Developments in international news production of Dutch newspapers

This master thesis contains an overview of influences on international news sections of Dutch newspapers. During the research project focused on how Dutch international news sections deal with new developments as economic pressure, technological developments, globalization, infotainment and new forms of foreign correspondence. Literature shows that these developments have a significant influence on the American foreign journalism, but how about the Dutch situation? There are several discussions going on in the journalistic world. One discussion in the journalistic world is that the quantity of foreign news coverage is becoming less these days. News organizations have to cut down on expenses because of the decline in advertisement income and decrease in circulation numbers. Since international news sections, with their costly foreign correspondents, are one of the most expensive departments of the news organizations, it is not surprising that news companies have to cut the costs of the foreign news sections. Another argument in the discussion about the declining quality of foreign news is the blurring between entertainment and news. In pursuit of greater circulation, news organizations are stressing more entertainment-oriented, celebrity-soaked infotainment, and soft features that relate to the personal concerns of the audience. Furthermore, scholars are concerned about the quality of foreign news by new technological developments. Through the development of new technologies such as satellite connections, laptops and email and the internet, journalists are starting to feel the pressure of producing their articles or news items in a faster way. This is also a consequence of a stronger competition in the media industry. News has become, even for newspapers, a 24-hour news cycle. This means that even newspapers publish news 24 hours a day. There is a growing sense that getting it first is more important than getting it right. One result is that journalism is sometimes shaky, inaccurate, or worse, and with it has come a serious loss of public trust in news media. However, these new developments, such as technological developments and globalization can also be seen as challenges and opportunities for foreign news reporting. Technological developments, like internet, weblogs, and social software (Facebook, Hyves, LinkedIn, YouTube) are providing an alternative medium where the audience can stay up to date with foreign news affairs. Furthermore, technological possibilities do provide alternative platforms for news organizations to publish their content. A newspaper, for example, can also publish videos on their website. Furthermore, new forms of foreign correspondence might lead to alternative ways of international news reporting. In this master thesis newspapers from the Netherlands are compared with the American literature. Interviews are held with chiefs of the international news sections of five national Dutch newspapers (Volkskrant, Trouw, Telegraaf, AD and NRC Handelsblad) and with five foreign correspondents, working for the same five newspapers. The most important results from the analysis are that in the Dutch situation almost the same developments are going on as was predicted by the American literature. The economic pressure has for most newspapers a significant influence. For them this means that they have got less space in the newspaper. Furthermore, most newspapers have been cutting down on expenses by replacing in-service correspondence by freelancers. In addition, the profession of journalism is changing by among others the technological developments. The rise of internet and newspapers’ websites is resulting in a 24-hour news service of newspapers. Correspondents have to work faster. Also the content of foreign news articles is changing. There is a shift towards more human interest and personal relations in serious news. However, new forms of foreign correspondence are not yet used on a frequent basis at Dutch newspapers.