[speaker001:] I, uh, get a lot of my news driving home from work listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED on national public radio. Uh, that is one of my big sources for current events information. Uh, I really like that coverage. My wife, uh, on the other hand is home most of the day and she watches a lot of the cable news network. Have you seen, uh, h-, have you, uh, ever heard of ALL THINGS CONSIDERED?
[speaker002:] No, we don't have the, uh, national public radio in, in my area.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I can hear it at the, uh, uh, oh, the college town nearby when I'm in Stillwater, which is about an hour away, but the F M signal doesn't reach this far.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh, I'll listen to shortwave quite a bit. It gives you a whole different perspective on the news, uh, when you hear it from, say, a European
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] point of view, or from the country of origin. Uh, I agree with you, too, on the, uh, [lipsmack] uh, the cable channel, C N N and HEADLINE NEWS. Uh, I'm not too satisfied with our local newspaper
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, which is why I rely on shortwave and, and then the cable,
[speaker001:] [Cough].
[speaker002:] cable, C N N.
[speaker001:] I'm, uh, interested in the, in the shortwave aspect of it. Uh, how do you find that the, the coverage from other places in the world [squeak], uh, compares with the American coverage of, how do you think that, uh, the viewpoints differ?
[speaker002:] I think a lot of it is just, uh, the fact that in the U S you're so far removed, uh, in a lot of cases from, say, conflicts or, or it's not happening in your backyard
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] so it's, it's more of a, it's not as a personal, uh, the news isn't as personal in what we receive domestically than, than what's on shortwave. It's, B B C is, uh, oh, I don't know the right word, is, is almost, uh, they almost take all emotions out of it when they
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] report it and it just, they seem to give more of just the facts than opinions.
[speaker001:] Do you think, then, that, uh, the American media is presenting an opinion along with their facts?
[speaker002:] Uh, very much so, very much so, and I, I think a lot of it is, uh, especially T V news, they don't really have the time and a lot of them don't have the education and the background to,
[speaker001:] [Cough].
[speaker002:] uh, oh, to really decipher the news and to really explain it. I mean, I, you know, I think it's important to interpret it, but a lot of times the person doesn't have the experience to, to do the interpreting.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Which, uh, which approach do you find to be, uh, more useful, the, the interpretive approach or the straight reporting?
[speaker002:] Oh, I like the straight reporting. Uh, and then I, I hope to be able to form my own opinion of it. It's, it's nice to hear someone's interpretation of it
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, I always think it's humorous when, when the President gives the State of the Union and, uh, for thirty minutes and then for an hour and a half you hear different commentators explaining what you just heard.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] And a lot of time I don't hear exactly what they, what they write into it.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So I, overall, I think I would rather hear just straight reporting.
[speaker001:] One of the things that I found interesting last year during the, uh, the Gulf conflict was a sentiment against, uh, Peter Arnett, who had stayed in Iraq and was presenting, uh, some of the things that were available. Uh, there was a, there was, uh, a piece where he was showing a bombed out building where there was obviously a crudely, uh, uh, hastily erected sign saying baby milk factory, and while he was being severely, uh, censored and could not make any judgment call on this, it was fairly obvious that it was a piece of propaganda, but people were really down on him for reporting the fact that, th-, you know, this isn't a baby milk factory, how could he say it was, uh, I, I think that,
[speaker002:] [Static].
[speaker001:] that to me showed that the Americans were really getting used to having the, not just the facts, but also the conclusions and opinions spoon fed to them.
[speaker002:] Yeah, I, I think people are, people have that opinion. They, they want to sit down in front of the TV and, uh, or at a, read a magazine or U S A TODAY and read in four paragraphs, uh, and, and find out every-,