Why We Should Start to Care About International News Again

By: Valentin Dreher
Student Writer

In our more and more globalized world today, we should start caring about international news coverage again.

Greta Thunberg has quickly become one of the world’s most famous climate change activists.

When the Swedish 17-year-old first took her protests to the streets in August 2018, protesters all over the world quickly followed her example, as up to six million climate strikers participated worldwide all on the same day.

However, the movement was barely covered in American media. The first time Thunberg received significant recognition by media outlets was in September 2019, over a year after her protests started, because Thunberg announced that she would visit the United Nations in New York, which was her first visit to the United States.

Nancy Bartley, a former Seattle Times reporter that now teaches at Green River College, argues that we should pay more attention to global coverage because it affects the US the same as other countries.

“We have the responsibility to protect natural resources and help stop climate change,” she said. “An increase in international news helps build awareness that Americans are not alone here on the planet.”

Unfortunately, statistical data does not show an increase in international coverage.

A Tennessee State University study found that today, news outlets present their readers and viewers with less coverage from overseas than 20 years ago.

This development is especially unfortunate since the nations of the world are growing closer and closer together. The challenges of the 21st century, not only climate change but also terrorism, migration, and trans-regional conflicts cannot be solved by one nation on its own. They demand the combined efforts of all of the world’s societies.

Why does national coverage in the US still outweigh international news so significantly?

Nancy Bartley says: It is simply more money in it. “When it comes to selecting where to put the financial resources, news organizations usually opt for what they believe will appeal to the biggest audience, those impacted by the news.”

The American viewers’ and readers’ average news consumption proves this point.

57% follow national news, but only 17% consume international news, according to a 2018 Pew Research Study.

As the news industry has been going through major budget cuts in the past century, especially international news has been affected. Bartley stated that her former employer, the Seattle Times, minimalized global coverage to save money.

If the people’s interest in global stories stays as low, this will further decline international news coverage. But on the other hand, being aware of the issues is the first step to make out leaders take action.

“It’s easier to ignore some of the global issues, whether that’s hunger, war, illness or devastating climate change if other countries are ‘othered,’ or outside our zones of familiarity,” said Bartley.

But this will not work out in the long run. Therefore, every single one of us can help spread awareness by only consuming international news from around the world.

If more and more readers and viewers start paying attention to international news again, media outlets will put in the effort to research more of those stories.

Thunberg won Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” award in December 2019. It seems like she managed to deliver her important message to the United States, even though it took a little longer than in other countries to get the public interested in what Thunberg had to say about climate change.

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