Alisa Miller: The news about the news

Translator: Pieter Oosthuizen Reviewer: Christo Crafford

How does the news shape the way we see the world?

Hoe vorm die nuus hoe ons die wêreld sien?

Here's the world based on the way it looks -- based on landmass.

Só lyk die wêreld gebaseer op landmassa.

And here's how news shapes what Americans see.

En hier's hoe nuus vorm wat Amerikaners sien.

This map -- (Applause) -- this map shows the number of seconds

Dié kaart -- (Applous) -- wys hoeveel sekondes

that American network and cable news organizations dedicated to news stories,

die Amerikaanse netwerk- en kabelnuus aan nuusstories toegewy het,

by country, in February of 2007 -- just one year ago.

volgens land, in Februarie 2007 -- net een jaar gelede.

Now, this was a month when North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear facilities.

Noord-Korea het in dieselfde maand ingestem om hulle kernfasiliteite af te breek.

There was massive flooding in Indonesia.

Daar was enorme vloede in Indonesië.

And in Paris, the IPCC released its study confirming man's impact on global warming.

En in Parys publiseer die IPCC 'n verslag wat ons impak op aardverwarming bevestig.

The U.S. accounted for 79 percent of total news coverage.

Die VSA geniet 79 persent van die nuusdekking.

And when we take out the U.S. and look at the remaining 21 percent,

En wanneer ons die VSA uithaal, en na die oorblywende 21 persent kyk,

we see a lot of Iraq -- that's that big green thing there -- and little else.

sien ons baie Irak -- die groot groen ding -- en min andersins.

The combined coverage of Russia, China and India, for example, reached just one percent.

Dekking van Rusland, China en Indië saam maak slegs een persent uit.

When we analyzed all the news stories and removed just one story,

Toe ons al die nuus stories ontleed en slegs een storie verwyder het,

here's how the world looked.

het die wêreld so gelyk.

What was that story? The death of Anna Nicole Smith.

Wat was die storie? Die afsterwe van Anna Nicole Smith.

This story eclipsed every country except Iraq,

Dié storie oorskadu elke land behalwe Irak,

and received 10 times the coverage of the IPCC report.

en het 10 keer meer dekking as die IPCC-verslag ontvang.

And the cycle continues;

En die siklus gaan voort;

as we all know, Britney has loomed pretty large lately.

soos ons almal weet is Britney groot nuus.

So, why don't we hear more about the world?

So hoekom hoor ons nie meer oor die wêreld nie?

One reason is that news networks have reduced the number of their foreign bureaus by half.

Een rede: Die nuusnetwerke het die hoeveelheid oorsese buro's halveer.

Aside from one-person ABC mini-bureaus in Nairobi, New Delhi and Mumbai,

Behalwe vir een-persoon ABC mini-buro's in Nairobi, Nieu-Delhi en Mumbai,

there are no network news bureaus in all of Africa, India or South America

is daar geen ander nuusnetwerkburo's in die hele Afrika, Indië of Suid-Amerika nie

-- places that are home to more than two billion people.

-- plekke met meer as twee miljard mense.

The reality is that covering Britney is cheaper.

Die realiteit is dat dit goedkoper is om Britney te dek.

And this lack of global coverage is all the more disturbing

Die tekort aan globale dekking is nog meer onrusbarend

when we see where people go for news.

as ons kyk waarheen mense gaan vir nuus.

Local TV news looms large,

Plaaslike TV-nuus is groot,

and unfortunately only dedicates 12 percent of its coverage to international news.

en slegs 12 persent van hulle dekking word aan internasionale nuus gewy.

And what about the web?

En wat van die web?

The most popular news sites don't do much better.

Die gewildste nuustuistes vaar nie veel beter nie.

Last year, Pew and the Colombia J-School analyzed the 14,000 stories

Laas jaar het Pew en die Colombia J-School 14 000 stories ontleed

that appeared on Google News' front page.

wat op Google News se voorblad verskyn het.

And they, in fact, covered the same 24 news events.

En hulle het almal dieselfde 24 nuusgebeure gedek.

Similarly, a study in e-content showed that much of global news from U.S. news creators

Net so het 'n studie van e-inhoud gewys dat baie globale nuus van Amerikaanse nuusverskaffers

is recycled stories from the AP wire services and Reuters,

hergesirkuleerde stories van die AP nuusagentskappe en Reuters is,

and don't put things into a context that people can understand their connection to it.

sonder dat die nuus in konteks geplaas word vir mense om hulle verband daarmee te verstaan.

So, if you put it all together, this could help explain why today's college graduates,

As ons alles saamvoeg kan dit verduidelik waarom universiteitverlaters

as well as less educated Americans,

sowel as minder opgeleide Amerikaners

know less about the world than their counterparts did 20 years ago.

minder weet oor die wêreld as hulle eweknieë van 20 jaar gelede.

And if you think it's simply because we are not interested,

As jy dink dis omdat ons nie belangstel nie,

you would be wrong.

sou jy verkeerd wees.

In recent years, Americans who say they closely follow global news most of the time

Amerikaners wat sê dat hulle wêreldnuus meeste van die tyd volg

het die laaste paar jaar gegroei tot meer as 50 persent.

grew to over 50 percent.

The real question: is this distorted worldview what we want for Americans

Die werklike vraag: Is hierdie verwronge wêreldbeeld

wat ons wil hê vir Amerikaners in ons toenemend verbinde wêreld?

in our increasingly interconnected world?

I know we can do better.

Ek weet ons kan beter doen.

And can we afford not to? Thank you.

Kan ons die alternatief bekostig? Dankie.

(Applous)