Who decides what we read?

Recent years have seen cutbacks in foreign media coverage, particularly in newspapers. Paul Donovan speaks to three prominent correspondents about why this is so.
! CHECIINYA RECEIVED a great deal of coverage over Christmas and the New Year. What ; factors influenced this expo. sure?
"There was a war in progress and a small group of reporters were on the ground to send • back pictures and copy. Paul . Lowe has been the photographer whose work has been featured most widely on the Chechnya struggle. The time when the fighting broke out was also influential in gaining coverage the story first broke ' in what was a 'slow news week': there weren't many other stories competing for space."
Some critics say that foreign news coverage is dictated by the fate of expatriates. Cambodia, for instance, received more coverage in the British press as a result of Western hostages being seized than at any time since the last election, despite a number of ongoing crises.
"Undoubtedly the fate of British citizens is an influential factor in deciding if a story is covered and how much . coverage is given. The public are interested in the plight of British people so that undoubtedly effects the subjects covered. The reason Bosnia received so much coverage is its location in central Europe and the fact that so many British people had previously visited . the region on holiday."
Shrinking budgets are sometimes cited for reduc, tions in foreign news cover: age. True ?
"Budgets are undoubtedly a factor. Generally, what people are interested in is what Princess Diana, Prince Charles or Camilla Parker Bowles are doing, not foreign news. Home news is what sells."
John Gittings, Foreign leader writer The Guardian How ARE PRIORITIES set for foreign coverage?
"The priorities are set historically so each foreign editor inherits 2 team. In recent times we have shifted the emphasis to Europe, especially Eastern Europe. The Guardian only had its first Moscow based correspondent in 1985."
Has there been a shift from Third World/South coverage?
"The Third World was very much the focus of Cold War conflict. What happened was that, in the late '80s, Europe became much more the focus. The Third World has not received the attention that ideally with more space and resources it should."
How restrictive are budget pressures on foreign news coverage?
"The foreign budget in this paper and others is the largest budget and has increased in real terms over the past few years. Although there is pressure on space, it is encouraging that foreign stories now find their way into other parts of the paper. The Mclean:I magazine, for instance, often carries serious foreign stories like John Pilger on East Timor."
Taking the Cambodia situ
ation, the last big splash came when the hostages were taken and to some extent a similar pattern was evident with Kashmir. Would you see this approach as indicative of a Little Englander approach?
"On Cambodia we did a lot when there was fighting, but again it is a most complicated issue to keep up with the internal politics. To deal with that adequately you would need a big operation to examine the Khmer Rouge and Thailand's role."
If you decide to do an indepth study on Kashmir or Cambodia, how would you arrive at that decision?
"We would have an editorial conference. Perhaps someone who had done a bit of research would make out a case and the foreign editor may go away and talk to his or her colleagues. It may be helpful if some of the work had already been done, a book published or a particularly noteworthy conference. I suppose if Kashrniri liberation activists captured a jumbo jet then we would say, what have we done about Kaslunir?"
The reverse side of this argument is that Kashmiri separatists may view capturing Westerners as the way to access the media.
"Yes, that is certainly so."
Patrick Bishop, Foreign Correspondent, The Daily Teleg-raph How CAN NEWSPAPERS compete with the immediacy
that the television medium offers?
"Something the papers have been slow to exploit is that TV images often obscure as much as they illuminate. What newspapers should be telling you is much more about the political, cultural and social elements behind the daily news and raising more questions."
You mean analysis?
"I think this is very important in the age in which we live, which is very big on rhetoric about democracy and human rights but is very bad at organising itself to ensure these words are turned into policy. Right across the newspaper spectrum there is a move towards lifestyle coverage. I think this is a great missed opportunity. The more fast information there is, the less understanding there appears to be among people. I am sure people understand less about the contemporary world in an age of mass literacy than their literate equivalents did 50 or 60 years ago."
If one paper addressed the issues and devoted resources and effort to investigative journalism, wouldn't they would attract many readers?
"Yes, but I don't think people have a particularly reflective relationship with their newspapers: they buy a paper because it suits their general needs. Rejection of a newspaper is a gradual process over time. All newspapers are relentlessly turning readers off.
"The same subjects are run over and over again, the same pap being recycled in a thousand different newspapers. If you were prepared to put more of a premium on what you put in your columns, I think we would get better results and a