Hello, Shinnfans. I’m here today to share with you a fascinating new window to the world that I’ve been enjoying. It comes in the form of a British Accent emanating from my iPod earphones.
BBC Radio News-pod is a collection of highlighted stories from across BBC radio. It’s a half-hour program I receive daily. Things I’ve found fascinating so far:
- The international flavor of the news coverage. Clearly, the Brits are far ahead of us Yanks in the whole ‘paying-attention-to-the-rest-of-the-world’ area.
- The British accents.
- The differing relationship between media and government on their side of the pond and our side of the pond. I’d just like to say that having worked in media relations for the U.S. Government, I had it really easy. British reporters not only ask the hard questions, but they can sometimes be actually combative. I haven’t heard any interviews turn to fisticuffs, but that’s probably because interviewees are very used to aggressive reporting.
- The British accents.
- Things Britons care about. Britain is far behind the U.S. in legislating child protection from convicted pedophiles, for instance. That’s been made clear by a rash of stories about horrible offenses and an immature state of the national debate over what to do about them.
- Have I mentioned the British accents yet?
In all, it’s been a fascinating experience. I have a much-expanded view of several issues, including the U.S. Immigration Debates. More on that in future blog posts. Until then, here are some blog posts that are on the horizon from me:
- In Which I Equivocate (a reaction to extended exposure to The DaVinci Code)
- Immigration: Not Just a U.S. Problem (what I’ve been learning about the effects of migration around the world)
- National, Personal Duty (tentative, an exploration of current-day applications of principles from Abraham Lincoln)
- Mexifornia (a book report, even though I’ve just started the book)
Please let me know in the comments below if any of these sound interesting to you. If I get enough reaction on them, I’ll know how to priortize them. Until then, I remain,
Truly Yours,
Andrew
I don’t want to sound like one of those “I-just-got-back-from-Europe,and-let-me-tell-you-everything-is-so-much-better-there” kids, but I do have to say, having been innundated by British media for an entire year really shifted my perspective on our own news media. Now, keep in mind, the BBC is actually funded by the British Government, which should be a huge red flag. But instead of being a mouthpiece for Downing Street and Parliament, it acts as a further check on the validity/objectivity of decisions that are taken. And what I really appreciate is that events happening in remote corners of the world are actually considered news in the UK. Stories are not presented based on their worth relative to effects on the home government. Believe it or not, there are many, many things happening in the world besides Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. We sometimes forget that we are a mere 3% of the world’s population!!!
Compare that to Fox News’ “Around the World in 80 Seconds” segment. And most of those are completely trivial, comedic, or distasteful. Laughable.
I REALLY, REALLY want to read Mexifornia. Let me know how it is, as you go through it.
JRS