Here’s something you may not know: TIME actually publishes four different versions of its magazine, for the U.S., European, Asian, and South Pacific markets. Sometimes the covers are all the same. And sometimes they’re different.
Now, here’s an eye-opener: check out these TIME magazine covers for the October 24, 2011 issue.
Screenshot from TIME's official website.
The covers for Europe, Asia, and South Pacific all say the same thing: “WHY THE U.S. WILL NEVER SAVE AFGHANISTAN.” Hm…seems like an issue that might concern their U.S. market, right? But the American cover doesn’t even mention Afghanistan. It’s a story about “the return of the silent majority” in the U.S., along with headlines about Occupy Wall Street, and why George Clooney isn’t running for President. (I’m going to guess, because he’s an actor. Not that it stopped Ronald Reagan.)
The message is clear. The rest of the world can handle the truth about the international stage. Americans would prefer to stay wrapped in their bubble.
Now, this isn’t entirely fair to TIME. The very next issue has a story about China’s economy on the U.S. cover, while the rest of the world gets an inside look at the animated movie Tintin. And there’s no question that TIME does cover substantial, international issues, which is why I subscribe to it. But scrolling through their archive, you find enough cases like the one I highlighted above, that you start to get a little worried.
Are Americans blinded by a veil of ignorance about the rest of the world?
Frankly: yes.
Go to ABCNews.com and look at the top headlines. I’ll do it right now. Here’s a sampling:
- America’s Top Ten Trashiest Spring Break Destinations
- Who’ll Win Oscar? Nominee Scorecard
- 7 Oscar-Worthy Animals
- Celine Dion’s Onstage ‘Oops’
- Nixon Clarifies Bisexuality Comments
- Beware of ‘Fake’ Shopping Sales
- Baltic Mystery Object: Millennium Falcon?
- The Car of the Future?
- WATCH: Super Bowl Ads Preview
Even slightly more substantial stories, like “Rick Santorum Says Daughter Is ‘Out of the Woods'” and “[Ron] Paul’s Nevada Strategy Called ‘Odd,'” focus more on the theatrics and maneuvering of the campaigns than on the real debate about which (if any) of these people are qualified to be the most powerful human being on the planet.
Americans talk a lot about the comparative quality of their various news sources, but the debate tends to focus on conservative vs. liberal bias, Fox News vs. NPR. I think we miss the bigger issue with our news: it is myopic, focusing us inward, shutting out all the rest of the world except for what happens to be most entertaining, most graphic, most shiny right now.
So what’s the solution?
Well, personally, I get my news from several websites. I read MSNBC.com, which does have some “fluff,” but overall does a pretty decent job of covering real stories, both inside and outside the U.S.
But more importantly, I also read two other, less “mainstream” news sites: Radio Liberty and Al Jazeera. The former is funded by the U.S. government, and the latter by the Qatari government, so you do have to watch for bias – but they’re different biases, and they seem to agree with each other pretty well in spite of all that. They talk about international issues, political unrest in countries you wouldn’t otherwise hear about, the state of democracy in the world, and what the world really thinks about American power.
Besides those, I also subscribe to TIME, which (as I said) has a lot of great content in spite of the cover thing. And I listen to NPR on the radio while I’m driving, whose program “All Things Considered” does a remarkable job of living up to its ambitious name.
Do you think American news has a problem? Where do you get your news?
Brian D. Buckley 
I’m Canadian, so I can’t say much about your news. I guess we are fairly similar, though, and I think my local news is just fine.
On the website, I can choose which types of news I want to see- regional, provincial, national, and world news, as well as weather, entertainment, health, and such. The information is really simple and factual, and there’s lots of stories about pretty much anything I would want to know.
Thanks, Evlora. With ABCNews (for example) they also have a wide array of different subjects, and I don’t doubt the information is factual. My problem with them is that they emphasize the sensational over the substantial. Hopefully your local site is better, though.
I get a lot of my news from NPR because they tend to keep their reporting simple and straightforward, so at least if there’s a bias it’s a little more obvious. I also read The Atlantic for more in depth analyses, and I’ve always been a little surprised that some of the things they cover don’t get more notice in the more mainstream press. And there are a few other places I check out a little less frequently.
It’s frustrating, though, how little the average American knows or understands about the world. I work in a small office, so it’s easy to hear the things other people are saying, and there have been times I’ve wanted to interrupt a conversation to tell people they’re so off base it’s appalling. And they’re usually off base not because they have wrong information, but because they have incomplete information. They’re making assumptions when they don’t actually have a lot of knowledge about the situation or subject. Absolutely drives me crazy.
Yeah, I like the Atlantic too – I don’t read them regularly, but I’ve been pleased with them when I’ve visited. And I definitely know what you mean about the office conversations!
Does American news have a problem? Yes, yes it does. It’s to the point, I don’t read/watch the news anymore. Not exactly smart, but it’s easier than trying to figure out what’s really going on.
I want to know more, but its hard shifting through everything…
Don’t give up! There is good reporting out there, you just have to hunt a little. Like I said, give Radio Liberty a try to start with.
For me it’s NPR (All Things Considered, Planet Money, This American Life, Marketplace and Monkey See) as well as sadly, The Daily Show. I completely ignore local news, always depressing.
Yeah, I’m the same as you on local news. As for Marketplace, I’d probably listen to it more, except I can’t stand Kai Ryssdal! Something about his voice just drives me up the wall.
You know, when I lived in the U.S. I was only a kid, but I remember being mortified that the “World News” always headlined with a story from the USA, and rarely contained anything about the outside world. That was 25 years ago, so I figured things would have changed significantly. But perhaps not.
In saying that, I don’t think it’s just American news. We have similar issues in Australia. Oh, there’s plenty of news about what the U.S. is doing, detailed breakdowns the political debates over there, stories about Europe and Asia, etc etc. But, on the other hand, the average Australian has a stronger opinion (and more information) about U.S. politics than about our own — in fact, last federal election in Australia, there were a huge number of 18-22 year olds who didn’t realise that the Australian electoral system didn’t operate the same as the American one.
There was a huge political debate last year about introducing a Carbon Tax. It was (as I’m sure you can imagine) a seriously heated issue, with both political parties using carbon emissions as a way to score points off each other, and each leader releasing soundbyte after soundbyte, trying to out-do each other in their commitment to environmental issues whilst simultaneously re-enforcing their commitment to the reduce the cost of living for families. And do you know what headlined on every news station, newspaper, magazine, and radio show?
Oprah’s in Australia!!! Tune in to find out what she eats for breakfast, and what she really thinks of Australian TV!
Wow…I never would have guessed you’d have that problem! I’m sure I would find that very frustrating as well.
I get my new from a lot of sources, but I also only get news when I bother to look it up myself (Or you blog about it: none of the other blogs I check talk about current events) Also occasionally I get some news from my social studies class.
As for the second part to your question (Or was it the first part?) Yes, I think America has a problem. For one thing, we care too much about our celebrities. This brings attention away from the rest of the world. Second, we’re very arrogant. We march into places and try to force countries to accept our help, thinking we can solve any problem. Third, true power lies with the television stations, because a very large chunk of the American populace doesn’t think for themselves, instead only blindly following whatever advertisements manage to catch their attention. Fourth, our school systems are screwed up, and they’re getting worse. This is also supplemented by lack of care or intervention from parents, meaning kids don’t care about their school work as much as they should.
I could go on like this for a while, but I think I’ll stop here. America is riddled with problems, and It’s getting worse. Thinking is dissapearing, becoming obselete. Anyone ever read fareheit 451? The thing is, I can actually imagine america heading down the same path as the society did in that book. It points to a sad future for America if something isn’t done.
I see a lot of the same problems you do, but I’m not so pessimistic. For one thing, even though I agree that advertisements have too much influence over people’s lives, I don’t think people in general are anywhere near as blind or complacent as you make them out to be.
I have read Fahrenheit 451 – and so have you, and so have a lot of other people. It remains in print today as one of the great modern classics. That fact alone gives me hope for the future.