Discussion»Questions»Politics» Does it seem odd to you that Australians, Canadians and Brits seem to know more about our political woes than we know of theirs?
well... if one lives in a country where most of the population DON'T have a clue where India even is, let alone how most of the rest of the world really views them and their standing in the world and where these people are known to get edited news that feeds them what they want to hear... and they don't question this but prefer to bath in completely outdated and unrealistic myths then this is exactly the kind of thing we see...a large number of people who really cannot hack the truth. Let's face it it really isn't going to worry us... but might well come back and bite you :P
America has nearly three times the population of those countries combined, so American issues are seen as more newsworthy at the international level.
Living in Britain we seem to get far more stories from Australia than from Canada (perhaps because more people have family connections with the place) but this is dwarfed by the amount of coverage of American issues. In fact a few people complained to the BBC that there was too much coverage of the election.
The US establishment controls most of the media and uses it to moan about anything politically incorrect such as the current incumbent of the presidency.
Ooooh but what about the other side of the media? The ones that call anything and everything negative said about Trump, *fake news*? There's literally zillions of them - I've seen them, surprised if you haven't. So, I can only guess it boils down to which side you believe, (there seems to be no middle ground where reasoned argument and information abound?) Each side seems to prefer to call the other liars and disbelieve what they say.
While some American media to blatantly biased ... the majority of it is more subtle, but still proven biased on the testimony of people who worked in the environment.
Unfortunately, it seems to be too difficult for most Americans to research neutral news. You either have to find a "round table" group with representatives from both sides given equal time to speak ... or find multiple foreign news outlets.
These countries have more reticence and therefore don't broadcast all of their dirty laundry globally like the US does so, no, it does not seem odd to me at all.
Actually, i promise we do.. we have a strong ethos of freedom of information here, so we tend to hear all the little or larger misdemeanours. We do very much hold our politicians accountable - they are supposed to be perfect. Unfortunately, disappointing as it seems the most scandal our lot try to get away with is, speeding/traffic offences, nepotism, and the odd affair.
Oh, I'm quite sure Canadian, European and Australian politicians commit their fair share of offenses but, from what I've seen both home and abroad, these matters are handled and disclosed in a much more confidential and clandestine manner. It's more a commentary on Americans/American society than anyone/anything else, I guess. Americans L O V E trash talk and all manner of dirty dealings so this makes up a MUCH larger portion of our news broadcasts than most other industrialized nations.
I have no idea who the Oz or Canadian Presidents are......I only know about Trump because of Rosie's love for him..... I hope I don't get into trouble with her though for letting the cat out if the bag. :(
American friends who have actually experienced Brit newspapers, tv and radio reporting ( as in several sources rather than just reading one article here and there and thinking that represents Brit media) tell me that we get to hear more than most Americans do about what's going on. Arguably perhaps most Americans aren't interested.
But yes, we are interested in not just American but other politics, we have reporters stationed all round the world and we seem to have an appetite and interest for learning and understanding what's going on elsewhere. Most of the rest of the world take a healthy interest in what's going on in other countries.
It's often said that most Americans not having passports is indicative of their lack of interest and knowledge regarding the rest of the world. Sometimes some of the comments I read would confirm that there are certainly those who prefer to believe what they want to believe/myths about America's standing in the world currently, about supposed envy and looking up to America as a leader.. Since most Americans don't follow world news and get fed only very select snippets of news which are often heavily slanted towards America's preferred version... then it's hard to see how even those interested can know much about what goes on elsewhere
I was going to state the question (...more than many Americans do?). My wife and I have almost stopped listening to it as it saturates the news and is getting tedious. Maybe I should have. Asker's Pick for you.
"It's often said that most Americans not having passports is indicative of their lack of interest and knowledge regarding the rest of the world." Perhaps that is part of the reason, but bear in mind that Americans who are in work get very little vacation allowance compared to Europeans, so they don't get as much opportunity to travel.
But bear in mind that Americans don't need passports to visit places such as Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean islands. I was able to travel to Jamaica with my birth certificate and drivers license.
Stu Spelling Bee 