Perspective of Managing Editors on Coverage of Foreign Policy News

Lacking either direct personal contact with or reliable interpersonal channels of information about the foreign policy process, Americans rely heavily on the mass media for foreign policy news.! Of the media, the daily newspaper is apparently the most effective at reporting and influencing foreign policy.* But how do newspapers go about covering foreign policy news? Since it is normally assumed that domestic rather than foreign news sells newspapers, foreign policy coverage is extremely fragile. Its quantity and quality are subject to any number of influences. Some of these are beyond the newspaper's control, but many are centered in the perceptions and preferences of newspaper publishers and editors. And yet, we know surprisingly little about either sort of influence. We know very little about the resources newspapers deploy, the strategies they pursue, the techniques they utilize and the problems they face in covering foreign policy. We know even less about