economic concept in light of current issues and real world situations

Unit 6: Discussion


The purpose of this discussion board is to provide you with a forum to discuss your newly discovered economic concepts in light of current issues and real-world situations with others in the class. In essence, it is a practice ground for ensuring that your economic reasoning and foundation are secure. This portion of the course requires you to interact with your fellow classmates. Please address these discussion questions below. Make sure to analyze the questions using an “economic perspective.” In other words, utilize economics vocabulary in each of your posts. Respond to at least three classmates’ posts. Remember that content matters. You need to write more than “Great Job” or “I agree with you” to get full credit on your discussion responses.

Here are the Two Discussion Questions that I choose to respond back too.

Discussion Question Response 1 (JS)

Discussion 1:

There is a night and day difference between the coverage from The New York Times on the events of the bombing of Bosnia and the bombing of the BBC offices,

The first step for determining if an international act of violence should be considered news is defining what happened? We do this by asking what type of event happened. Was it war, terrorism, or protesting? Next we ask if the location makes it important to the viewers. And lastly, we need to know if the context or the timing is of significance. In the case of the bombing in Bosnia, The New York Times defined what happened as an act of terrorism, which has been important and relevant news to Americans since the tragic events of September 11th.

The second step for determining if an event makes international news is assigning ownership of the act, asking if it’s “ours” or “theirs.” The bombing in Bosnia is technically theirs, but since all of the sources for reporting the terrorist attacks came from American intelligence, it became ours. The New York Times was now free to put on their patriot frames. Their coverage of the Bosnian bombings was extensive and painted the US’s involvement in very pretty colors. We were hero’s who would protect any country from the dark cloud of communism.

It’s easy to sum up The New York Times coverage of the BBC office bombings, because there wasn’t any. This event was not defined as terrorism and received no coverage. It was theirs and not relevant to the viewers in America. The Times reported on the event and they remained factual and professional in all of their reporting, no red, white, and blue fanfare. While the Time considered it terrorism, it was still “theirs.”

Discussion 2:

The four key factors that determine if a nation is covered on international news in the United States are deviance, relevance, cultural affinity, and prominence.

Deviance is a departure from the usual or accepted standards, particularly in social standards. When discussing international news, there are three types of deviance: statistical, normative, and social change. In essence, an event or trend in a foreign country becomes news when there is a stray from what the audience perceives to be normal.

Relevance refers to the potential impact that the story could have on the news audience. In the American and European news media, relevance typically refers to trade or conflict or war. Terrorism is a perfect mix of relevance and deviance because terrorist tactics are designed to upset the normal operations of things and their relevance is to the U.S.’s fight against terrorism in the Middle East.

Another key factor for international news is cultural affinity, which measures how alike that country is to ours. Often times, cultural affinity boils down to that country’s freedom in the press and the most prominent religion. America is comprised of 2% Muslims, which explains why we hears less about Muslim countries. Additionally, if the press in that country has laws that are stricter than our own it is harder for our journalists to discover those stories and do their own investigation.

Lastly, the country’s prominence with in the hierarchy of all nations, simply boils down to how powerful is that country. China’s rise in power over the last decade has put their name in international news more frequently than in decades past. Many variables contribute to this factor, like the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), population, trade positions, and military power.

Discussion Question Response 2 (MT)

Discussion 1: In one of your readings, you are told how journalists while reporting on an international incident use their national identity to determine whether it’s “our news” OR “their news.” Using the same reading, in 200 words compare how The New York Times portrayed the bombing of Bosnia with The New York Time’s portrayal of the bombing of BBC offices is Kashmir, India

As stated in the finding “while the war is actually ‘their’ war, the story in essence addresses issues of concern to ‘our’ country.” (Nossek, Hillel. 2004).  Even though the war is not yet stablished, it is however something that could affect the American way of life; by means of American military involvement. This would lead to a lot of taxpayer spending to fund a war of this magnitude, bringing the media to portray to the American people that “this could affect you, and must be considered” regardless of how possible the situation might be. In other words, this now becomes our news.

On the other hand, the bombing at the BBC offices in Srinagar, Kashmir are considered in a scene “local news.” Because the attack itself was localized to more or an act against the local journalist, and not considered an act of terrorism. Therefore, not affecting our way of life and considered “their news.”

Sources Cited:

Nossek, Hillel. (2004). Our News and Their News: The Role of National Identity in the Coverage of Foreign News. Journalism. 5. 343-368. 10.1177/1464884904044941.

Discussion 2: In 200 words describe the four major factors that determine international news coverage in the U.S. Ensure that you have a small paragraph each for every factor. 

Some factors that international news can trigger U.S media can be as follows:

  1. Government, as many of the world’s economy depends on the status of the U.S. Government, a lot of talk of any positive/negative impacts to our countries reactions to national issues can draw much of the media’s attention.
  2. Entertainment, many events such as the Olympics or the World cup can bring much attention to the U.S. media interest because it is an involvement of our country’s cultural contribution. This interest creates a bond with all the nations in the world.
  3. Business, many foreign issues such as in relation to crude oil, sanctions on major trade counties, can bring a large interest to local/national media coverage.
  4. Humanitarian, many major disasters around the world are covered by major media networks. But aside from the facts of the disasters at hand, much of the national news is turned to the aid being provide to such tragedy. Whether it be from government agencies, religious affiliations, or personal donations: the nationals media tends to focus on the importance of giving. However, to not leave out where the generous donations are coming from.