Changing How I Get My News

While we were in the U.K. recently, everyone was abuzz over the call for withdrawal from Iraq made by Britain’s new army chief, Richard Dannatt. The general called his government’s policies “naive” and asserted that continued Western military presence in Iraq was unwelcome. “Whatever consent we may have had in the first place,” he said, “has largely turned to intolerance.”

That sort of statement from the highest ranking military officer in the country had Londoners talking. I overheard discussions about the withdrawal in restaurants, at department stores, and during breaks at the convention I attended. Even our taxi drivers asked us what we thought about it.

Upon our return to the U.S., we were surprised to discover that, while the episode received some news coverage, very few people we spoke with were aware that the incident had taken place.

Sadly, that’s pretty typical — and it’s mostly because the major American news outlets have abandoned covering the news entirely.

Don’t believe me? Here’s proof: check out this interesting visual exercise, which trims away the advertising, pop culture fluff, and links to YouTube-style video clips of cute pet tricks from the CNN.com home page. What’s left? Five text links. Five lousy links!

Through CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and the network news outlets, Americans are being fed a steady diet of sensationalism, political diatribes, and tabloid stories … but very little information of consequence. As a result, we know all about Britney Spears’ baby … but can’t find Iraq (or, for that matter, Mississippi) on a map.

So this weekend, I modified my personalized Google home page to incorporate, along with newsfeeds from CNN and USA TODAY, the top stories from the BBC, the British TimesOnline, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Guardian, the New Zealand Herald, and the Christian Science Monitor.

This morning’s headlines from the U.S. news outlets?

– A state department official who said our policies on Iraq were arrogant and stupid apologized, saying he “misspoke.”

– More human remains found at the WTC site.

– Janet Jackson’s boyfriend quit his job over her.

– Bush’s pre-election messages are going to focus on “our healthy economy.”

– Happy Birthday, iPod!

The face of international news, however, is decidedly different:

– Officials in the U.S.-installed Iraqi interim government stole about $800 million dollars for their personal use, and the U.S. refuses to help recover the money or pursue the suspects.

– Even as President Bush sings loudly about “our healthy economy,” American auto maker Ford is reporting losses thirty times higher this year than last.

– A former defense chief in the U.K. added his voice to that of General Richard Dannatt, saying there is no clear strategy at work in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

– As President Bush prepares to drop his “stay the course” strategy, the British government admits “things [in Iraq] are not going as well as many of us hoped they would” and calls for a frank assessment of the situation.

Internationally? Iraq, fraught with wasteful spending and fraud, is not going well due to poor planning and a lack of strategy. International leaders of the military effort there think it’s time to withdraw.

Domestically? In the shadow of the carnage at the Ground Zero, officials who dare to criticize the war effort are apologizing and withdrawing their statements … and meanwhile, President Bush is singing the praises of the robust American economy.