"The Truth About The News And Politics..."

I typically don't watch American television news reporting.  I find it to be unsurprisingly, very xenophobic and ethnocentric.  And the resulting bias means that you never get the information that you really need to make informed decisions about how you want to engage your responsibility to participate in the politics of your country.  Consequently, I tend to seek my news from less well known and non-traditional sources.

I enjoy the perspective of outsiders... I find that they, although also biased, tend to give more coverage to all sides of a topic.  One of my favorites is Aljazzera English.  In my estimation, they are almost the diametric opposite of Fox News which I find to be so unbearably biased that I can't watch it at all without becoming angered by the blatant lies and overtly political motivations of their "news coverage."  I also, like to get my news from overseas providers like the BBC, the venerable grandfather of news gathering organizations.  And, like its British cousin, the CBC in Canada does a great job of unbiased reporting on the "giant to the south."  In fact, I really like Canadian news coverage of America.  Canadians realize how inextricably their fate is tied to America's and so they follow events here with more interest than we do in some situations. (Read a very good article on American culture and politics from the CBC here.)

Also here in the U.S., although definitely left-leaning, NPR and American Public Radio do a good job of delivering multiple perspectives to important issues.  But while public broadcasting's coverage of issues is never broad, the issues they do focus on get deep and meaningful examination which is something that the for-profit media in America rarely do.  On American public television, I especially love the documentary series "Frontline."  I find their reporting to be far more trustworthy than anything I see on regular network television.  And finally, when I'm led to follow world stories, I love the age of the internet because I can go to sources close to the events for news and information (thank you Google translation!)

On television, I love the "The Cafe" on Aljazzera English, the episode above seeks to answer a question that I think many Americans are asking themselves these days... "Is America still No. 1?"  I enjoyed the pundits opinions about this and I have my own ideas about this question too.  But if I had to answer in a one brief statement, it would be this...

"Yes, America is still No. 1 although I don't know why we feel we have to rank everything.  But yes, despite all of her problems and faults, America is still the preeminent leader of the world.  I know this because everyday, people from all over the world risk everything including their lives to get here to our shores... They hope to be free and to have a chance of finding their own piece of the "American Dream."  And I also know that when this is no longer the case, that will be the day when you can say, "the American Empire has fallen... she no longer leads the world."

I believe to a still significant portion of the world's people, America is seen as this...

The New Colossus

by Emma Lazarus, 1883

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. 

From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

"Fear Eats the Soul"