Mass Media Global Comparisons

Contact

Debora Cheney
Larry and Ellen Foster Communications Librarian, and, Head, Library Services to the World Campus/Penn State Online
814-863-1345

or Your Campus Librarian

Related Guides

News Media Trends

News & Newspaper Sources

Comparing Media Systems

News Media Ethics Sources

Background Resources

Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications (ScienceDirect)
- Can be searched by subject as well as country (“geopolitical studies”)
- Includes articles on the status of media in a range of countries worldwide
World Press Encyclopedia (Gale)
- Overview of press by country
- Information on political and economic framework, press laws and censorship
The Handbook of Global Communications and Media Ethics (Wiley)
- Contains case studies on reporting, censorship, responsibility, terrorism, disenfranchisement, and guilt throughout many countries and regions worldwide
- Examines important themes in communication ethics

Specific Data

Databases

World Development Indicators (WDI)
- Nearly 800 statistical indicators relates to social and economic development
  - Organized into six sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States & Markets, Global Links
  - Download data
  - Choose regions/countries
  - Communication subsets are within development framework
Global Development Finance (GDF)
- Companion database to World Development Indicators
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
- Comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs
- Updated monthly
MBS (Monthly Bulletin of Statistics Online)
- Includes detailed economic, industrial, trade, and population statistics from over 200 countries & territories
- Data can be graphed, printed, or downloaded
- Compiled by United Nations
SourceOECD
- Science & Information Technology 2009
  - Statistics on trends in media usage, convergence, digital television, etc.
  - Chapter on broadcasting services
  - Presents the most recent comparable data on the performance of the communications sector in OECD countries and their policy frameworks
  - Examines major changes and future trends in the telecommunications industry; explores developments in Internet, broadcasting and cable television
- Telecommunications Database
  - Telecom and internet reports
  - Broadband statistics
- Telecoms Infrastructure to 2030
  - Book chapter
- OECD Communications Outlook
  - Annual reports
Passport GMID (Euromonitor)
- Tip: From the "Countries and Consumers" tab, choose "Technology, Communications and Media," where categories include:
  - Cinema and Film
  - Computers and Internet
  - Media Access and Advertising
  - Telecommunications
- International demographic, macro-economic, and marketing data
- Industry statistics, company and brand rankings, emerging industries and trends, and consumer lifestyle statistics

Websites

European Audiovisual Observatory
- Contains legal information, market data, industry reports
- Provides statistical and analytical information
CIA World Factbook
- Facts and statistics on more than 250 countries and other entities
- Country comparisons
World Summit on the Information Society
- Country profiles
  - Profiles of information technology in Arabic countries of the Middle East
  - Reports contain information on television, internet, PC penetration; legal and regulatory frameworks (some are in Arabic)
Nordicom
- Comprehensive information on the Nordic media market (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden)
- Comparative statistics and analysis
- News about recent developments

News Content

Access World News (Newsbank)[Text Content; Limited Streaming Video]
- Search by global region, country, publication title
- Full-text articles from US national and regional newspapers
- Some video and web only content
Lexis Nexis Academic - News Sources [Text Content Only]
- News coverage from US and international publications
- Useful tool to compare how news events are covered by different media outlets
Factiva
- Global, full-text information resource with daily update
- Within industry, search media and/or telecommunications
- Restrict by region or country
- We have a limited number of user seats for this database. Please select the logout option before you leave your session.
PressDisplay Electronic Image Database
- Over 1000 newspapers in 39 languages
- Most recent 60 days only
- Printing instructions

Journal Databases

ProQuest (Multilple Databases)
- Database of scholarly journals, trade magazines and other periodicals and business news sources; U.S. and international sources
- Good source of current business news and analysis of media companies and industry trends from trade publications
- Search for entities (“MTV Asia”) or topics (“media ethics”)
- Full-text articles
Communications and Mass Media Complete
- Comprehensive resource of scholarly journals and other periodicals related to communications and mass media, most containing full-text articles
- Good source of information on communication issues on a worldwide scale, from a variety of publishers, research institutions and information sources
- Directs users to location of full-text articles, or prompts for articles that can be obtained through Inter library loan
Academic Search Complete
- Multi-disciplinary database with full-text periodicals, trade publications and peer-reviewed journals
- Includes monographs (books), reports, and conference proceedings
- Many articles in PDF format
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
- Articles on news media, press freedom, media controls, etc., in political and scholarly journals

Data Sources

PSU Databases

Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage
- Includes surveys of Asian broadcasting and cable industry and publishing industry; survey of European publishing industry
- Good source of media statistics; information on key regional players in media industry; advertising spending by country; projections and analysis
- Up-to-date information
- Valuable source of company news and data
Mintel Reports
- Reports available for US and European markets
- Search for industry and company data
OECD iLibrary
- Full-text book and serial publications from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Includes many of the data sets available from the organization
UNdata
- Social and economic data from 30 specialized international intergovernmental agencies
- Data can be displayed in HTML or downloaded in excel or csv format
- MBS (Monthly Bulletin of Statistics Online)

Websites

US Commercial Service Export Portal (Market Research Library)
- Government source of market research
- Search articles by industry
- Wide range of communications-related articles on global markets
- Create a username and password to gain access to articles
Freedom House - Freedom of the Press: A Global Survey of Media Independence
- Annual short reports on the state of press freedom in 193 countries
- Legal, political and economic environment analyzed for each country; numerical scores assigned to each of these indicators, with high scores indicating limited or no press freedom
International Press Institute
- Global organization with members in 120 countries; promotes and defends press freedom
- Media law watchdog
- Good source of articles on issues concerning journalism from many regions around the world