Recently this map, which shows how the picture of the US gets distorted if states are sized according to how much news they generate, attracted my attention.

Originally credited to Science News magazine, it appeared in the blog Strange Maps and then was picked up in Adrian Monck’s journalism blog. It is based on an analysis of 72,000 wire-service news stories from 1994 to 1998 and shows how reporting on the government out of Washington, DC and on events in the northeast of the country dominate the news agenda.

I thought it would be interesting to share how the Reuters News map of the world looks. With 190 bureaus around the world we are hugely global, but the bulk of the news by volume that we put out is indeed about the G8 countries and the key emerging markets.

There are stories everywhere, but the news agenda is always a balance between the push of what journalists think is important and the pull of what you, the readers, want to know about.

Important stories from under-reported countries sometimes take a very long time to get the attention of journalists and then of the public.

It is our job as journalists and editors to make sure that we’re there to cover the news, wherever it may happen. Beyond that, we have a responsibility to ensure stories that deserve attention actually get it.

We do that with good writing; we do that with the quality of our sources; we do that by making the connections that show why something is important.

Let’s work together to make sure the long tail of news really works to illuminate all parts of our world.