Top Pet Issues for German Media Coverage of the United States
From David’s Medienkritik:
- Perceived American religiosity and/or prudishness.
- Perceived American obsession with guns and violence.
- The death penalty.
- The perceived excess and superficiality of American capitalism and (non)culture (i.e. fat people, the super rich, SUVs, fast-food, M-TV/hip-hop culture, Hollywood, corporate scandals, buy-outs and “excessive” profits.)
- Exaggeration of social inequality in the United States (i.e. amerikanische Verhaeltnisse, poor Americans are starving and freezing to death or at least struggling with 2-3 jobs and no health insurance while the rich live it up. Perception that America has no social safety net or a woefully inadequate social safety net.)
- Racism in America
- America as gluttonous world polluter.
- Perceived American unilateralism/exceptionalism (i.e. Iraq, Kyoto, ICC, Guantanamo)
- Perceived American “hurrah” patriotism or “hyper” patriotism (i.e. flag-waving).
- Perceived American paranoia/overreaction about terror and obsession with security and the “war” on terror and the perceived willingness of Americans to sacrifice key civil liberties (the Patriot Act has become a favored target) and take extrajudicial actions involving torture, renditions, etc.
Keep reading, there’s five more.