PressEthic

The Village Voice discusses a website called Watching America. In the Voice article, Julian Dibbell states:

[I]t's especially refreshing to step away to perspectives so distant, at times, as to render exotic even such familiarly American phenomena as, for instance, screwed-over black people.

Strong opinions are expected from the Voice, so this much did not stop me. What did grab my attention was the quote Dibbell selected from Watching America:

"There are some interesting and heart-wrenching stories about this race, which they call 'Negro,'" explained analyst Dr. Shahram Mohammednejad last week to viewers of the Iranian News Network's Katrina coverage. "Surely you know that up to 50 or 60 years ago, blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. Martin Luther King's mother was the first to have the courage to sit at the front. That started a revolution. [King] was eventually assassinated by the CIA."

I never knew that. I suppose it’s a good thing the School District of Philadelphia is making African-American History a mandatory course.

Sarcasm aside, this raises questions. Does the world community despise us so much they make things up? Or does it hate us because of news like this? Or does Watching America simply have a horrible, horrible translator?

There are articles in favor of, opposed to, and seemingly neutral to the United States, but the most obvious are negative.

It seems we’re planning pre-emptive strikes on North Korea, we have high crime-rates because we’re a very religious culture, and we’re headed for war with Iran. On the plus side, President Bush gets good reviews from Canada for his efforts during Hurricane Rita. And, in one of the more popular stories online, armed dolphins are on the loose after Hurricane Katrina.

As interesting as it is to see what the rest of the world thinks about us, it seems no wonder that opinions are what they are.

Perhaps we can’t do anything about these international stories, but this site shows us clearly why it’s so important to get all the facts straight.

Mistakes or fictions can lead to international conflicts – or international ridicule.