Foreign Journalism in the Era of Globalization : An Ethnographic Study of Foreign Correspondents of the German Broadcasting Network ARD in Europe

Abstract: The aim of this master thesis is to figure out the role of foreign correspondents within Europe during today’s developments of globalization and digitalization, in the view of professional foreign journalists. The continent becomes closer in terms of politics, currencies and cultures, and a growing infrastructure simplifies travelling and communication. Therefore, the role and function of foreign journalists are more and more questioned. The main focus of this thesis is thereby the case of the foreign correspondence offices of the German public broadcasting network ARD. An auto-ethnographic study was used to base the analysis of this thesis on own perspectives. In a further step interviews with five foreign journalists examine the experiences of professionals in this field. The analysis is based, besides these two qualitative methods, on the theories of Siemes (2000), Cole and Hamilton (2008), and Archetti (2013).The researches’results demonstrate strong arguments for the relevance of the maintenance of foreign correspondences within Europe as the role of public broadcasters in particular is to inform, explain and classify happenings within the own country as well as in foreign areas to the audience. The nearby countries play thereby an important role due to many points of contact; for that reason professional journalists should further on hold the function to care for enlightenment.