Staying Local in an International World

As the world continues to grow more and more interconnected, our news becomes more and more inclusive. Television revolutionized the 1960s with images of Vietnam in the homes of America. Suddenly Americans were more involved in a small country half way across the world than they were ever able to be before. In the 1990s, people all over the world were connected even more through the internet. Not only could someone see images from across the globe but they could communicate and interact with each other. Does this mean Americans want or need to know what is going on in China? India? New Zealand?

News judgment is becoming ever more difficult in the world of journalism today. Not only are the mediums of news changing, but the news itself is as well. With all this wealth of knowledge, what do Americans want to hear, what do they need to hear, and how do they want to hear it? I will not attempt to solve this. If I could solve it, I would most likely sell it to the Washington Post for money instead of writing it in a blog.

With this in mind, how do local papers differ from national ones? I have decided to look at what each has to offer by looking at the New York Times and the Athens Banner-Herald. The New York Times, arguably the largest paper in the country, serves surfers in California, farmers in Illinois, and the business men of New York. There readership base is so large, they have little news that happened in your hometown. The Athens Banner-Herald, on the other hand, serves the city of Athens and other small cities. Do these citizens want to hear about the attacks in Gaza? Do they need to hear it?

The top stories on the New York Times’s website are: Geithner Hints at Harder Line on China Trade, Freed by U.S., Saudi Becomes a Qaeda Chief, and In Florida, A Swim with Manatees.

The top stories on the Athens Banner-Herald website are: UGA May Lose Jobs in 2010, Program Uses Art to Boost Learning Math, Other Subjects, and “Benjamin Button” leads Oscars with 13 Nominations.

Although all the information in both papers is relevant and important, they differ greatly. All of NY Times’s readers are affected by Obama’s cabinet and the actions of Al Qaeda equally. The readers also will find the feature piece about Florida’s manatees as interesting, even if they are in Alaska. There is not a piece about UGA’s potential job loss in the Times, however if it was left out of the Banner-Herald, people would be concerned. So do we need both local and national news? I say yes. The problem is how the two can interact together to inform the public in a way cohesive to America’s changing lifestyle.

1.21.09