By The Editorial Board
The U.S. gives aid to Ukraine. The U.S. imposes tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The U.S. talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. is hurting from inflation. The U.S. is dealing with tariffs from the EU and Canada. The U.S. meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
These are the types of headlines that fill the nation’s news organizations. Of course this information is important for U.S. citizens to stay aware of, especially since it is directly relevant to the U.S. But it also tends to eliminate any point-of-views from outside of the country and strictly focuses on, you guessed it, the U.S. perspective.
Unfortunately, many people in the U.S. are mainly influenced by national news organizations, where the same perspectives about international news are similarly reiterated. Oftentimes, this can lead to becoming one-sided on worldly issues and misunderstanding what other countries are going through.
An example of misunderstanding news on an international level is actually looking at worldly perspectives of news values and consumption. A study done by the Reuters Institute and University of Oxford uses data from multiple countries to compare the different points of view of news in their 2024 Digital News Report.
According to an article from Reuters, a supply of accurate journalism remains more important than ever, yet in many of the countries covered in the survey, news media outlets are increasingly challenged by rising misinformation, low trust, attacks by politicians and an uncertain business environment.
The data from the 2024 Digital News Report is based on data from six continents and 47 different markets, which serves as a reminder that changes in journalism are not always evenly distributed among the world. While the study shows that journalism is struggling overall in countries, it found that in some parts of the world that news media remain profitable, independent and widely trusted among its audience.
However, even in the countries where media outlets are considerably more respected, there are still challenges around the pace of change, the role of different platforms and how news organizations adapt to a digital environment that seems to become more complex and fragmented every year — something that every country faces.
A direct finding from the study stresses how overall there is a weaker connection and loyalty to news outlets, meaning less interest in expanding diversity in news outlets. Although the use of different news platforms is continuing to shift, the majority of people in the study continue to identify platforms including social media, search or aggregator links as their main gateway to online news which can impact what news they receive and look at. Across worldly markets, only around 22% identify news websites or apps as their main source of online news. While publishers in a couple of European markets have managed to lean away from this trend, younger demographics worldwide are showing weaker connections with news brands than in the past.
Without the loyalty to national news outlets that individuals had in the past, it becomes even more improbable that there will be an interest in looking into news outlets outside of their country. Hence, a lack of understanding of how people from other countries are taking in and understanding international news.
While there are many excuses as to why individuals may not bother to look at international news such as being too busy, not finding it relevant or that is harder to find, the bottom line is that this is a trend that needs to change. It’s OK for not every news story to include the U.S. What’s more important is looking at news through a variety of perspectives — even if it means looking at perspectives outside of one’s own country.
