International News Nowhere to Be Found
Posted August 19th, 2008 by Diana Gerardi
When supermodel and “celeb du jour” Anna Nicole Smith died, every news network pounced. Not only did coverage of her death become the leading U.S. news story for days, it also eclipsed news coverage of every other country, with the exception of Iraq.
Perhaps we could forgive our mainstream media if this was a one-time instance of journalism gone gonzo – but as Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International, summed up during a presentation at this year’s Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference, our U.S. media consistently overlooks international news in favor of domestic coverage, celebrity gossip and junk news.
Miller points out the disappointing reality of the lack of international news in our media. After reviewing news coverage for one month – February 2007 – Miller discovered that 79 percent of total coverage focused on the United States, while the remaining 21 percent of coverage focused on international news – most of it on Iraq. Combined, China, Russia and India accounted for only 1 percent of news coverage.
It’s not because there’s simply nothing to report on the international scene that our media gives the rest of the world the cold shoulder. With the massive consolidation of U.S. news outlets has come the shutting of foreign news bureaus. Miller says U.S. news networks have reduced their foreign news bureaus by half.
Although media conglomerates like us to think they’re just giving us the news coverage we want, there is a large audience hungry for world news. It’s simply cheaper for Big Media to feed us the same stories rather than put resources into covering vital issues around the globe. Although media conglomerates have the funds to cover world news, they are hungry for ever-more profits to feed their shareholders and themselves.
But even as we clamor for more serious, informative and quality journalism, we’re left with news reels that leave us wholly unaware of the world outside Big Media’s purview.
It’s clear that our news media is bad enough, but the FCC wants to allow for even more media consolidation. I guess we can look forward to more of the same – or worse – unless we can stop the FCC. The Senate has already voted to nullify the FCC’s cross-ownership decision. Now it’s up to the House to do the same. And it’s up to you. Tell your representative that there’s an urgent need to stop further media consolidation. Our worldview depends on it.
