One of the first catchwords I acquired upon looking into international teaching was "the CNN effect," which is basically the idea that people's perspectives of other countries are drastically skewed by what they see on cable news. After two weeks in Israel, I would have to say that this effect is a real phenomenon. Israelis are not living their lives in fear, as you would imagine from what you see on television. (At least not from bombings: More Israelis die from car accidents than terrorist acts; the driving here is atrocious.) The only violence I have heard of so far was a Palestinian being shot when he tried to take a gun from an Israeli guard in Jerusalem, an incident no different than something that could happen in New York, without the ethnic labels perhaps.
Honestly, the CNN effect became clear to me when I saw how the United States is portrayed on the channel here, which is different than the one in America. Here were the first three news stories I caught on CNN: Minnesota bridge collapses, Barry Bonds breaks the home-run record, and Utah mine collapses (the latter is still being covered on an hourly basis as "breaking news"). The implications of these stories is not positive. We look like a country so obsessed with something a superficial as a sport to pay attention to the safety of commuters and laborers.
But here's the kicker: CNN airs a global edition of "The Daily Show." I, of course, love this fact. However, it's no wonder America isn't taken seriously when a inside-joke interview between Jon Stewart and Denis Leary is given prime-time play. In fact, it's not quite made clear that the show is parody. But even if it were made clear, it still gives a bad impression of American journalism if we mock everything. Don't get me wrong, this is a great show, and amid U.S. television news, it's some of the best offered. But is this what we want the world to think of our interests, that we think every national and global issue is a joke? It's no wonder we're losing the respect of the rest of the world.
Okay, okay, that was a bit high horse for my first post from Israel. So I will share some other insights to taunt you. Israel has got it going on. MTV plays videos, and newspapers still publish Calvin & Hobbes. Both are a nice way to unwind after a typical day of work, along with "The Daily Show," of course.
"Lots of live music at reasonable prices"
5 weeks ago
12 comments:
Your DC area posse has been anxiously awaiting a post! Great to know you're there and enjoying it. And MTV plays videos? WOWEE! I'm booking a flight now!
"We look like a country so obsessed with something a superficial as a sport to pay attention to the safety of commuters and laborers."
Please rewrite this sentence in 3 years when the World Cup is in effect.
Glad you're finding distractions! I'm taking your room tomorrow.
Oh, now i really want to use my free Southwest ticket to fly to Israel. Floating in the dead sea AND music on mtv. But wait. Music on MTV...how are you getting your bad reality tv fix, honey?
Concurrence on great white cory's comment. It would have been interesting if you had been in France during the Tour de France, for example.
Foreign media is at least as consumed with sports (and other superficial stuff) as in the U.S. Sure, there are more high-toned outlets, but the U.S. has Jim Lehrer, too, you know.
Kimmy! I was just going to email you an "Are you alive?" message today.
Glad you landed safely. We anxiously await all updates.
To great white Cory and fs: That's exactly my point. To CNN, the world is all the same, a heavy dose of disease and disaster with success only found in sports. If CNN treats its own country with such simplicity, imagine how off its depiction of other countries, including their World Cup madness, is.
Size matters. Israel is the size of, what, New Jersey. So they can focus on the bad and the good as in depth as they choose. So a bridge collapse in Minnesota is news, Mine collapse is news, and Bonds,quite honestly, takes us away from the important to the mundane even if it is to debate the authenticity of the achivement. I never expected you to write that the Israel headline was, "PLO pisses us off again." However, the proximity of you to a danger zone I kinda look at like living in Florida or New Orleans. You may be struck by a natural disaster, where the likelyhood of DC being hit by a natural disaster is not as likely as those other areas. However, the unnatural disasters you are now close to can't be prevented with boarderd up windows and duct tape. So as touched as I am that you are willing to dismiss our collective American concerns for you, we will continue to worry about you and Sage. And Tim I suppose.
Oh, and I beleiver Stewart frequently says he hosts fake news. That might be what they call a "tell."
you don't have to worry about me. i don't watch television, so nothing bad/sensational/catastrophic/moronic/superficial/having-to-do-with-getting-stranded-on-an-island-and-eating-giant-cockroaches-and-running-obstacle-courses ever happens to me, because in my universe such things do not exist. i just concern myself with coffee, snacks, and cigarettes ...
is it really the fault of CNN, or is it the fault of the culture(s) that created it? is it a cause or a symptom? are these rhetoric questions?
So Jon Stewart IS responsible for the downfall of the United States. I knew it! Having been in Germany while the world cup was going on last year, I can assure you, it was huge. HUGE. I think the difference between the world cup and, say, American sports is that when Boston won the world series, in Boston, Bostonians were out in the streets, of Boston. When Portugal played Angola there were Portugal fans (mostly from Portugal, I got the impression) all over the streets of Cologne - and that wasn't even the finals.
Anyway, I'm glad you're safely in the land of the prophets and having a good time. We miss you.
Take care,
Lawton
I'm not sure that anyone really believes that watching international news is the way to understand the daily lives of people anywhere. Do they/you?
When people look back at earlier eras and they check out what was going on in general media at the time, they seem to focus on other things that say volumes about the time. What does it say in the U.S. that Paris Hilton gets so much attention? Not that she's important, but that we're in a celebrity-driven time and that people are looking for distraction, I'd argue.
Yeah, Americans are the only celebrity crazed, insane tabloid media market in the world. Oh, and also the only place where stories about athletes take precidence over actual news.
David Beckham, notwithstanding...
British Football hooligans, Spanish matadors who achieve cult like followings, or Iranian soccer players who "disappear" after bad games make us look relatively sane.
And, all in all, I'd rather have a media controlled by the scandal starved public than by the state.
Isn't this great, Kim? We get to disagree from half-way across the world.
I really do miss you. And I don't care how safe Israel is, don't get blowed up.
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