International Media- Should we care?

In class, one student made a comment that we should know everything that is going on abroad even if it doesn't affect us personally. Another student came back with his philosophy of not reading anything international unless it directly affects him or the United States. Neither one of these perspectives seem correct, there has to be a happy medium of paying attention to the global world, but not overdoing it by paying attention to every little detail. As I was reading Bob Stevensons' study, I really thought about his point on the true content of international news concentrating mostly on the negative, violent events because that's "what sells." His study proved only 1/3 of international coverage really focused on "coups and earthquakes," which seems very low when I first thought about it. Then, I began thinking about the days I have extra time on my hands and I get to read many more stories in the New York Times. I am able to thoroughly go through the international section instead of only focusing on the global stories that make the front page. It is true most of the front page International articles are related to mass bombings, devastating earthquakes or mudslides, or political corruption, but how often do we really look inside the NYT and read the stories that don't make the front? There are plenty of positive and interesting stories found on the inside of the International section. I don't think people avoid this part of global news because they don't care what's going on in other countries, I think a lot o the reason has to do with the extra time people have or even the time people are willing to put into reading the news, whether it's national or international. 

However, it is interesting to think about the big corporations dominating U.S. news with their agenda setting and bias reporting, also dominate international news with similar agenda setting and bias reporting. Now, we have to question the news we get in the U.S. by checking facts and comparing different news sources, but we also have to compare different sources internationally to what we are fed in the U.S. Domestically, we have a new medium of news to rely on to help us sift through bias "facts." Citizen journalists and bloggers are a great source to keep our journalists accountable and fair. But these sources found in the U.S. don't have the same resources as large conglomerate media sources who can send reporters and resources to cover countries abroad first hand. Since I have family in Israel, I am very interested in the country, and luckily this is a country that U.S. media devotes a large space to. But what if I had family in Norway, Yugoslavia, or a smaller country in Africa? I would have to go online and search for the country's own news, which probably isn't as thorough in the news because it may not have the same resources or money as the U.S. Broader coverage of the global world is definitely significant in the future of our country's media and if one doesn't want to pay attention to certain issues, but wants to focus on other ones, the media will provide different outlets to serve the various publics' needs and wants.