That’s a big ‘if’, especially given that a satellite dish ain’t enough. It takes a computer and ISP, too. And the latter aren’t as prevalent everywhere.
**
Look, I would suggest you go back and reread the original point. This has a life of its own now, and plenty of people are just spooling their prefabricated arguments rather than addressing what is being said.
You shouldn’t jump to conclusions so easily. I can name you offhand a dozen stations in the Dallas area that DON’T sell them. And even more grocery stores. You see, Belo doesn’t take competition lightly. Yes, you can get them, and I never said anything to the contrary. But you have to know where, and you have to be willing to invest some time in getting them.
Ya know … this boycotting-the-French thing must be getting WAY overblown overseas. There is no organized national effort to boycott French things in the U.S. A few yahoos here and there – including a well-placed yahoo in a congressional cafeteria in Washington – are getting an undue amount of press.
99.999999% of Americans could care less, and are using French and French-themed products as always.
[QUOTE]
Otherwise you would have realised that I lived in the US until very recently.
QUOTE]
Uhh, and I am German. How is that relevant to the discussion at hand?
**Thanks for demonstrating so thoroughly that aside from ad hominem attacks that are founded in nothing but an exxagerated nationalistic drive of the worst kind, you have nothing to offer. **
Hence, your assumption of (American?) exagerated nationalistic drive is utterly ridiculous and shows that you are not willing to consider the opposit opinion, no matter how hard you claim to have an unbiased overview.
For everybody to understand how the opposition actually gets quoted it is important to look at the details. To say: ‘Here is what the mad woman from the opposition has to say, look at what an American-lover she is.’ and then the quote is really not unbiased reporting. This is what I mean Der Spiegel (in German)
As I said before, it is hard to discuss a matter with someone who has righteousness on their side.
I hit on that since you talked about University Book stores, I assumed you had some sort of connection to a School. What university book store did you frequent? Yes Presby is in Dallas proper as we call it. Do you really expect to see the NYT in a paper box on the street? Now, what grocery store did you frequent?
As for the supposed boycott of La Madeleine. You’re making that up. There was no call for a boycott. Please provide a cite proving me wrong(it would be your first). La Madeleine is a wonderful Dallas based company with a strong commitment to the community. You are applying your prejudice sir.
As for your remark about Belo, please provide a cite that Belo Corp. engages in such practices.
So, since the Nazis and the Allies were both outsiders in 1944 France, can we assume that the French regarded them as equals?
By the way, I can get the WSJ, NYT, Daily News, LAT, and even the Village Voice right down the street at Barnes and Nobles. Do they have Barnes and Nobles in Dallas?
Actually, from the point of view of a lifetime resident of Dallas, it’s pretty much like OliverH describes it. I went to high school in the heart of the downtown business district(across the street from Lincoln Plaza, within walking distance to Fountain Place). I grew up in North-East Dallas near the Garland border(but inside the loop of 635). I went to a community college for a year and a half in Mesquite. I currently live in Irving/Las Colinas just a couple miles West of Texas Stadium.
The Dallas Morning News has good penetration(vending machine stands, grocery stores, convenience stores(like 7-Eleven, which carry the largest variety, but it’s still nothing to write home about), delivery), probably second place goes to USA Today(side by side with the DMN stands in a good many places). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stand selling the WSJ, but they are available in some convenience stores and by subscription. I vaguely recall seeing a NYT stand downtown once or twice, and of course newsstands at the airport carry pretty much everything. Still, the convenience stores are hit-and-miss and the grocery stores/vending machines are pretty much just DMN, USA Today, Ft Worth Star-Telegram.
I’m not sure I’d say it is hard to get alternate news sources, but it isn’t something the average Dallasite has daily contact with. The DMN is THE newspaper as far as most are concerned. If you were asked to “get a paper” in Dallas it would be safe to bring a DMN 99% of the time.
Now Dallas is a pretty unique place, as is Texas in general, and I don’t think it would be fair to assess the informational awareness of the entire nation based on print news availability in Dallas. It should be noted that Dallas has a strong tech sector and fairly good broadband/internet penetration. I don’t think interested Dallasites lack for info. But the flip side of that coin is that non-interested folks don’t have alternate viewpoints pitched to them very frequently.
Enjoy,
Steven
On Preview:
Several years back my wife and I took a 1400-mile trip around Texas looking at various universities to decide where to go for school. One of the schools we visited was Angelo State University. San Angelo is a small town in the western central portion of the state. The population of the area is roughly 93,000(as juxtaposed with Dallas at over a million). We parked our car in front of a local gas station(not one of the big chains) and walked from there to the administration building. I noticed that they had five or six newspaper vending machines in front of this store and both the WSJ and the NYT were represented(as well as the DMN and a local paper or two**). This stuck in my head for all these years simply because it was a sight you wouldn’t normally see in Dallas.
Surely that’s true the world over, though. That’s not unique to Dallas … or America … or anywhere else
Oliver himself may seek opposing viewpoints about current events. That doesn’t mean that every European does. Without cites of some kind (poll results, etc.), he can speak only for himself and a relatively small circle of family, friends, and acquaintances (small compared to the population of Europe).
Just thought of something … I’m sure in the Dallas Morning News that there are many editorials every day, many of them nationally syndicated. That’s a good place right there to get opposing viewpoints.
OliverH specializes in making general assertions without backing them up with specific facts. Then when he is called on it, he doesn’t provide the facts, instead he either ignores the request entirely or he smugly insinuates that it is true because he knows it and the rest of us rabble ought to simply accept it.
He represents the worst kind of pseudo intellectual European arrogrance I have seen in quite a while.
You have been asked several times to provide the number of Iraqi ex-pats who have gone to Iraq to actually fight against the evil Americans in order to preserve the benevolent rule of Saddam. At least you could begin to redeem yourself by providing that simple “fact”.
I don’t usually “me too” a post, but this deserves one. Don’t believe the hype!
When I dug in Austria, back as the planet was cooling and the seas were forming, it was deja vu all over again. They told me things about the US I had never heard before–primarily because what they had been taught was bullshit. The litany of crap was endless: no welfare, no pensions, no health care for the poor, yadda, yadda… Note, each sentence starts with a “no.” The choice of absolutist absurdity was intentional. Somehow, I never understood this, the erudite and intelligent–no sarcasm, they were smart and I liked them-- Austrian grad. students often generalized about the US. A nation with, at the time, over a hundred million people, and with 51 governmental systems (One federal, 50 state). That last bit is still true.
I had to teach the Euros about Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps, AFDC, federalism US style, fundamental rights US style, etc… I think the Europeans got a good deal on old Soviet textbooks…
As for the press in Germany being “objective.”
Does anyone else cringe any time any source is claimed as being objective? My internal BS counter spikes and spins a bearing.
In contrast to this statement by you, Munster, that represent no intellect bullshit independent of your nationality.
All y’all!
US political debate, as well as news coverage is heavily focused on domestic matters. Very much more so than in Europe. That is common knowledge. If you need cites on that I can dig it up, but really guys, you should know.
Take some time, sample european and american news coverage and evaluate as good objective scientists. Preferably wait until your country is not involved in a war.
About Iraqis going back home to fight, that to has been covered in mainstream media. Consult Collounberrys thread for cites. Oh do that anyhow, learn conversation sans mob-mentality. Please.
To what extent do European papers cover non-European affairs? If the wonderful international coverage in the Daily Bratwurst just talks about what’s happening in France, Belgium, England, and such, that’s not terribly impressive, given how small Europe is, and how tightly woven the various nations are. Everytime I hear this claim, it’s set in the context of “Here in France, I read all about the other European countries, so I’m so very worldly”, when to me it ranks right up there with a US paper covering all 50 states. Would a European paper include exhaustive coverage of Argentina, Niger, China, Mexico, and the like?
Regarding the actual OP (I know, what a concept), I think that the only Iraqi strategy that could’ve worked was to put more resources into creating civilian casualties, and blaming it on the US in a convincing manner. Saddam’s only chance was to create enough outrage that popular opinion forced the US to withdraw before they nabbed him. And for all I know, he tried to do that to the best of his ability, and failed. If I were Saddam, I would’ve stuck my entire army in Baghdad, and made a helluva mess of things.
Jeff
The O.H. (original hijack) was the OliverH mob lynching I so rudely interupted with my last post. Just as long as you are aware of that let’s discuss one of those issues brought up (not by me):
A stereotypical jokes like “Daily Bratwurst” in alluding to the US favourite enemies of the month (france, germany) spins poorly.
Especially in context of recent allegations concerning “European arrogance”, and indignation at “generalization of the US”, and generalizations in general from yourself, and your buds.
Your question: to what extent does European massmedia cover non-european countries? To a very large extent, especially compared to US media. And mind you, i’m not only talking newspapers here, but massmedia as a whole.
Most notably european massmedia cover the United States in great detail. Should come as no surprise. In fact, my friendly local swedish massmedia cover the states in far more detail than it does any other european country. Even our neighbour countries get less coverage. A large part of this coverage of course consist of entertainment, and financial news. But also your general domestic agenda.
So therefore I am familiar with your political parties, your constitution, your abortions debate, your guns debate, your tax debate, your presidential candidates, your murderers, your Ross Perot, your Geraldo, your Peter Arnett and so on… Not only from hanging out at Straight Dope.
And the size of the United States, it’s many states, it’s world wide importance etc are indeed important factors in explaining why US news coverage is heavily focused on domestic issues.
Doesn’t change the fact that it is.
Not much exhaustive coverage. How could you ever exhaust f. e. the subject of China?
But no, not even sufficient coverage in my opinion. This is in my opinion in equal parts a fallacy of western news reporting, and a natural consequence of closeness, interest, and availability. It holds for US massmedia and for European.
Having said that I would also maintain that f. e. third world issues in general get much more coverage over here.