Book Review: American Journalism and International Relations: Foreign Correspondents from the Early Republic to the Digital Age, by Giovanna Dell’Orto

Abstract

American Journalism and International Relations: Foreign Correspondents from the Early Republic to the Digital Age. Giovanna Dell'Orto. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 287 pp. $99 hbk.Today's highly partisan political environment easily lends itself to binary assessments of the media. Depending on your political orientation, certain media organizations may be perceived as either an excellent watchdog or a conniving government collabo- rator. Historically speaking, the media have been both. In her sweeping and ambitious book, American Journalism and International Relations: Foreign Correspondents from the Early Republic to the Digital Age, Giovanna Dell'Orto documents both roles, but argues that the substance of media coverage of foreign correspondence is less important than the fact that the coverage exists at all.In a dense introduction, Dell'Orto, a former reporter for the Associated Press and currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, explicates a constructivist approach to mass media and international relations. Artfully drawing on theory from both fields, she views mass media narratives as a mediator of foreign policy due to their ability to shape a shared global discourse. Dell'Orto argues that using a constructivist approach, one that acknowledges the socially constructed and historical features of discourse, facilitates making causal claims supported by a secondary analysis of social, political, and insti- tutional practices.In the next four chapters of the book, Dell'Orto reports on a discourse analysis of two thousand news articles spanning twenty international incidents described by American foreign correspondents between 1848 and 2008. Notably and understand- ably, Dell'Orto does not look at conflicts the United States was directly involved in, arguing in such circumstances, war correspondence is essentially domestic news. In the final main chapter before the conclusion, Dell'Orto offers a call to action for the future of foreign correspondence, essentially arguing for its sustainability despite the cost-cutting measures pursued by major news organizations.Dell'Orto is at her best explaining her historical case studies. She offers a model of cultural history, prefacing each chapter with an overview of the political, social, cul- tural, and economic realities of a period before delving into specifics. Her choice of case studies are engaging and cover some lesser studied periods of American foreign correspondence, including the Boxer Rebellion and the Russian Revolution. It is fas- cinating to read how early foreign correspondents inserted their own eyewitness nar- ratives into stories while still offering valuable analysis. …