Last night, I went on CNN.com. The four most viewed stories?
1. Lindsay Lohan fails alcohol test again, ordered to court
2. Lawyer: Parents doubt Anthony’s innocence
3. Police: ‘Jackass’ star driving over 132 mph
4. Apple yanks ‘The 3rd Intifada’ app
Something about this seems very sad.
Out of curiosity, I visited the websites for CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, the BBC, and Al-Jazeera and recorded the headline stories on each. None of the American websites had any international stories featured. The BBC and Al-Jazeera had a wider variety of stories easily accessible.
CNN:
- Obama: Surge troops out in 15 months
- Lawyer: Anthonys believe Casey’s not innocent
Fox News:
- FBI Nabs ‘Most Wanted’ Gangster
- Obama: Surge Troops Out by Summer 2012
- Pelosi Prediction Backfires With Medicaid Glitch?
- Palin Says ‘One Nation’ Tour on Hold for Jury Duty
MSNBC:
- As politics of war shift, risks for Obama ease
- Obama: 33,000 troops out of Afghanistan by next summer
- Mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger arrested in Calif.
- Thousands flee as rising water threatens homes in ND
BBC:
- Obama orders cut in Afghan force
- Nato accused of murder by Gaddafi
- Verdict due in Dutch ‘hate’ trial
- Australia in mass broadband move
- Airbus seals record aircraft deal
- French ex-minister on rape charge
- China artist Ai Weiwei released
- US to increase drugs war spending
Al-Jazeera:
- Obama to cut Afghan ‘surge’ troops by 2012
- Gaddafi vows to resist NATO strikes
- Syria accuses EU of fomenting ‘chaos’
- Strong quakes rattle northeast Japan
- ‘Uncontacted’ Amazon tribe found in Brazil
- The Geert Wilders case
I think it’s disgraceful, the international community’s lack of curiosity about Lindsay Lohan.
Lohan fails alcohol test? She probably didn’t study :p
Q, I think the problem was that she’d been too busy studying cocaine and hadn’t had time to bone up on her alcohol.
The US is one of the few countries on earth – maybe Russia or China can compare – where it’s possible to live in the illusion that there IS no rest of the world.
How about North Korea?
Kate has a point–the news nets in Russia and China also concentrate on domestic strories. India, too. Europe and the Middle East are certainly less isolated, because people with different cultures and languages live much closer together.
Which is not to deny that a good many Americans are two-faced ignorant intellectually incurious vapid sluts…let’s do a thought experiment: If Casey Whetsername was a 250 pound woman with a bad complexion who killed her daughter, would there be wall-to-wall news net coverage of the sick, sordid, sad little case?
Answer echoes hollowly…
Yo Donnie! Long time no hear (from my end). You’ve got a really cool banner! Just wanted to let u know.
Oh, it has changed now. I was looking at the streetfighter banner the other day. I guess it’s changing automatically from time to time.
Ai Weiwei is released? COOL!
Donnie–here’s your irony of the decade…I joined FICS team league (just as a sub for the next round) and I am now on a team with (wait for it…………)
Thryge
Thryge’s Mom could not be reached for comment.
@Derek: There’s not much you can expect from smelly Europeans.
@Q/Katrushka: Isn’t DeVry University offering some sort of online degree for that?
@Kate: Thankfully, that shell is broken by people who will remind us how much better we are than the Europeans.
@Allen: Almost, but unfortunately Rodong Sinmun keeps talking about how awful Japan and the US are.
@E: Hey, hey! Good to hear from you! Yes, the background changes. Eventually, I want to have a different background for each day of the week. The Street Fighter is my favorite as well.
@Blunderprone: You just said that to sound educated, didn’t you?
@Robert: Some would say Casey Whatshername’s appearance helped her go free. The idealist in me wants to say that didn’t happen…
And Thryge???? LOL, that is amazing. Do you get a chance to talk to him? Any gauge on his actual personality?
The team captain wrote me that thryge is a pretty good guy…except when he’s been drinking. 🙂
Well, drinking makes everything better! Or something.