Horvit, Gade and Lance: News Wire Greatest Predictor - 89 News Wire Greatest Predictor Of Papers' International News by Beverly Horvit, Peter Gade and Elizabeth A. Lance A content analysis of four non-elite U.S. newspapers found news wires are the strongest predictors of international news. Coverage at some newspapers tends to spotlight a narrow list of countries and neglects the cultural heritage of significant portions of their communities. J ournalists serve as the cartographers of our fime. Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel suggest, by presenting audiences with a map of the world their news coverage.' As Bernard C. Cohen noted: The world looks different to different people, depending not only on their personal interests, but also on the map that is drawn for them by the writers, editors and publishers of the papers they read.'^ For those gatekeepers, what features of the world loom most prominent in their cartographical choices? Most U.S. newspapers lack the resources to base correspondents throughout the world to gather internafional news^ and have fewer than one foreign correspondent each.'' Instead, they must rely on the content supplied by others, such as the Associated Press and The New York Times. Buthow do local gatekeepers choose from the universe of stories supplied by those larger news organizations? Do editors replicate the map provided by others, or do they emphasize some countries more to reflect their communifies' global connections? Existing research on international news flow suggests two primary types of factors—logistics and gatekeeping—influence which stories are covered.^ For U.S. newspapers, a central logistics measure is the international news content Horvit is an adjunct professor. Gade is an associate professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Lance is a doctoral student. Horvit and Lance are in the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri.