Are Americans Really Hungry For Foreign News? BBC World Will Find Out.

(AP)

The lack of coverage of foreign news by U.S. news outlets is a criticism that often comes up around here. When we ask "10 Plus 1" subjects what they'd like to see more of on CBS News, many have mentioned foreign coverage. Our "Outside Voices" subjects, including Charles Bierbauer this week, have often shared that sentiment.

Well, seek and ye shall find. BBC World launched a 24-hour cable news channel in the U.S. yesterday, and it is "aiming to capture audiences hungry for international news." Chief executive at BBC World in London Richard Sambrook, told The New York Times that the U.S. "'is the only region in the world where we're not available on a 24-hour basis.' Until now, he added, the only exposure Americans have had to BBC news was a daily, 30-minute program carried by local PBS stations."

The channel's lineup is set to include a morning news program that will launch in July. "What we're not setting out to do is carve a niche that reflects America back to the Americans," said the program's anchor, George Alagiah. "What we're trying to do is reflect the world back to Americans."

Often one of the arguments against including more foreign coverage is that the audience simply isn't interested. With that in mind, BBC World's success in the U.S. cable market should be particularly telling.

[alphaa10-2009]

For over a year, the nightly PBS feed of BBC world news has been easy to catch on PBS. The content is good, if necessarily very concise, but that makes it 30 minutes well spent. Somehow, the BBC staff manages to provide a sense of getting the heart of the story. The BBC is especially good at grabbing the right talking heads-- ie. the authorities, or the people who should have a good vantage point. Whether it is their Reuters/EU connection or something else, the USA networks are not quite as good on non-US/world stories. I neither expect nor want a USA-centric edition of the news, and it is actually refreshing to see stories covered from a different mindset-- like opening the windows, and finding the world is a much bigger place than expected. Deutsche Welle also has a similar length, English version on PBS.

[simminch]

I am indeed curious to see if the BBC draws any sort of viewership. American news channels have battled themselves into exhaustion, with even Fox slowing down. Since the BBC is non-commercial, will its outlet be supported by cable fees, or by the British taxpayer? If by cable fees, the marketplace will quickly determine who is willing to pay extra for the content. Chuck Simmins America's North Coast Journal http://blog.simmins.org