The front page summary of the lead story on CNN’s US edition reads:
In a speech outlining the future for Iraq, President Bush warned Americans there would be “difficult days ahead and the way forward may sometimes appear chaotic,” but added: “No power of the enemy will stop Iraq’s progress.” Bush outlined five steps to Iraqi self-government in the first in a series of addresses in the weeks before the handover of power to Iraqis.
The subheading reads ‘Albright: More Specifics Needed’. Meanwhile, the front page summary of the lead story on CNN’s European edition reads:
With approval ratings at new lows over Iraq and increasing doubts over his handling of the war, President Bush has outlined his five-step plan for the war-torn nation. Additionally, he says the U.S. will demolish the controversial Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad in consultation with a new Iraqi government.
Here the subheading reads, ‘Bush approval near record low’. Gotta cater to your audience.
The same applies to the coverage on CNN’s domestic version and CNNi (the one seen around the world, which has been good at recruiting former British newscasters and Blue Peter presenters): they’re two very different channels. CNNi is vaguely watchable, for one… at least, in the absence of BBC World.
which begs the question
why are Europeans more intersted in the polls than the specitics?
why are Europeans more intersted in the polls than the specitics?
In the words of Ken Arrow, I think you are confusing demand with supply.
“In the words of Ken Arrow, I think you are confusing demand with supply.”
How does that mesh with ‘catering to the audience’?
oh wait for it - it’ll be supply creates its own demand - unless, of course, you put on your tin foil hat.
it’ll be supply creates its own demand
An idea with a long and illustrious history from Say’s Law to rational expectations theory.
It may simply be an accident. If not, could this be because of a DESIRE to remain patriotic to its US readers? Is CNN trying to be patriotic? Does CNN even have a formal policy on patriotism? Is putting a positive spin on foreign policy issues a patriotic thing for the press to do?
crooked timber patriotism and free speech discussion
Bush’s announcement that he was going to demolish Abu Ghraib and build a new prison there is not news. A bipartisan amendment to a defense spending bill to destroy Abu Ghraib passed the House by a 308-114 margin . It was sponsored by Weldon (R-PA) and Murtha (D-PA).
Once again Bush is taking credit for other people’s work.
Q,
I can’t see the US version as “patriotic.” It looks to me just like straight reporting: Bush gave a speech about some stuff, some people criticized it. That’s pretty much what happened, and that’s what’s “new” to report.
The European edition, by contrast, emphasizes old news that everyone already knows: Bush’s poll numbers are low, Iraq is “war torn.” That isn’t new(s), that’s an effort to make Bush look bad at every possible opportunity by accentuating the negative. Next expected healine and subhead: “Jesus returns as Bush faces mounting questions about prisoner abuse.”
which has been good at recruiting former British newscasters and Blue Peter presenters
Blue Peter presenters? Really? Wow, who knew.
FWIW, Robert, this is not just a Bush problem. Early in his first term, Clinton went out fishing one weekend with some reporters. They got to the middle of the lake, and one of the reporters said, “Damn, I forgot my fishing gear.” Great empathizer that he was, Clinton said, “Don’t worry, I’ll go get it.” So Clinton gets out of the boat, walks across the lake, gets the guy’s gear, walks back across the lake, gets back in the boat and hands the guy the gear. What’s the headline the next day? “Clinton Can’t Swim.”
Robert Lyman-
A White House spokesman seemed to think in contextual terms last Friday: CNN Story ‘important speech’. One aide said it is important to be more aggressive in “getting Bush’s voice” into the mix. Personally, I suspect the writers of the CNN US headline may feel they are walking on eggshells due to the current upsets.
A really interesting question is probably “Did Bush in his speech reassert his authority and answer his critics and regain the confidence of the 10% of Republicans that say they have switched support in the last 2 months?”. And that requires a lot of context.
Was it really “straight reporting”? Maybe it is silence over the context? Who can tell? Maybe you are right. It is of course a delicate art to judge the correct amount of context for a story.
Say’s law (generally summarized as “Supply creates Demand”) doesn’t resolve the cognitive tension between ‘catering to the audience’ and “why are Europeans more intersted in the polls than the specitics?
In the words of Ken Arrow, I think you are confusing demand with supply.”
The first idea says that CNN is changing its message to fit the European audience. The second idea says that the audience likes talking about polls more than specifics because that is what they are given.
Perhaps a feedback loop exists, but that begs the question of why it exists so differently in Europe.
Q,
You’re right that context is relevant, and I am biased in two ways that make me think it less relevant than you probably do:
First, I care much, much more about policy than politics. “Did Bush answer his critics?” is a political question, and an important one of you’re trying to guess the outcome in November. I have my eye on what I think is a much, much more important outcome: the long-term (as in 10-year or more) prospects for Iraq. Besides, will anyone rememeber this speech in 5 months? Quick, tell me all about Kerry’s most important foreign policy speech from December, 2003!
Second, I keep up on the news enough to simply assume the context is well known. If the writers of the European headline had reason to believe that their readers didn’t know about Bush’s poll numbers or the war in Iraq, then they were probably right to include it as context.
This is indeed hard to judge, and most of the arguments over media bias are over points exactly like this.
Maybe foreigners don’t understand the lovely phrase “rotating out of”?
CNN International Home Page
Link: “U.S. commander to be replaced”
CNN US Home Page
Link: “U.S. commander rotating out of Iraq”
U.S. commander rotating out of Iraq
Plans to replace the top U.S. commander in Iraq are part of the “normal rotation,” and are neither a vote of “no confidence” nor related to the investigation of abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison, Pentagon officials told CNN Monday. Sources confirmed the Pentagon is looking for a replacement for Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who has served for 13 months as commander of Combined Joint Task Force 7, the top U.S. command in Iraq. A senior Pentagon official insisted Sanchez has “done everything right” in regard to the prison abuse scandal, and that his replacement is part of a long-term plan to transition to a new command structure after the June 30 handover to Iraqi sovereignty.
CNN International Home Top Story (1 of 11):
“Bush approval near record low”
… Blame the leaders
CNN US Home Top Story (1 of 7):
“Former Iraq prison head suspended”
… Blame the troops
“Perhaps a feedback loop exists, but that begs the question of why it exists so differently in Europe. “
Because most Europeans know about the US primarily through what they see in the Media - so supply and demand can create a feedback. This is obviously less feasible in the domestic market since people go down to the pub talk to each other etc.
AS to the specifics / facts disconnect – its just a matter of style – Europeans are more interested in nuances etc than facts – perhaps because the facts about the European economy and demographics are best not faced.
The WaPo fronts Bush’s poll numbers above the fold.
(Goodness, I sound like such an ink-stained wretch).
“AS to the specifics / facts disconnect – its just a matter of style – Europeans are more interested in nuances etc than facts –”
Huh? How are Bush’s approval ratings in an election year “nuances”? Aren’t they facts too?
Pepi
Approval ratings are a measure of people’s opinions - they’re not facts but feelings ergo my comment on Euronuancosis - Europeans feeling very strongly about how Americans feel about a speech because the editors of CNN feel its very important to cater to Europesn nuanced feelings.
À Gauche
Jeremy Alder
Amaravati
Anggarrgoon
Audhumlan Conspiracy
H.E. Baber
Philip Blosser
Paul Broderick
Matt Brown
Diana Buccafurni
Brandon Butler
Keith Burgess-Jackson
Certain Doubts
David Chalmers
Noam Chomsky
The Conservative Philosopher
Desert Landscapes
Denis Dutton
David Efird
Karl Elliott
David Estlund
Experimental Philosophy
Fake Barn County
Kai von Fintel
Russell Arben Fox
Garden of Forking Paths
Roger Gathman
Michael Green
Scott Hagaman
Helen Habermann
David Hildebrand
John Holbo
Christopher Grau
Jonathan Ichikawa
Tom Irish
Michelle Jenkins
Adam Kotsko
Barry Lam
Language Hat
Language Log
Christian Lee
Brian Leiter
Stephen Lenhart
Clayton Littlejohn
Roderick T. Long
Joshua Macy
Mad Grad
Jonathan Martin
Matthew McGrattan
Marc Moffett
Geoffrey Nunberg
Orange Philosophy
Philosophy Carnival
Philosophy, et cetera
Philosophy of Art
Douglas Portmore
Philosophy from the 617 (moribund)
Jeremy Pierce
Punishment Theory
Geoff Pynn
Timothy Quigley (moribund?)
Conor Roddy
Sappho's Breathing
Anders Schoubye
Wolfgang Schwartz
Scribo
Michael Sevel
Tom Stoneham (moribund)
Adam Swenson
Peter Suber
Eddie Thomas
Joe Ulatowski
Bruce Umbaugh
What is the name ...
Matt Weiner
Will Wilkinson
Jessica Wilson
Young Hegelian
Richard Zach
Psychology
Donyell Coleman
Deborah Frisch
Milt Rosenberg
Tom Stafford
Law
Ann Althouse
Stephen Bainbridge
Jack Balkin
Douglass A. Berman
Francesca Bignami
BlunkettWatch
Jack Bogdanski
Paul L. Caron
Conglomerate
Jeff Cooper
Disability Law
Displacement of Concepts
Wayne Eastman
Eric Fink
Victor Fleischer (on hiatus)
Peter Friedman
Michael Froomkin
Bernard Hibbitts
Walter Hutchens
InstaPundit
Andis Kaulins
Lawmeme
Edward Lee
Karl-Friedrich Lenz
Larry Lessig
Mirror of Justice
Eric Muller
Nathan Oman
Opinio Juris
John Palfrey
Ken Parish
Punishment Theory
Larry Ribstein
The Right Coast
D. Gordon Smith
Lawrence Solum
Peter Tillers
Transatlantic Assembly
Lawrence Velvel
David Wagner
Kim Weatherall
Yale Constitution Society
Tun Yin
History
Blogenspiel
Timothy Burke
Rebunk
Naomi Chana
Chapati Mystery
Cliopatria
Juan Cole
Cranky Professor
Greg Daly
James Davila
Sherman Dorn
Michael Drout
Frog in a Well
Frogs and Ravens
Early Modern Notes
Evan Garcia
George Mason History bloggers
Ghost in the Machine
Rebecca Goetz
Invisible Adjunct (inactive)
Jason Kuznicki
Konrad Mitchell Lawson
Danny Loss
Liberty and Power
Danny Loss
Ether MacAllum Stewart
Pam Mack
Heather Mathews
James Meadway
Medieval Studies
H.D. Miller
Caleb McDaniel
Marc Mulholland
Received Ideas
Renaissance Weblog
Nathaniel Robinson
Jacob Remes (moribund?)
Christopher Sheil
Red Ted
Time Travelling Is Easy
Brian Ulrich
Shana Worthen
Computers/media/communication
Lauren Andreacchi (moribund)
Eric Behrens
Joseph Bosco
Danah Boyd
David Brake
Collin Brooke
Maximilian Dornseif (moribund)
Jeff Erickson
Ed Felten
Lance Fortnow
Louise Ferguson
Anne Galloway
Jason Gallo
Josh Greenberg
Alex Halavais
Sariel Har-Peled
Tracy Kennedy
Tim Lambert
Liz Lawley
Michael O'Foghlu
Jose Luis Orihuela (moribund)
Alex Pang
Sebastian Paquet
Fernando Pereira
Pink Bunny of Battle
Ranting Professors
Jay Rosen
Ken Rufo
Douglas Rushkoff
Vika Safrin
Rob Schaap (Blogorrhoea)
Frank Schaap
Robert A. Stewart
Suresh Venkatasubramanian
Ray Trygstad
Jill Walker
Phil Windley
Siva Vaidahyanathan
Anthropology
Kerim Friedman
Alex Golub
Martijn de Koning
Nicholas Packwood
Geography
Stentor Danielson
Benjamin Heumann
Scott Whitlock
Education
Edward Bilodeau
Jenny D.
Richard Kahn
Progressive Teachers
Kelvin Thompson (defunct?)
Mark Byron
Business administration
Michael Watkins (moribund)
Literature, language, culture
Mike Arnzen
Brandon Barr
Michael Berube
The Blogora
Colin Brayton
John Bruce
Miriam Burstein
Chris Cagle
Jean Chu
Hans Coppens
Tyler Curtain
Cultural Revolution
Terry Dean
Joseph Duemer
Flaschenpost
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Jonathan Goodwin
Rachael Groner
Alison Hale
Household Opera
Dennis Jerz
Jason Jones
Miriam Jones
Matthew Kirschenbaum
Steven Krause
Lilliputian Lilith
Catherine Liu
John Lovas
Gerald Lucas
Making Contact
Barry Mauer
Erin O'Connor
Print Culture
Clancy Ratcliff
Matthias Rip
A.G. Rud
Amardeep Singh
Steve Shaviro
Thanks ... Zombie
Vera Tobin
Chuck Tryon
University Diaries
Classics
Michael Hendry
David Meadows
Religion
AKM Adam
Ryan Overbey
Telford Work (moribund)
Library Science
Norma Bruce
Music
Kyle Gann
ionarts
Tim Rutherford-Johnson
Greg Sandow
Scott Spiegelberg
Biology/Medicine
Pradeep Atluri
Bloviator
Anthony Cox
Susan Ferrari (moribund)
Amy Greenwood
La Di Da
John M. Lynch
Charles Murtaugh (moribund)
Paul Z. Myers
Respectful of Otters
Josh Rosenau
Universal Acid
Amity Wilczek (moribund)
Theodore Wong (moribund)
Physics/Applied Physics
Trish Amuntrud
Sean Carroll
Jacques Distler
Stephen Hsu
Irascible Professor
Andrew Jaffe
Michael Nielsen
Chad Orzel
String Coffee Table
Math/Statistics
Dead Parrots
Andrew Gelman
Christopher Genovese
Moment, Linger on
Jason Rosenhouse
Vlorbik
Peter Woit
Complex Systems
Petter Holme
Luis Rocha
Cosma Shalizi
Bill Tozier
Chemistry
"Keneth Miles"
Engineering
Zack Amjal
Chris Hall
University Administration
Frank Admissions (moribund?)
Architecture/Urban development
City Comforts (urban planning)
Unfolio
Panchromatica
Earth Sciences
Our Take
Who Knows?
Bitch Ph.D.
Just Tenured
Playing School
Professor Goose
This Academic Life
Other sources of information
Arts and Letters Daily
Boston Review
Imprints
Political Theory Daily Review
Science and Technology Daily Review