More Americans are working and traveling abroad today than ever before.

Economics looms large in the networks’ decisions. Whereas radio or newspaper correspondents are essentially on their own, a TV reporter is accompanied by a field producer, a camera operator, and a sound engineer, plus some 600 pounds of equipment. For satellite transmissions, an editor and 600 more pounds of editing equipment are required. "The cost of this journalistic caravan . . . begins at around $3,000 a day," Utley says. "Airfare and excess-baggage charges can easily reach $12,000." Currently, the three TV network news divisions are spending as much as $50 million a year on foreign coverage—still a tempting target for network costcutters.

At the same time, Utley notes, there is a lot more foreign news aimed at niche audiences. TV offers the all-news channels— CNN, MSNBC, and the fledgling Fox News—and numerous business and financial channels. National Public Radio and Public Radio International also provide extensive international reporting (at a fraction of the cost in television). Daily TV programs from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America are transmitted via satellite to niche and ethnic markets in the United States. And then there’s the World Wide Web.

So what’s the problem? Those people eager to find out about foreign affairs "will be better served" by the new specialized media, Utley says. "Since they will likely be opinion makers—and voters—public discussion of foreign affairs could conceivably improve." But unfortunately, he says, the broader American public will be left out.