Check out the work of my collegues...John Maines, Sally Kestin, Peter Franceschina and Joe Demma today launched the first of a six-day look at the Seminoles ...
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Sunday, November 25, 2007
I'm back...
I know. It's been a while since I posted --- not great for building readership, I suppose. But I've been busy at work and home, but I've finally got time to rant a little.
This isn't about CAR.
However, being from Oklahoma, I always take a peculiar interest in how the press talks about flyover country, particularly during election season. A lot of times, it seems to be with an, "Aww aren't they cute?" attitude.
Most of the time the national press does a pretty good job. However, the international press is another thing.
Disclaimer: I haven't been overseas much. Other than the typical Caribbean haunts, I spent about 20 days in England a couple years back, staying with some long-time English friends. I got to spend a lot of time in the pubs, far away from the tourist haunts in London, and meet a lot of people.
But I do enjoy reading as many of the British papers online as possible.
One thing became clear when I was in England: We think we understand Europe, but we really don't. And Europeans think they understand America, but they really don't. Anyways, I saw this lead in the Telegraph's online edition:
"They call it flyover country. These are the parts of the United States that the pundits and prognosticators of American politics see just occasionally - and usually from several thousand feet. It is a land where people shop at Wal-Mart, eat at Dairy Queen, work two jobs to make ends meet and have a Bible at home. They can decide on their vote with the help of talk radio, cable television and the internet - or from a combination of rumour, scraps of hard information and gut feeling."
Huh?
I think the part that really grabbed me: "It is a land where people shop at Wal-Mart, eat at Dairy Queen, work two jobs to make ends meet and have a Bible at home."
I guess I have a hard time figuring out what the author is saying. Does this mean people in other states don't shop at Wal-Mart? Does this mean people in other states don't eat at Dairy Queen? And, of course, no one in other states has a Bible at home or works more than one job.
Maybe I'm over-reacting. But these generalizations in political coverage really annoy me.
This isn't about CAR.
However, being from Oklahoma, I always take a peculiar interest in how the press talks about flyover country, particularly during election season. A lot of times, it seems to be with an, "Aww aren't they cute?" attitude.
Most of the time the national press does a pretty good job. However, the international press is another thing.
Disclaimer: I haven't been overseas much. Other than the typical Caribbean haunts, I spent about 20 days in England a couple years back, staying with some long-time English friends. I got to spend a lot of time in the pubs, far away from the tourist haunts in London, and meet a lot of people.
But I do enjoy reading as many of the British papers online as possible.
One thing became clear when I was in England: We think we understand Europe, but we really don't. And Europeans think they understand America, but they really don't. Anyways, I saw this lead in the Telegraph's online edition:
"They call it flyover country. These are the parts of the United States that the pundits and prognosticators of American politics see just occasionally - and usually from several thousand feet. It is a land where people shop at Wal-Mart, eat at Dairy Queen, work two jobs to make ends meet and have a Bible at home. They can decide on their vote with the help of talk radio, cable television and the internet - or from a combination of rumour, scraps of hard information and gut feeling."
Huh?
I think the part that really grabbed me: "It is a land where people shop at Wal-Mart, eat at Dairy Queen, work two jobs to make ends meet and have a Bible at home."
I guess I have a hard time figuring out what the author is saying. Does this mean people in other states don't shop at Wal-Mart? Does this mean people in other states don't eat at Dairy Queen? And, of course, no one in other states has a Bible at home or works more than one job.
Maybe I'm over-reacting. But these generalizations in political coverage really annoy me.
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