International media looks at U.S. politics. It ain't always pretty.

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionSend by emailSend by email

I would expect howls of complaints from the TP crowd -- if they cared about how folks overseas see them. But would they see that maybe the news from the rest of the world as written by American journalists might also have a cultural bias? (And not just the "liberal, lame-stream media" bias the claim on domestic affairs.)

Maybe it is time for SPJ chapters to reach out to foreign correspondents in their areas and run some programs that let those correspondents discuss how they explain American culture, society and politics to their home audiences.

We did that many years ago in DC in an informal News Schmooze in the back room of a bar. The event was well attended and the foreign correspondents and American pariticpants all walked out with a better understanding of each other.

UPDATE

Sorry, I missed an accompanying article by Kate Zernike who has spent a lot of time investigating the Tea Party and who spent lots of time explaining it -- as best she could -- to the foreign press.

The Tea Party, Exported: How do you explain Christine O'Donnell to the French?

Author Name: 
DanKubiske