news.

Following domestic news from outside of the United States is a surreal experience. When I was living in Dublin, I would scan the headlines of the Irish newspapers and get a glimpse of whatever was going on. At the time, I marveled at the extensive coverage devoted to the 2006 midterm elections: for a solid week, the front pages of the Irish Times and the Irish Independent were devoted to in-depth profiles of the Senators and Representatives who were up for election; op-ed pieces discussed the seats necessary for a Democrat takeover and the ramifications of such a win on Iraq and other salient issues. Freed from the circus tactics that seem to plague the U.S. media conglomerates, the Irish media actually delivered information to its readers, and treated them as intelligent, well-informed...adults. When you turned on the news, you did not witness shouting matches from political pundits who were trying to get a word in edgewise against a bullish host; you did not hear the same obviously partisan political phrases being repeated ad nauseam; you did not see a 45-second sound bite story that was more impressive for its graphics and cut-away edits than its actual content. You were not treated as though you were an ADHD, Ritalin-deprived four year old who needed to be entertained by a constant barrage of colors and noise, because those four year olds? They are not the ones that should be setting the bar on the quality of information being provided by the media, and the news should not be just another form of entertainment. Catering to the lowest common denominator is helpful to no one and detrimental to all.

Being here in Japan, I don't have nearly as many options for getting news via Japanese sources, mainly because I don't know the language. There is one English-dubbed half-hour newscast every night at 7PM, and I definitely try to watch it, but I have a penchant for getting my news via print sources. I read the New York Times online and have a roster of blogs that I visit that link me to other news sources, as well. Obviously the presidential campaign has been taking up most of the media's time (even I have gotten sick of the "lipstick on a pig" debacle), but I have also been reading tributes and obituaries of David Foster Wallace, tracking hurricanes, following the demise of Wall Street.

I met an Israeli who has lived in Japan for the past 10 years. He said that he felt like he was fluent after 5 years, and then he put himself to the test: he tried to watch (and understand) the Japanese news. He couldn't do it. He was finally able to understand the news after he had been here eight years or so. That's a long time to go without following the news in the place you're living in.

dusk

The view from my front door at 6PM on a September evening.