Networks' international coverage hits record low in 2008

[atommom]

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (IPS) - Despite two wars involving more than 200,000 U.S. troops and a global economic crisis, foreign-related news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks fell to a record low during 2008, according to the latest annual review of network news coverage by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

Squeezed out by intense coverage of the presidential election campaign and the domestic consequences of skyrocketing oil prices and the subsequent credit crisis, international and overseas events received by far the least attention from the 30-minute evening news programmes of the three networks -- the primary source of national and international news for most U.S. citizens -- of any since the report was first published in 1988.

"This was an exceptional year for domestic news, so the test will be whether the foreign coverage rebounds in a year when there is relatively light domestic news, or whether this marks a real turning point in insularity in the mainstream media," Andrew Tyndall, the report's founder and publisher, told IPS.

"It could be that when there's not a big election and the economy isn't in the toilet, international news will be back in the news," he said. "Or it may be that people interested in global news are getting it more and more online, and the TV networks may be saying, 'We'll just let individuals who are interested in this stuff get it on the Internet'."

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45300

But TV was the main news source for 80% of the public in 2008, so that's a poor excuse for dropping the ball.

[SpiralHawk]

1. "We are hurlaciously sick of corporate-republicon media propaganda." - The American people

"So of course we are massively tuning out your smarmy spin, pap, and crap and obtaining our news & entertainment from outlets with a demonstrated comittment to the actual truth (not truthiness), and to the citizens of the land, rather than to the myopic, blow-dry, bent-knee, corporate republicon propaganda pimp 'news readers.'"

- The American people

[atommom]

2. I do hope that's it.

Hurlaciously. :rofl: