Reporting Latin America in Germany: indicators of ethnocentrism expressed in news values

Abstract

This paper combines a content analysis of 3 831 articles in the German press with eight qualitative interviews with correspondents in the region to assess aspects of ethnocentrism in the news. We considered events from 2000 to 2014 in the following publications: the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Tageszeitung, and Der Spiegel. One-quarter of the analysed events shows a German self-reference, although this involvement is sectorial. Apolitical areas of coverage tend to show a higher level of ethnocentrism. Besides, news items signed by correspondents are less ethnocentric.