The Ugly American

By leaving international newsgathering to the global news agencies,  a few elite newspapers and to European media like the British Broadcasting Corporation or The Economist, U.S. media organizations are in contempt of their public, which has manifested substantial interest in foreign news since the attacks of September 11.

Newspapers, television networks and radio stations have neglected their duty to help citizens understand, oversee and influence the policies of their government. At the same time, these news organizations have shown the world considerable disrespect. They have helped produce the ugly image of a powerful nation oblivious to the concerns of other peoples around the globe.

Yet this process is not irreversible.  In fact, journalists and their audiences can and should play a pivotal role in rehabilitating the U.S.'s image abroad.  Reporters, editors, readers, and viewers should use the Internet as a tool to create networks of foreign correspondents that reclaim the abandoned mission of providing Americans with eyes and ears around the world.

It was on September 11 that the resentment against the U.S., festering in the hearts and minds of many around the world, manifested itself for the first time this century. The terrorist attacks provoked the question “Why do they hate us?” Initially that inquiry was directed towards extremists in the Muslim world. Americans found some consolation in the sympathy and solidarity expressed in Europe immediately after the attacks.

I remember going to a memorial concert in Berlin, one year after the attacks. The concert was sponsored by the German State Department. One and a half years later, the U.S. government embarked on the war in Iraq. To the best of my knowledge, that was the end of concerts put on by the German government in memory of September 11.

Henriette Lowisch has reported in her hometown, produced television in Austria, written for a women’s magazine in Germany, and now works for Agence France-Presse most recently as editor-in-chief and senior editor. Lowisch received her master’s degree in journalism and graduated from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich. This article was adapted from a speech she gave as the University of Montana’s T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor.