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Ignorance isn't bliss

No wonder the Americans are so absent knowledge about anything outside their own country or limited sphere.

ISP reports - a sad reflection on the state of things in the media and public interest generally - on media coverage of "foreign" news:

"With the exception of the Iraq war, foreign news coverage by the three major U.S. television networks declined significantly in 2007, according to the latest annual review by the authoritative Tyndall Report.

Indeed, the foreign news bureaus of the three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, had their lightest year in 2007 since 2001, suggesting that the era of expanded international coverage that followed the Sep. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon is now over.

Aside from Iraq-related stories, which together claimed about 13 percent of the total coverage of the three network evening news programmes, only two other foreign-based stories -- the recent political turmoil in Pakistan, and Iran's nuclear programme and alleged activities in Iraq -- made it onto the list of top 20 stories last year covered by the networks, while Latin America, East Asia, Africa, and even Europe were absent."

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