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The preliminary findings of a new global study of international television networks suggest that US stations broadcast more violence than their European and Middle Eastern counterparts. The Measuring Peace in the Media study , carried out for the first time by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) and Media Tenor, analysed the coverage of 37 TV news and current affairs programmes from 23 networks in 15 countries and then compared it against IEP's annual Global Peace Index (GPI) which measures the levels of peace and violence in 149 countries.

According to the study the four programmes which devoted more than 50 per cent of their coverage to violence were CBS Evening News, Fox Special Report and ABC World News from the US and ITV News at 10 from the UK.

Overall the report claims that BBC Newsnight and ZDF Heute Journal were the two programmes with coverage which most closely aligned to the rankings of the GPI while BBC World was highlighted as the "widest ranging international news source" covering 67 countries in the study's findings.

In a case study on the news coverage of Afghanistan the report warns that the over-reporting of violence is "impeding peace" in the country.

According to the study, CNN International, BBC World and Al Jazeera English all carried a similar number of reports on the topics that received the most total coverage: warfare, elections, crime and international politics. But Al Jazeera News was found to have broadcast three times as many positive stories as BBC World and more than eight times as many positive stories as CNN International Desk.

"Regardless of whether the tone of the coverage is positive or negative, it is essential for the media to spend editorial time focusing attention on the building blocks of peace ", Steve Killelea, founder of the IEP said in a release.

"There is always some progress being made no matter how dire the situation. And, when too much media attention is placed on violence and security this reinforces the view that these are the only ways to establishing peace. This runs contrary to what experts tell us about how to create peaceful societies."

Other key findings from the study:
  • The 10 TV programmes reporting the most violence dedicate on average 48 per cent of their coverage to violence; eight of these programmes are from the US or UK;
  • The 10 TV programmes reporting the least violence dedicate 50 per cent less of their coverage (24 per cent) to violence; seven of these programmes are from Africa or the Middle East;
  • US and European broadcasters dedicate more than 60 per cent of their coverage on the Middle East to violence.

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Written by
Rachel Bartlett

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