There are days when it is utterly humiliating to be American.
I’m not really talking about those times when you’re being a tourist and you can’t figure out if this Circle Line train is going to take you to Hammersmith or Edgeware Road and you have to ask the locals. I rather enjoy those moments because I love meeting locals and hearing their stories; they serve as a constant reminder of Londoners’ friendliness.
I’m more referring to the situations in which we, as Americans, know less about our own country than most of Europe. I’m in an International Journalism class, so of course the class would be made up of many news-oriented people; this particular class has students from Greece, Somalia, Wales, Brazil, China, and pretty much every other area of the world. But when we discuss the issue of Israel and Palestine, and a girl from Norway knows the entirety of the U.S.’s position on the conflict (the details of which none of the Americans in the class, myself included, can really identify), I am once again reminded of Americans’ ignorance. I read the news quite a bit, and have done even more now that I’m in a class where it is (rightfully) assumed that students are well-informed.
But even with this increase in my own reading, I know virtually nothing about the political system of Brazil; China’s transition to capitalism; or the whole reason the Greeks caused the value of the Euro to plunge. We hardly know what’s going on in our own neighborhoods, and what news we do get is from a partisan news source; it’s the take on the news we want to hear.
(I’m not intending to take a stand about American versus British journalism, because (as we discussed today in International Journalism), American newspapers like the New York Times are held to higher standards regarding multiple credible sources, whereas many British papers—excepting outlets like the Guardian –don’t hold themselves to those standards. I’m just saying that we Americans form our opinions based on the little news we’ve heard, then seek out additional news that backs up our opinion. Hell, many of us probably don't read or watch the news at all.)
This has become more of my rant about American ignorance (mine as much as anyone else’s.) Please, somebody, just scan BBC, and I’ll be happy as a clam.
I’m not really talking about those times when you’re being a tourist and you can’t figure out if this Circle Line train is going to take you to Hammersmith or Edgeware Road and you have to ask the locals. I rather enjoy those moments because I love meeting locals and hearing their stories; they serve as a constant reminder of Londoners’ friendliness.
I’m more referring to the situations in which we, as Americans, know less about our own country than most of Europe. I’m in an International Journalism class, so of course the class would be made up of many news-oriented people; this particular class has students from Greece, Somalia, Wales, Brazil, China, and pretty much every other area of the world. But when we discuss the issue of Israel and Palestine, and a girl from Norway knows the entirety of the U.S.’s position on the conflict (the details of which none of the Americans in the class, myself included, can really identify), I am once again reminded of Americans’ ignorance. I read the news quite a bit, and have done even more now that I’m in a class where it is (rightfully) assumed that students are well-informed.
But even with this increase in my own reading, I know virtually nothing about the political system of Brazil; China’s transition to capitalism; or the whole reason the Greeks caused the value of the Euro to plunge. We hardly know what’s going on in our own neighborhoods, and what news we do get is from a partisan news source; it’s the take on the news we want to hear.
(I’m not intending to take a stand about American versus British journalism, because (as we discussed today in International Journalism), American newspapers like the New York Times are held to higher standards regarding multiple credible sources, whereas many British papers—excepting outlets like the Guardian –don’t hold themselves to those standards. I’m just saying that we Americans form our opinions based on the little news we’ve heard, then seek out additional news that backs up our opinion. Hell, many of us probably don't read or watch the news at all.)
This has become more of my rant about American ignorance (mine as much as anyone else’s.) Please, somebody, just scan BBC, and I’ll be happy as a clam.
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