December 6, 2014 was just like any other night on NBC Nightly News. And that's the problem.
There was a "Light" story (in both senses) about the Christmas Tree and fireworks in Bethlehem.
Cute. Except for one thing: There had been no mention for days that the Netanyahu gov't in Israel had fallen (in a parliamentary sense) and new elections were being called for next Spring.
Do Americans know what this means, and WHAT it could mean, if he's replaced in March? More important than whether this would be a positive or negative thing (media must remain neutral on that point) does NBC News really believe there are no Americans would be interested in Israeli politics?
Likewise, there's been no mention of the draconian law being pushed by the president of Myanmar/Burma that (in 2014!) plans to make it very difficult for Buddhists to convert or marry outside their religion.
There was no mention of the UK's conservative government facing a backlash from its own party over increasing foreign aid. Nothing either about the rising power of a Third Party, UKIP, which threatens to scupper the Conservative Party's attempt at another term in office, or one without coalition partners.
Of course, we heard no mention of Chile, whose president is being pushed to honor her campaign promise to adopt a freer, more democratic constitution.
All of this matters. Of course, it's not just NBC News, it's America's entire media establishment is failing its viewers by routinely ignoring HARD worldwide political coverage in favor of "light" news that makes us feel warm and fuzzy, but leaves us isolated and ignorant of the world.
This is #NotNews. And it's inexcusable.
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