西方國際新聞研究早年多從依附理論角度出發，以內容分析方法探討國際新聞流通之內容與結構。1980～1990 年代興起之世界系統與全球化理論風潮則對此類研究影響深遠，相關研究不再侷限於傳統新聞價值之討論，改而結合政經、社會、文化等鉅觀取向。本研究試圖銜接1980 年代以降的台灣國際新聞流通研究，以內容分析方法比較《中國時報》、《聯合報》、《自由時報》、《中央日報》之國際新聞內容與形式，藉以探討其在報導數量、報導類型、消息來源、報導國家、與報導語氣等類目之表現。

Scholars have taken various approaches to explain mechanisms that shape the phenomenon of international news, and criticized that only some negative events about the Third World were selected while others greatly ignored. Based on the plethora of theories and research studies on international news flow presented in the past decades, this study analyzes foreign news coverage portrayed in Taiwanese newspapers from 1988 to 1999 in four major Taiwanese newspapers in terms of categories such as reported area, reported country, size, valence, and sources.
The results show that these selected Taiwanese newspapers have been consistently biased to favor events emerged in the First World countries, and not surprisingly the United States continues to be the most covered nation in all these four newspapers. Eliteness, geographical distance, and negativity of news events are concluded to be the three major factors determining foreign news reporting in Taiwanese newspapers.