An analysis of how 252 newspapers from nearly 100 countries covered the assassination, on September 14, 1982, of president-elect Bechir Gemayel of Lebanon was conducted. The purpose was to determine whether news reporting in developed nations is different from news reporting in developing countries. Methodology included quantitative and qualitative analyses. A systematic discourse analysis provided explicit descriptions of thematic structures, conventional superstructures, local meanings and coherence, style, and rhetoric. The number of articles, coverage size, and story content in developed and developing countries were very similar. Less background coverage was provided, however, in newspapers from developing countries. Major differences between first and third world newspapers exist in their different sources of information: the third world press was almost fully dependent on the transnational news agencies, whereas developed countries had many sources. Two major factors explain the homogeneity of the news: (1) an internationally shared system of news discourse and production rules, and (2) the dominant role of the transnational agencies. (Author/RM)