What We Don't Know . . .

I've just completed my first daily ritual upon arriving at work--which is to make a quick visit to newspaper websites around the world just to keep up with what is going on. I don't just do it for fun--we're a global operation with people who work in a growing number of countries around the world. I need to know what is happening out there.

But I also do it because it helps me to break out of my own cultural isolation here in the US and to be aware of the perspectives that are motivating people all over the world. Generally I discover something that I wouldn't know if I depended solely upon US news. For example, today is International Human Right's Day and the 59th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the United Nations. I didn't learn about that in the Atlanta paper or in the New York Times; rather, I read opinion columns about it in both the Manila Bulletin and the Jerusalem Post. The two papers came at the celebration quite differently as the Manila Bulletin celebrated it and the Jerusalem paper took a much more critical look at it.

It's interesting to me--that an International Human Rights Day is at the very least acknowledged in Bangkok and Jerusalem and generally ignored in Atlanta and New York City.

Makes me wonder why?



By the way, a number of websites provide links to significant newspapers around the world. I use this one. Be careful--it's addicting.