As the commercial news media in the US reduce their newsrooms, will news consumers start to rely more and more on international sources, some of which are state funded? Certainly the BBC has become a much more important source of news for a great many Americans, thanks to the availability of the BBC on the web. Will we begin to rely on other news outlets such as Al Jezeera, which is now available on the web in English (but not on many cable systems, which is another topic)?
According to a report in the New York Times this morning, "Chinese state-controlled news organizations plan to spend billions of dollars" to acquire international media assets (heaven knows there are plenty for sale), to open "overseas bureaus" and to generate more content in English and other languages. The United States has made similar efforts in other countries over the years, but we are not used to having an international competitor with such vast resources enter the field.
Interestingly, while other countries are using government money to fund news stories that will be read in America, and may well make their way into blogs and other news aggregators, America's own international news programs cannot be distributed in this country. Our Center on Communication Leadership and Policy hosted a conference on that topic in Washington yesterday. But thanks to the web, you can access VOA on the web, and VOA stories are the fifth most used source of news on the Google aggregator.
The development and use of international sources of news, including those that are state-funded, will be an interesting thread to watch and discuss during the term.
Geoffrey Cowan
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I wonder if the ban on domestic dissemination of U.S.-financed international news might be lifted someday.
ReplyDeleteThat was one of the topics we hoped to explore at the symposium in Washington. Does the Smith-Mundt law, adopted in 1948 as a way of preventing US funded media from becoming a powerful form of propaganda, really make sense in the world of the Internet and a 1000 options.
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