International news coverage by American news companies is dramatically under-served. The journalism business has been dredged by the derth of advertising revenue, which is Joe Consumer’s fault when you think about it. People don’t care to look at advertisements anymore and they care even less about what’s happening elsewhere because there’s just too much happening here and oh, when you have the world’s news at your fingertips you don’t think anything of it. But when it’s gone — well everything just sort of fades to black.
Daljit Dhaliwal is the lead anchor for Worldfocus, PBS’ daily international news program. She joined us to talk about her company’s relationships with foreign news companies like, for example, Al Jazeera and the comparatively tame Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC) — by sharing resources and stories, Worldfocus stands a fighting chance at getting the news to you. The downside: using other people’s news means you have to trust another reporter’s reporting. Bottom line: Worldfocus has to remain neutral as hell, which is what you want in a news source. Unfortunately, trust and truth are not mutually exclusive.
Nonetheless, it’s probably better to be aware of the world’s issues than not. And if there’s any hope regarding the news business at all, it’s that they get back to the business of reporting on the world. Point, Worldfocus.
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