America’s Fascination with Itself
26. Sep, 2008 
19 Comments
Since I’ve been home, I’ve been plunged head first into the maelstrom of news and coverage regarding the upcoming election and the economic crisis. When I was overseas, I followed the election tangentially. I read the coverage. I talked to people about who they thought would win (most people in Spain said McCain and thought Obama was a “phony”). I had a very hands off and distant relationship with the events. It was nice.
Now that I’m home, I feel like I’m constantly bombarded with news. Practically none of it’s useful. Update: no change. Update on the Update: McCain announces no change. Breaking News: Obama confirms there is no update.
Is there much difference between the frothing at the mouth coverage of presidential elections and the paparazzi that followed Britney Spears around for months?
What has changed most since being home, is the insular nature of the news. I don’t hear about the rest of the world anymore. I wonder what is happening with the Treaty of Lisbon or Georgia. It’s strange to feel like the rest of the world has dropped away. While we’re hyperventilating over Palin (either for or against), there is a whole wide world of things going on, that are likely more important than what kind of animal with lipstick she represents (or doesn’t).
When I was overseas, I heard from a lot of trash talking about Americans. We don’t travel. False: we travel as much as Europeans, but when they take a three hour flight their not in Florida, they’re 2 countries away. We are monolingual. True, but not fair, Europeans have access and exposure where we don’t. We’re stupid. True, but so are you. Dumbass 20 year olds from any country are still dumbasses. Trust me, that accent doesn’t make you waking me up at 2 AM “charming”. We’re fat. Yeah probably, but we’re more products of over processed foods than plain lazy.
Obviously, I will defend the US all day long. I don’t think we’re a fraction as bad as our reputation. We’re a big country, it’s complicated, and we’re not that different.
But I didn’t hear anyone say, “American’s don’t care about the rest of the world.”
I should have. It’s a valid complaint. In every country I visited, people knew who Obama and McCain were. Do you know the leaders of European countries? Italy? Ireland? The British Prime Minister? (No it’s not Tony Blair).
Sarah Palin doesn’t know, although I’m sure she’s studying up. She didn’t know Kissinger’s stance on negotiating with Iran. Do you? Does it affect us? Well, only if you think building a nuclear weapon is something we should watch.
This is just my observation after living abroad for a few months and being out of the loop. I’m sure it’ll all feel “normal” soon enough, and I can go back to wondering what kind of cereal I should eat this morning.
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The average American also only gets two weeks of vacation unlike Europe where the average (for the most part) is at least a month. Makes it tough to see the world if you hold down a traditional job.
I watch the BBC to get a snippet of world news and read the U.K. papers online.
Network news is a joke and CNN isn’t what it used to be.
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Like you, I recently got back from an extended trip abroad and felt like our media was lacking in worldview. So, like the comment above, I signed up for BBC’s RSS feeds. It definitely helps.
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“I should have. It’s a valid complaint. In every country I visited, people knew who Obama and McCain were. Do you know the leaders of European countries? Italy? Ireland? The British Prime Minister?”
I don’t think this is a valid complaint at all.
People in other countries know so much about the US because of its influence on global events–good or bad.
And what’s the logic in saying that because Europeans can name the leaders of the US–one country–that Americans should be expected to name foreign leaders of all other countries.
I have nothing against Ireland. Hell, I’d love to visit there. But their politics have minimal impact on my life. This isn’t grade school. I’m not going to memorize a list of foreign leaders just so I can say that I memorized their names.
Do you think most Europeans know who the President of Uruguay is? Probably not. Then again, why should they?
I Totally agree with your comments here. As an American, I find my self seeking out international news from many sources… as matter of fact on my ipod now I have shows from Ireland, South Africa, Australia, UK, Japan, and I subscribe to much more. I think I’m unique among my friends, and maybe most Americans, but your definitely right on about the News here, it is so useless… when they report something they tell you nothing… it’s all about the headlines.
cheers,
-Skip
Thanks for this. Living in Mexico, I can remain as blissfully oblivious of US news as I’d like (still in denial about my bank being bought out by Chase today), and can hear & read, instead, news from and about other countries. I understand Steve’s point about the fact that the US impacts the world in ways that a country like Uruguay might not. And I agree that one shouldn’t memorize presidents’ names to show off.
But Steve, that’s not the point of Christine’s post. The point is: we could all stand to be a little bit less self-involved, a little bit more intellectually curious, and a lot more demanding that US media be more comprehensive and profound in its coverage. Telling me whether Britney Spears gave birth, cut her hair, or went on a binge this weekend isn’t news. And just because a country doesn’t have a major impact on the rest of the world doesn’t mean it’s somehow less important or interesting.
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This has got to be one of the best entries of yours that I have read. Love the 20 year old is a dumbass no matter where LMAO! Props for mentioning Florida and here in South America, its Obama over McCain.
@ Steve: I think Christine is referring to the fact that most people overseas are more aware of not only what is going on in their own country, but the world also. Ask an average American where Guam is, and they`ll probably point towards the Caribbean…
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Great post, Christine.
I think part of the reason why you didn’t get that particular question, or angle of attack I suppose, is because Europeans don’t realize – and find it hard to fathom once it’s pointed out – what a small portion of world news gets reported in the US.
Canada does better – we fall somewhere between CNN and the BBC, I guess – but still hear much less about world politics than the average European who follows the news. It’s astonishing how under-reported a lot of major – and yes, Steve, some of these things DO affect our sheltered North American lives – news stories are.
As far as the idea that only politics that “matters” to us directly should be paid attention to? George W. Bush got the Canadian Prime Minister’s name wrong on more than one occasion. And, last I heard, Canada remained America’s largest single importer – not to mention the source of a substantial amount of America’s oil… Maybe worth studying up on, eh?
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Since I was repatriated, I can definitely feel the dumbing down effects… all the media is filled with celebrity gossip and stories of lovable ducks… not much else.
Steve does make a valid point, as do Anthony and Julie in their arguments; as cliche as it sounds, America “is kind of a big deal” in the world, so more people are drawn towards news that would affect them personally – a change in US leadership certainly would. On the other hand, of course it’s not stupid of you to be aware of every single major city in every country; the masses may be aware of McCain and Obama, but how many, like Americans, know where they stand on the issues?
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Great, honest post and good comments.
I think many people in America don’t think that the rest of the world really affects them. They don’t realize that the world is more inter-connected than ever. It’s only when a catastrophe happens or oil prices go up dramatically that a small country around the world becomes important. Additionally, the attention span in America seems to be diminishing, so what makes the news one day will be gone the next even if the underlying problems continue.
It’s not a coincidence that CNN international is slightly better than CNN America.
I love this quote from Julie: “we can all stand to be a little bit less self-involved, a little bit more intellectually curious, and a lot more demanding that US media be more comprehensive and profound in its coverage.” This would also raise the bar on what we expect from our politicians and leaders.
I’m a bit frightened to see for myself when we return to the States later this year for a visit. We had a US media taste in Thailand of Fox News – unlike CNN, they don’t change the content for international broadcast. When Anna Nicole Smith’s death was the top story for weeks and weeks, I began to think maybe it was a spoof channel disguised as Fox. It wasn’t.
America media truly is horrid…unless you know where to look. I stopped expecting to get any kind of useful news from big outlets like CNN. They’re embarrassingly ridiculous in terms of their coverage and their obsessiveness with the bombastic. But check out The Jim Leher News Hour on PBS. It’s calm, reflective, devotes a lot of time to the issues, and sometimes has good international coverage. NPR is even better. Lots of great national and international news there. “The World” is a fantastic program.
The US doesn’t do anything in moderation. The media, for example, either is the worst thing you can possibly imagine (FOX news), or highly intelligent and informative. In my view, our best sources were far better than anything I saw in France.
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Excellent comments so far and a wonderful timely post Christine.
Just to add a little, the short attention span (about a week, or so) of the American public is a serious issue.
And the less likely the news is about them, the more quickly they lose focus.
Who would have guessed the Pakistani bombing was just a week ago?!
Yes, Americans are aware of the rest of the world, do travel, and are not just fat, but there’s something to be said for the country’s attention span, which has kinda forced the media to feed them something new and fresh every single day.
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I enjoyed your post, but I really disagree with your statement: “We are monolingual. True, but not fair, Europeans have access and exposure where we don’t.” Americans have just as much access and exposure as Europeans do when it comes to languages, if not more. The US is incredibly international, and it’s so easy to learn another language if you really want to. There are unlimited opportunities that people do not take advantage of because the bottom line is, they don’t want to because they think everyone else will speak English. Sure, Europe is small, and it’s easy to go from country to country, but I think saying that Americans have less access and exposure is a poor excuse as to why they are monolingual.
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I disagree with the statement americans do travel. Yeah, we do travel- in the US!! But we are grossly lacking in international travel. Before the US required a passport for canada or mexico, a paltry 10-15% (depending on who listen too) of americans had a passport. In Asia, it’s always “wow! I never meet any Americans!” I got that in Australia too. The only time I see a lot of Americans is when it’s summer in Europe.
Americans don’t travel internationally. Not anywhere near the scale people from other countries do.
I’m with Matt. Americans don’t travel a lot internationally and when they do, it is in cloistered, all-inclusive, guided settings where they don’t have to deal with the locals or attempt the language. I’m always amazed at the lack of geographical or cultural knowledge that the typical American has. I agree with Pontia too, there are unlimited opportunities for cultural exposure here but Americans don’t bother to learn because they aren’t interested. This country still suffers from the belief that no place matters as much as the U.S. Although we may be a big deal, in this global society, we certainly are not the only deal.
RE: Learning a foreign language. Imagine for a moment if they spoke German in NY. French in Connecticut. Spanish in Philadelphia. Portuguese in West Virginia. Then you might have an idea of what Europe is like as far as access to foreign languages. A CD, a class, a tutor, just isn’t the same as spending your summers two hours away where they speak a totally different language. This isn’t a pro-europe or anti-american stance, it’s simply a fact of geography. If you live in Portugal or Switzerland, you speak different languages as a matter of course. This simply isn’t true in the states. We can blame Americans and call them lazy, but I know I learned much more foreign language skills abroad just by being exposed to it. Could this be part of it? Sure we could try harder, but let’s not give Europeans ALL the credit.
Pontia brings up a good point, but access to knowledge is not the only deciding factor. Need for the knowledge is a bigger factor in attaining the knowledge. It’s just basic human nature to not focus on something, in this case learning a foreign language, you don’t need in daily life. The majority of Americans don’t have any economic or cultural reasons, other than general knowledge, to learn a foreign language. We only have two neighbors and one of them speaks English, so we can travel thousands of miles and gain no benefit from a foreign language. While Europeans are forced to learn other languages to function in regular life, because of their proximity to other countries.
Concerning our news, it is terrible, and not just because it does a poor job of covering world news. They do a poor job of covering all news. The Anna Nicole thing highlights this issue.
The one overriding issue with all of this is our education system and our fear of education. Our education system is obviously bad, but many of you are questioning my fear statement. It’s true. If it weren’t we wouldn’t have elected George Bush, and Palin would have been an albatross around McCain’s neck after a week. These two were or are popular for the sole purpose of comfort. Most people don’t feel threatened by them intellectually, thus they feel like they can relate. I get this information first hand, as I grew up in a small poorly educated town, and most of my family is still part of that. Sorry, Christine, got a little off topic.
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I’d like to see you revisit this topic after traveling through Mexico, Central and South America. The tabloid “news” here in the US is bad, but try not to hold it up to European outlets (who actually care). Put in the wider global context, US media coverage of world events isn’t that bad. I remember watching nightly news in Oaxaca where there wasn’t a single bit of global news reporting beyond the soccer score. The 1st 10 minutes of the broadcast was devoted to bikini contest results. The newspapers are even worse in C.A. – 50% “page 6 girls” and 50% soccer scores with a spattering of grisly shooting photos thrown in for added titillation…
An American election, a Canadian election. I could care less about either. That is so far removed from my daily life that it doesn’t matter. I have no desire to return to North America and its spun news.
I enjoyed the comments regarding America and Americans. I think it depends on the demographic. American are Americans. Most I have met get a glazed-over look in their eyes when discussing their nation, or their idea of what America is. This isn’t something I’ve seen from Canadians, Kiwis, or the British.
The young 20-something Americans I have worked and traveled with have been fun and adventurous. The enjoy the opportunity travel presents.
The burn-out 40-year-old expats that can’t cut it in their own nation are not adventurous. They complain about local food and people, they start their own theatre groups and cloister themselves against the nation they reside in. These are the people that give others a less-than-ideal perception of the USA.
Great post.
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