News About Turkeys, not Turkey
by David Schlessinger, Editor-In-Chief of Reuters
I once went to an interesting forum. Harvard Professor Joseph Nye spoke on "soft power" in the information age.
"Soft power" is a concept Nye developed. It deals with a person's ability to persuade and attract others to do what you want. This is the opposite of "hard power," or force.
At one point, Nye complained that the news during a stay in London was dominated by "turkeys and not Turkey." The local media mostly covered an outbreak of avian flu on a farm in rural England. There was a near complete absence of "foreign" news.
His point was that, in an information age, people need good access to a variety of information from all over in order to make informed decisions. News reports of nearly all local stories do not give people the tools they need to work in this globalizing world.
The balance of news that people want and that news providers give changes by location. It also changes by the degree to which people are personally affected by a story. You cannot force people to read something they just do not care about.
The spread of the avian flu and its potential mutation is a global story and not just a local one. The key is keeping this story in context. Make sure it is not the only world story you report on!
Like any story, it needs the right balance of expertise, accuracy, balance, and insight.
In a world of "soft power," these are the things that separate journalism from propaganda. They are what separate information from belief.
Select the correct answer.
Which detail does the writer use to support his argument that many people do not think world news is important?
A.
He tells a story about viewing London's news and getting almost no world news.
B.
He talks about the importance of local news as well as world news stories.
C.
He gives the amount of each day's report that should be about world news.
D.
He gives statistics on the number of world news stories his company reports.
Answer:
B.
He talks about the importance of local news as well as world news stories.
Explanation:
According to the article News About Turkeys, not Turkey by David Schlessinger, he talks about how news reporting differs from country to country and how people are using "soft power" to influence people to believe in what they want them to believe in.
Therefore, the detail the writer uses to support his argument that many people do not think world news is important is, he talks about the importance of local news as well as world news stories.
