News Diversity in Decline? A Longitudinal Analysis (2003–2023) of Actor and Topic Diversity in Broadcast News

Bibliographic Data

ID12659502
AuthorsCato Depauw (0009-0005-9610-3147, University of Antwerp), Stefaan Walgrave (0000-0003-1814-1015, University of Antwerp, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-20
Publication date2026-02-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-670X • E-ISSN: 1469-9699
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1461670x.2026.2626416
OpenAlexW7127911110
LanguageEN
References cited61

Content diversity is widely recognised as a key indicator of news quality, reflecting journalists’ professional roles in providing information and serving as democratic watchdogs. However, journalism has faced significant challenges over time, making it increasingly challenging for journalists to fulfil these roles. This paper examines how news diversity has evolved over time through a content analysis of longitudinal data from Flemish television news broadcasts between 2003 and 2023. The study employs an innovative week-level measurement approach. It looks at topic and actor diversity and compares between public service and private broadcast news. We find that concerns over declining content diversity are unwarranted, as both broadcasters have consistently maintained high levels of topic and actor diversity, following similar trends over time

Broadcasting (networking · Content analysis · Cultural diversity · Diversity (politics · Journalism · News media · Computational and Text Analysis Methods · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication

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