I am catching up on watching TED videos and I just saw an inspiring talk by Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International from May of 2008. She addresses the massive decline in International Reporting by American news agencies and the negative effects this is having on our world.
Miller shows an amazing visual of how the world looks based on the amount of reporting being done on each region. Behind the US, Iraq was the largest image on the map.
Miller states that foreign bureaus have decreased by 50%. Aside from one-person bureaus in Nairobi, New Delhi, and Mumbai, Miller said there are no network news bureaus in Africa, India or South America. This lack of coverage ignores the world's largest population centers.
Why is there a lack of International Reporting? Miller says because its cheaper to cover Brittany Spears and Anna Nicole Smith.
This lack of coverage of international news has led to a less informed public. But she says, it is not due to lack of desire for this news.
Her concluding question: "Is this distorted world view what we want for Americans in our increasingly interconnected world? I know we can do better and can we afford not to?"
