There's a lot of talk right now about U.S. media bias. Most are talking about presidential campaigns, but I have a different beef. If you go to Google's news website and click on world news, you'll find some depressing results from all corners of the planet: bombing, attack, state of emergency, terrorism, militant warnings, and so on. This is a common complaint about the U.S. media. Good news is not news. I'm not even going to touch the vacuum of reporting on world events.
But, a quick scan of international news outlets and you find a different story (so to speak). Headlines include: Kenyans complete a climb for peace, UNICEF: child mortality down 27 percent since 1990, Turkish leader in peace mission, among others. There's no lack of bad news mixed in here either, but there is an interesting contrast with the inclusion of a broader range of articles.
It begs the question, if U.S. audiences were exposed to a wider range of "world news" would that help us work toward peace more aggressively? Might be worth a try.
Question of the Day: If U.S. media outlets included 25% more positive news about the rest of the world, would it change thinking of Americans?
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