THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA'S VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES

Maple--
I beg partial guilt in losing the International Media.

I went off looking for some, but started a thread because it didn't quite fit here.

It was an article on the trouble Germany is having with Islamic extremists on college campuses. One question that may work here...

I thought the story was important, yet it is not carried in American papers.
I think the US citizenry misses alot of important international news. Why don't we get more international news in our papers? Do you think this contributes to the world's perception (which is true, IMO) that Americans are ignorant of life in the rest of the world?

dlowen--Hey, I give credit where credit is due.

A different press perspective:

albawaba


The "Forums" (linked to over on the left hand of the page) are fascinating.



timber

timber, I agree, the forums are insightful. Perhaps we should examine more links to printed media (in English).

Another foreign appraisal of THE USA in print:


[Collected on the Internet, 2001]


Editorial from a Romanian newspaper
Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another even if you paint them! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly extinct, others are incompatible with one another, and in matters of religious beliefs, not even God can count how many they are. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised the flag on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colours of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or the president was passing. On every occasion they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America!".

Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on Saturday once, twice, three times, on different tv channels. There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Silvester Stalone, James Wood, and many others whom no film or producers could ever bring together. The American's solidarity spirit turned them into a choir. Actually, choir is not the word. What you could hear was the heavy artillery of the American soul. What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill Clinton, nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of stumbling over words and sounds, was being heard in a great and unmistakable way in this charity concert. I don't know how it happened that all this obsessive singing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious! It made you green with envy because you weren't able to sing for your country without running the risk of being considered chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests. I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who fought with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other hundreds of thousands of people. How on earth were they able to bow before a fellow human? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit which nothing can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases which risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion.

Only freedom can work such miracles!



timber

timber, thanks for the reprint...impressive.

timberland: great piece of journalism and i would add that i think one thing that unites us is the fact that we all are not the same. our strength is our diversity.

TIMBER--

Thank you for the article. It was shared on the first Realm many months ago, but I got chillbumps again when I re-read it here.

With all the anti-American venom spewed from all corners, it is good to see that someone out there recognises the indefinable and unquenchable spirit of this country.


gezzy--

When 911 happened and I talked with others about the 'surprising' vitriol of other nations against ours, I surmised part of it is because Americans, in general, aren't interested in the goings-on in other countries. It isn't presented to us in our papers, except when it impacts us. I have started to make an effort to read more international news--

I have decided to learn a few phrases of German before travelling there.

Doing my little bit to at least try to become more informed.

Hopefully,

A frequent participant in a different form has a sig line I envy:

"Where was YOUR flag on September 10th, 2001?"

Sorry for the digression, but not really ... it fits well with the editorial.




timber

Interesting. My first screen name was LovedFlagB4911.
Alot of people in my neighborhood didn't have to go out and buy one.
But we were happy for the company.

Lash Goth
I think it's great that you want to learn more about other countries. I was always one that was interested in what was going on in other parts of the world along with their cultures. I also noticed that you couldn't find much information on other countries in the paper in Mass, so I gathered my information at book stores and on the internet. Canada is actually friendly with the US and you find lots of information about the US in the local papers here. In fact on 911 some planes were deverted here to Canada, some only a 20 minute drive from my home, and as the people came off the planes they were nervous not knowing anything about the Canadian people. When they were greeted by such friendly and caring people, they couldn't believe how nice the people were here. People here opened up their homes for all the passengers and gave them everything they needed and more. After all the passengers had left, many wrote to the local paper here thanking the Canadian people for their wonderful hospitality and all planned on returning to Canada on future vacations. Some of the people just couldn't believe that people could care so much about strangers. I truly love my country :-D

Regarding the Romanian article:

"Nistorescu, managing director of the daily newspaper Evenimentul Zilei -- News of the Day -- published his editorial Sept 24, two days after watching a celebrity telethon in New York for victims of the attacks . . .
Like his other columns, "Ode to America" was meant for domestic consumption. No one knows when -- or how -- the article first reached the other side of the Atlantic. But Nistorescu figures it began when someone pulled it off the English-language version of his daily's Web page and sent it to a friend.

Since then, thousands of Americans at home and expats around the world have e-mailed it to friends, saying it captured their nation's spirit. It has been read out to U.S. soldiers and on radio talk shows and posted on U.S. Web sites.

Nistorescu says he had no idea his "Ode to America" would resonate so far away . . .

Nistorescu remains surprised and touched by the success of the piece, one of thousands he has penned in a more than 20-year career.

"It is all about the American spirit and how freedom cannot be crushed," he says. " (from AP, thanks to scopes)


Romanian link (in English)

I know I'll take a lot of patriotic heat for this but.I found that 9/11 piece to be an anecdotal feel good article with very few points that have any relevance.

I liked the Canadian feel good piece that was recycled after 9/11 much better.

There have been quite a few articles worldwide, not all have become famous, since ... ... not all (only very few) have been published in English and/or have been seen by US-Americans.


[Regarding showing flags, from my 'favourite website':

"[...]The situation in Germany, of course, is radically different. To love Germany is to love its history, its culture, its political and economical system, the government's institutions, the whole enchilada. Obviously, Germany's history cannot be loved, and so it is a pretty safe bet that someone wearing a shirt with a German flag on it is either a soldier or a foreigner or a neonazi. At best, it is considered to be in bad taste to claim that one is proud to be a German." Comparison USA-Germany ]

Not sure if this is the palce for this -but, it IS a foreign media report re the upcoming Iraq war.

'Twas announced today on Australian media that opinion polls show only 10% of Australians are in favour of the USA launching an attack on Iraq without UN sanction, and of Australian military support of such an attack.

The Defence Minister has announced that the Government will go ahead and send military aid to the US military in Iraq in the event of a unilateral US decision to go ahead, if it wants to - notwithstanding the apparent public opinion and the views of the opposition - which reflect those of the public.

Walter
And that's a shame :-(

Walter--Your post about how your flag is perceived is well taken.
Germany shouldn't have to pay for Hitler for the rest of eternity. Your words on the subject were touching.

It helps me understand our previous misunderstanding so much better.

I guess it has great similarity with the Confederate flag.

The words of John Cory (link at bottom):

This morning's Arab News ran two headline stories: "Prince Abdullah Sees No War On Iraq" and just below that: "US Steps Up Military Buildup in Gulf."

In the first story Prince Abdullah is quoted as saying, "We are seeing fleets and concentration (of troops) in the region but I have a strong feeling that there won't be a war." Further in the article the crown prince is quoted as saying, "As you know, Iraq is dear to us. Its people are our people, they are a precious part of the Muslim and Arab nation," he said. "If the United Nations, God forbid, takes the decision to declare war (on Iraq), the Arabs will have only one request, that is to be given a chance to talk with Iraq about a solution capable of preventing a war."

Prince Abdullah may not see a war coming, but much of the everyday Arab citizens from Saudi to Dubai and the U.A.E to the rest of the Arabian Peninsula do. At least that is my experience. Or perhaps the Prince's connections to the Bush administration have told him something the rest of the world doesn't know - yet.

I'm just a working stiff here in the Middle East, and I have no political or royal contacts. I deal with the average Arab citizen on a daily basis and in my travels, so most of what I hear comes from the streets, not the palaces. But it is these very folk, regardless of country, who pay the price for a government's drum beating march to war. It is always the people, poor and middle-class who pay the bill of bombs, not the leaders, corporations, or the privileged.

My Egyptian, Jordanian, Pakistani and Afghani co-workers all have theories was to why the U.S. craves this war. There are as many theories as there are sands of the desert. Some say it is all about oil, getting, controlling, owning; others say it is the arrogance of a super power that wants to own the entire world; and still others say it is about revenge and anti-Islam prejudice.

Comes A War

I haven't answered the poll yet because I don't know what from what perspective I should be answering it.

I think a poll of Australian citizens would come up with an even distribution of the first 4 options.
The current government policies are without doubt option 5.

One of our engineers recently related a tale from a European holiday he took with his wife. On one of the bus trips he met a Texan who found it almost incomprehensible that in Australia we actually make our own steel and don't import it from the states. He flatly refused to believe that we actually export a significant amount of our product to the US. One of the other guys asked if he'd mentioned the fact that we also have running water and electricity!!!