America's New Berlin Correspondent: Germany a Nation of Nazis, Bloodsuckers, Prostitutes, Alcoholism and Hopelessness...

Let's face it: Media tend to over-report the most vile and extreme aspects of our society. "If it bleeds - it leads" is much more than a cliche - it is a journalistic fact of life. The danger with the daily sensationalism is that it skews the viewer's perception of reality. In other words, a viewer is apt to believe that the world around him is a much more rotten than it actually is.

Interesting thought experiment: What if you were a foreign correspondent...?

Imagine you are an American correspondent in Germany. You are encouraged by your editors to report only the most extreme, outrageous, strange and dark sides of German society. Your publication chooses to ignore the 97% of issues that bring Germans and Americans together and instead focus on the 3% that most divide the two nations - such as attitudes towards prostitution, social welfare, guns, etc. This seedy sensationalism sells - and that is exactly what your editors are after. For that reason, they also strongly encourage you to write whatever you can on Neo-Nazi violence - not because the issue is genuinely troubling - (and it is) - but because it brings good ratings and reaffirms your readership's dark stereotypes of the Vaterland.

Beyond that - your editors oblige you to bring stories only on a narrow band of pet issues that they have predetermined are of "interest" to the readership. (In fact, you may have been specially selected for your job because you have an ideological propensity to dislike Germany and favor stories that make Germany look bad.) When you arrive in Berlin, you discover that Germany isn't quite the awful place you expected and - because you are a free spirit - the urge is great to report on the many complex aspects of German society. Predictably, however, your editors discourage any independent ideas that might shed a different (you might say balanced) light on things.

The pet issues and big politics are all they want. In particular, the editors want to demonstrate that Germany is a nation infatuated with pornography, cursed by extreme alcoholism and blighted by racist attitudes towards non-Germans. Every other week - if things are slow - the boss pressures you to bring a story on another hopeless unemployed wretch in East-Berlin desperate to get out of the country. He just won't publish your more "upbeat" stories or even critical stories that fall outside the narrow band of pet issues.

The editors supplement your work by sprinkling-in stories cut-and-pasted from news wires on Germans behaving badly worldwide. You eventually realize that intellectual honesty takes a distant backseat to the pet-issue template devised by your editors. Making Germans and Germany look bad at all costs - to reaffirm the stereotypes and political leanings of readers - is no longer something you can question without risking your job.

One week - your publication runs a cover depicting a giant spider drapped in a German flag and wearing lederhosen sucking the blood of a lifeless blue collar American trapped in its web. You realize that this crude reference to recent lay-offs of American automobile workers by a large German multinational is appalling and unfair. The cover sparks a slew of hateful and irrational letters-to-the-editor by readers. You want to speak out against what you now believe is hate-mongering for profit - but again - you fear for your job.

Not surprisingly, the most "self-critical" Germans - those with a particular talent for shamelessly bashing their own nation and people - are held up as heroic dissenters and showered with awards by your publication and others like it.

Finally - because quite a few other publications share the same general ideology of your own and follow the same pattern of reporting - it is not beyond the pale for your editors to proclaim that you represent the "mainstream" of American media and that you are largely fair and unbiased in reporting on Germany.

Turn the mirror around...

Now let us turn this script around. The above is a reflection of how certain influential segments of German media have operated for years now. The latest Amerika-Korrespondent for Stern magazine - Jan Christoph Wiechmann - offers an excellent example. One of his more recent articles is entitled: "Weapons Trade in the USA: An AR-15 with your Coffee?" The opening paragraph reads:

"In Europe one usually receives a cookie with their coffee. In the USA it is an assault rifle: In the Texan solitude, waitresses with highly teased hair offer the things for sale in weapon shops camouflaged as cafes. Normal daily life in Bush-Country."

The article paints a picture of daily life in the USA that is neither typical nor normal. Yet the author intentionally presents the extreme as the ordinary - not because it represents an accurate reflection of typical daily life in the United States - but because it is sure to sell and re-affirm the deeply-held stereotypes of "Stern" readers. Further, Wiechmann cleverly selects a subject - or perhaps his editors selected it for him - that has long been a favorite pet issue of left-leaning German media for years.

Another recent example is an article, entitled "US Tourist Collapses During Sex - Dead," that appeared in SPIEGEL ONLINE on an American who died after overdosing on a potency drug while engaging in sex tourism in Thailand. Certainly - had the tourist in question been Dutch, Brazilian, Russian or German - this article probably would not have made it onto the SPON website. Fellow blogger Joerg of Atlantic Review - who brought this article to my attention - hit the nail on the head:

"If it had been a German tourist, it might not have made news on Spiegel. Or maybe it would have been, if at least the pills were American."

Why is this piece newsworthy at all? The answer is simple: It offers SPIEGEL readers another choice opportunity to look down on Americans.

Looking at the larger picture...

The long-standing media patterns described above - when combined with the sort of ugly and exploitative political opportunism that marked the Schroeder re-election campaign of 2002 - serve to transform the fault lines that represent honest German-American differences of opinion (on questions such as Iraq, trade, the role of the state, etc.) into gaping chasms of misunderstanding and mutual abuse. This leads to the sort of self-reinforcing media-political feeding frenzy that we saw from 2002 to 2005, a period that produced some of the most ugly and irrational manifestations of anti-Americanism in the history of democratic Germany.

Fortunately, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have made it evident that it is possible to disagree with the United States without tapping into the overflowing keg of anti-American sentiment - fueled by the media tendencies outlined above - in their respective nations. As a result of the political changes at the very top, the level of media vitriol has ebbed over the past year or two. It is important to remember - however - that the group of people calling the shots in the German media in 2002 and 2003 are essentially still running the show today. Given the right political conditions and the media's tendency to follow larger political patterns, they would gladly return to the high-pitched anti-American hysteria that flooded German media only a few years ago.

Endnote: Allow us to offer that there is certainly some of what we describe above in American media as relates to Germany - though on a much smaller scale. It is true that some Americans still associate Germany primarily with Nazism, beer or lederhosen. If anything, however, the American media pays far too little attention to foreign issues - and it is the lack of attention to Germany and Europe that is far more troubling.

Comments

[Inkling]

Perhaps the most interesting comparison lies in the difference in readers. Germans want to hear all the dirt they can about America. American's could care less about Germany as anything other than a tourist destination. The only two conversations I recall having about modern-day Germany in all of 2007 were:

1. Visiting the "Sleeping Beauty" castle in Bavaria.

2. When someone asked if Germany had recently had bad weather. All I could think of saying was, "Yeah, there or somewhere in Europe."

Partly, it's because we're too busy getting on with our lives to obsess over someone else. Partly, it's because times have changed. A century ago almost everyone fretted about the threat the new German battleships posed to the peace of Europe. Now what Germany does or doesn't do in the global arena scarcely matters. Even their pricey luxury cars now run a poor second to those from Japan.

In short, America remains in love with life and its possibilities. We've become the first "world country" in human history, with immigrants coming here from almost everywhere and becoming part of us. That's why polls show we're almost three times more likely to view the future positively than Germans. Germans are like the unfortunate residents of a nursing home for the elderly, endlessly carping because no one pays them any attention.

And who wants to pay attention to a grumbler?

--Michael W. Perry, Seattle
Editor: G. K. Chesterton: A Criticism by Cecil Chesterton

[dick]

The funny thing is you could almost write the same article about the US MSM reporters reporting in our own media, at least for the past 7 years. Not to the same extent maybe but a lot of the same kind of reporting goes on here.

How do we go about getting the media to report the whole truth, both the good and the bad. As it stands the "if it bleeds, it leads" group are in control and that is terrible. As an example the Sacramento Bee was reporting the deaths of US troops in Iraq on a daily basis. If there were no deaths then either something was written about how terrible our troops were or else there was no story about Iraq at all. Wash and repeat for most of the daily newspapers in the major cities and on the television news reports. Those of us who wanted to know what was really going on had to resort to the blogs. Is this the case in Europe as well? I know we have No Pasaran and Medienkritik and a couple of other blogs from Europe that seem to fill in the gaps but how about the rest of the internet.

I am in hopes that with so many of the young people reading the internet news we can maybe get at least a fairly level playing field. The way the young people are handling themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan and the way they pitch in to help whenever there are problems like the tsunami of a couple of years ago is wonderful and they do seem to be more open to ideas than the Boomer generation which is a real blessing. Are the young in Europe also rejecting the Boomer lifestyles as they are in the US?

[Jonathan Jones]

I hate to say this, because I'm a long time reader of this blog. But do you ever tire of making the same point over and over again? Bottom line: America is a much more important country than Germany. All aspects of their relationship more or less follow from that fact.

I'd find it interesting if you would broaden the scope of your blog a little bit. Say, for example -- discuss all aspects of German media coverage of the USA, instead of just the negative examples.

I hope this doesn't come across as too critical. I think your blog has been very valuable so far. I'm just suggesting that branching out a bit might increase your readership.

[TAR ART RAT]

WORRRDD!
Thanks for this post. I like to think of it this way:
"It is easy to criticize America because it does harm to other countries, but Germany only does harm to itself..."
Not to mention that a touch of Anti-American is just slightly a cool attitude to have, I think, by many Europeans. Ugh, I should just stop. Stop here.
To be fair I am an Americnan Journalist in berlin but I still find time to blog mad sh*t about ye olde D-land (sometimes, not always) just to keep sane ... I could go on for days about how stubborn, brainwashed, neurotic/robotic and frustrated/ing Germany is.

DAYS!

[garydausz]

@Jonathan Jones

Uhm, I think that is the idea of a blog with a specific subject, to talk over an over again about it.
To discuss about the negative examples of the german medias cover of the USA IS talking about all aspects of german media coverage of the USA.
Seriously, there is not much left if you take away the negative examples. I can't even remeber when I heard something positive about the US in the media here in germany.
Just recently I was enlightened by german news channel N24 that the germans have overtaken the USA in average (body) size of its population. Yipee, what a great achievment... germany is really on its way to the top...
Off course this development was blamed mainly on the eating habits of the americans (getting more wide than long) completely ignoring the possibility that this may also be the effect of a change in the ethnical setup of americas population.

[amiexpat]

you know, as an EX expat, I used to hear that all the time..
America ignores Europe..
well, after participating in two world wars to keep EUrope safe and free
and after winning the Cold War, I would say the Amis are entitled to ignore Europe for awhile.
A Europe whole, prosperous, at peace and free.. and the Amis played a big role in that..
you'd think people would say.. yeah the Amis have paid enough for that, we can cut them some slack if they "don't pay any attention to us".

Of course on the other side with the rise of Eurabia, Europe may still need our attention.... AGAIN...
but after hearing so much anti Americanism in Europe, I am tempted to say.. screw em. let em handle it themselves this time...

[Pamela]

heh. Someone actually has acted on that little 'thought experiment'. An Israeli (I assume, fed up with the distorted picture of Israel presented by the international media and decided to return the favor.

To the Netherlands.
Bad News from the Netherlands

This project sets out to demonstrate that media coverage can degrade a country's image by using selective news without context. It uses the Netherlands as an example. It is a reaction to the frequent misrepresentations of Israel in many ways in major media, including those of the Netherlands.

[Pamela]

@amiexpat
Of course on the other side with the rise of Eurabia

'Eurabia' is a myth, didn't you know? It's all about that racist Islamophobia. It's an anti-European retort to anti-Americanism.

(I actually read that from a book reviewer about 4 'Eurabia' genre books he reviewed at the Financial Times. Simon Kapur, I think. Anyway, if he had sneered any harder he would have sucked his nose out the back of his head.)

[Don Miguel]

"Anyway, if he had sneered any harder he would have sucked his nose out the back of his head"

Thanks, Pamela -- I just spit my soda out of my nose I was laughing so hard.

[Tyranno]

A couple of observations:

1. I always scratch my head when I hear the canard that the average American doesn't know anything about Europe. After living in Germany for six years and engaging in numerous political conversations I can tell you that the average German's "knowledge" about the U.S.A. is a farcical caricature; although I grant you that it mirrors the coverage one finds in most of the Mainstream Media in the U.S.A.
What would be the point of gaining a similar supposedly 'profound' European depth of knowledge . . . so we too could tear down, engage in the petty envies, and practice our comfortable, smug, bigotries ... like our more "complex" and "sophisticated" European brethren? Nein Danke!

2. Speaking of the sex trade. Writing a story about an American dying in Thailand is typical of the German media. Of course they have to overlook all the "Sex Tour" advertisements at the local Reisebüro, right next to the Family vacations in the Canaries or Majorca. And don't sit in Terminal two in Frankfurt to observe who and what gets off of the return flights from South East Asia. (Discovered accidently while waiting for my kids to arrive for the summer.)

I do agree with John Jones about the redundancy of the topic but then, that is the point of the blog and I think that it is important to address bigotry immediately when you witness it. If the mediakritik disappeared tomorrow all of those stories would still be out there, just unchallenged like they were for all of the years prior to DM. Does this one blog really equal most all the rest of the German media?

Tyranno

PS: I am still waiting for that "investigative" report from the objective German media about Gerhard Schroeders work for Putin during his last couple of years in office. God knows they have their lazer beams up George Bush's ummm.....nose.

[Pamela]

Tyranno
What would be the point of gaining a similar supposedly 'profound' European depth of knowledge . .

Aw c'mon. False choice. How about gaining an informed, realistic picture of Europe?

Americans, especially, need to understand the EU - trust me, if they think about it at all, they think it's merely an open trade agreement of some kind. Wait till the UK decides to disagree with us on some issue due to EU regulations. Americans won't understand it and they'll just be pissed at the UK.

[Tyranno]

Hi Pam,
When I reread my own posts I can see I leave too much implied. (Hey, I know what I am thinking...it just doesn't always get through my fingertips!) I certainly wasn't advocating ignorance. My point was that a large percentage (Most!) of the political conversations I experienced in Europe followed the same template. My European friends would, tell me "how uninformed Americans are about the world;" and then they would explain to me "how the world really is!" Then they would proceed to tell me about how the U.S.A. "really is," and it was enough of a bizarre caricature that it cast serious doubt on all the rest of their observations.
I just don't buy into the whole "uninformed American" caricature. I think there is a large number of Americans who are very well informed and hold a realistic picture of Europe and the EU, certainly as large as in any country in Europe. Living there gave me the opportunity to ask some questions after a (stupid) remark was made; instead of just hearing or reading a sound bite on TV or in a news journal in the U.S.A., and unconsciously accepting it as an informed opinion.
Usually a simple question or two would quickly illuminate how uninformed my European friend's considered opinions were. (Granted the same thing would happen in the U.S.A. but, that is my point.)

I discovered that the notion of the more "complex" and "sophisticated" average European as opposed to the average knuckleheaded American is complete and utter b&llsh$t. I went to Europe believing all of that mythology because that is what we are led to believe here. What I discovered through living there is (quel suprise!) . . . there is little to no difference between the average European and the average American, except in the comfortable bigotries of the left and in Europe.
The groups they choose to make their comparisons suit their purpose but are not honest. Like the "European Anti-Americanism" YouTube video posted here, they compare a dinner party of smug British professionals with the American Jerry Springer crowd.
The amusing and ironic fact is that Jerry Springer and McDonalds are not being forced onto the European continent; they are there because they have found a large enough european audience/ customer base to prosper. I no longer assume that all of the Europeans who watch the Springer show and eat McEuroburgers have a more informed and realistic picture of the U.S.A. and the world than Americans do!

But, on your point made Pam, I was saying that gaining the level of understanding that I experienced in a large percentage of Europeans would be pointless, unless we wanted to use it only in the same sort of "schadenfreude' manner that they do.

Lastly, forgive me for preaching to the choir.

[Don Miguel]

"I went to Europe believing all of that mythology because that is what we are led to believe here. What I discovered through living there is (quel suprise!) . . . there is little to no difference between the average European and the average American, except in the comfortable bigotries of the left and in Europe."

Tyranno, I had the exact same experience when I lived there during the 80's. What I also found was that some Europeans had a visceral hatred of the U.S. that I found to be exactly like that some American leftists have of their own country.

[Pamela]

Tyranno, ok, now I understand what you meant.

But I never carried the 'sophisticated European' model in my head. Various members of my family lived there for years and I started meeting a few in college, then, living and working in/around Washington D.C.

At the very least, I think it takes about 6 mos. to get over the inititial stupefaction caused by the difference in their preconceptions vs. reality.

I got a chance to contribute to that process in just a small way. Had a kid from the Netherlands over to the house. He'd been on American soil for the amount of time it took me to drive him from the airport. We ran into my neighbor, who I hadn't seen in a few weeks, so we kissed each other hello.

Well, you see, my neighbor was a black guy. Bruce.

HA! You should have seen this kid's face. As we walked back to the house he said, "So, I guess race relations aren't always so bad?"

sheesh.

[S.V.]

That's so funny. I've met Americans who wanted to know if we get running water in bavaria, but I don't believe they incorporated the rest of their countrymen.
Honestly, I feel disgusted by the amount of hatred on this website. You can find ignorant people all around the world - it's nether specifically German nor American but a human trait.
But oh well, go on and enjoy this outrageous discussion on German "anti-Americanism". Looks to be great fun.
(by the way - that "germans are becoming obese"-study is scientifically worthless- but we can still be proud of our rising numbers of underage girls with eating disorders)

[Scout]

I've been quite a few places in this world, and nowhere have I found a greater disparity between what people _think_ they know about America, and what they actually _do_ know, than in Germany. The country is filled with USA experts, just ask them. Unfortunately, their so-called "knowledge" is just regurgitation of the media's outright lies at worst, and at best, a parrot performace of a carefully filtered misrepresentation of selected facts that shows the USA in the worst possible light. They are so convinced about the quality of their information from their state-controlled media that they will completely ignore any evidence to the contrary. It just doesn't compute. So I am also amused when Germans tell me that the Amis don't understand Europe or the rest of the world, the Amis are just so ignorant, uninformed, and naive.
My response is usually something like this: Americans understand Europe much better than you think. Specifically, our ancestors understood it very well indeed. That's why they left. (Pamela, I think you wrote something like that once, didn't you?)

[commonsense]

S.V., actually Scouts comment serves as an answer to your statements which I can completely second. However, here are some specific responses.

I've met Americans who wanted to know if we get running water in bavaria

Well, do you? Or are you a 'Hinterwaeldler'?

I feel disgusted by the amount of hatred on this website

That's right but it was worse in the past - there have been a number of your comrades-in-spirit who commented here. Everytime one of them left the level of hatred went straight down. I am sure that had nothing to do with them, it happened quite coincidentally. [not]

You can find ignorant people all around the world - it's nether specifically German nor American but a human trait.

That's what has been said numerous times on this site and multiple times even on this page.

Looks to be great fun.

Oh, right - have we finally sorted out where the fun comes from and where the hatred comes from? Good on ya.

that "germans are becoming obese"-study is scientifically worthless-

That's a point the left is always making. As soon as there's some science that disproves their point that science is "scientifically worthless". At the same time you're implying that you have the education and the knowledge and the experience and all the resources at hand to impartially and quickly judge that. Suuure.

[commonsense]

@Scout,
Have you ever read An American in Bavaria about an „Endreinigung" in the Provinces by American writer Anjana Shrivastava ?

[commonsense]

Just to make sure - I can second Scouts commentary, I didn't mean S.V.s remarks. Sorry.

[Scout]

commonsense, I have now. Thanks for the link. Interesting.

[Pamela]

@scout
(Pamela, I think you wrote something like that once, didn't you?)

Um, not that I recall, unless I was quoting someone else. My earliest European ancestors came over long before the Revolution. They had fought for William of Orange, settled around what is now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, married into the Shawnee tribe. Alexander McKee was the patriarch's name, his son Thomas and Thomas' wife came with him. Thomas' wife died, Thomas married a Shawnee girl, Tecumsepah who took the Anglo name Margaret. Their son, Hugh, was General Washington's liason to the Shawnee nation during the Revolution. I think the Hess branch of the family may have come over as something akin to indentured servants - late 1700's-early 1800. The Moffets definitely came to escape the potato famine. Oh, my great grandfather, Charlie Moffet got here when he was 13. He used to tell me not to believe that 'bullshit' people would tell me about the old country, how great it was. "We may be drunks, Pammie, but we bin no fools. We didn't leave paradise to come to the god forsaken." I don't know why the Dutch ancestors came. They were devout Quakers. My grandmother was 3rd generation, born 1890s, so they got here in the early 1800's. I never heard anything bad about 'the old country' except from Grandpap Charlie. Who was by the way, a true Irish drunk. Lived to be 101. Pickled himself, I suppose.

[WhatDoIKnow]

Scout: nowhere have I found a greater disparity between what people _think_ they know about America, and what they actually _do_ know, than in Germany. The country is filled with USA experts, just ask them

I had to repost that because it's so true. I met Germans like that many times, the educated kind, and it's quite an experience... Where did they all get their information from? The German media.
Some of them were leftists who wouldn't accept a different image of America; those are hopeless. Many of them though were simply heavily influenced by the image of America painted by the media. It's not that the German media presents mostly a distorted image of America. They sure do that, but that's not the only problem. The main problem is that most of the time the media presents an *incomplete* image of America. It's the classic bias by omission. No wonder that so many Germans spout mouth dropping fantasies.

[amiexpat]

I am an ex-expat.. spent nine years in Germany.
One time a college educated professional was telling me about some 'documentary' he had seen on German television about the U.S.

The facts were, as usual, extremely distorted.

I said to him "Wolfgang, you can't always believe everything you hear and read about the U.S.".

His answer - "Why would they lie?".

I was dumbfounded. Now I know how Hitler came to power.
Why would he lie?

[Tyranno]

SV posts: "Honestly, I feel disgusted by the amount of hatred on this website."

Unemotionally relating one's own experiences in Germany = Hatred??? Does this prove that "progressive liberals" are the same the world over?

SV posts: "You can find ignorant people all around the world - it's nether specifically German nor American but a human trait."

You make the point for everybody here. Let go of your own bias and read with a bit of objectivity and you might discover . . . shazaaam... that is exactly what most every post was saying.

C'mon SV... who's yer buddy???:)

[Jabba the Tutt]

SV @ "You can find ignorant people all around the world - it's nether specifically German nor American but a human trait."

And the role of reporting and the role of the media is supposed to be to provide accurate information, fight the ignorance and bigotry. David's Medienkritik is all about how the media creates ignorance and bigotry by providing biased, inaccurate and sometimes simply outrageously wrong information.

[Jabba the Tutt]

TAR ART RAT @ Can you provide links to articles that you've written? If you don't want to post them, you can reach me at [email protected]. Thanks.

[S.V.]

"Well, do you? Or are you a 'Hinterwaeldler'?"

Very mature. You don't expect me to answer this, I hope.

I am in no way Anti-American and I do not think that I know everything about the United States.Do you think you know all about Europe?

"Germans want to hear all the dirt they can about America"
"I could go on for days about how stubborn, brainwashed, neurotic/robotic and frustrated/ing Germany is."
"To discuss about the negative examples of the german medias cover of the USA IS talking about all aspects of german media coverage of the USA."

so unbiased ;). Just for the sake of it : there is no universal truth.

[sphynx]

S.V: "there is no universal truth"

Truth: 'conformity to fact'

It's when you (and German media) get the facts wrong that matters.

[Erik S]

"there is no universal truth", SV?

Well there may be come truth in that statement, but not only…

If you will allow me to quote Daniel Patrick Moynihan, late senator of New York:

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. He is not entitled to his own facts."

As for Jonathan Jones' "But do you ever tire of making the same point over and over again?"

You bet they do, JJ (and you bet we do at No Pasarán), but unfortunately, the point is that the élites in the media (and elsewhere) of France and Germany rarely tire of dissing, caricaturing, castigating, ridiculing, and painting a demented picture of, Uncle Sam…

(In fact, we would be very interested in seeing whether you have attempted at leaving the same type of comment at a German media website… Just askin'…)

[commonsense]

SV said, «I am in no way Anti-American...»

We know, we know - it's just your "highly-educated", "intelligently-justified", "morally-superior", "completely-unbiased" own opinion.

SV said, «...and I do not think that I know everything about the United States.»

It's not about knowing everything, no one can know everything, it's about knowing enough to be able judge. "Enough" is nothing less than knowing both sides of the coin. Just running around within your own circular arguments isn't good enough to judge others - other countries, other cultures, other peoples.

If you want to judge others you can do that only by applying universal standards or by applying both the others' standards and your own standards, to the same amount. If you use only your own standards of life to pass judgement on others you will certainly fail. Doing it that way all you get is a judgement that serves your own agenda or your own way of living. Whether such a judgement is fair on those judged is merely a matter of coincidence.

[George M]

The American media is horrendous in reporting international news.

I recently met a Dutch tourist while vacationing in Arizona. I asked him where he was from. He told me Emden, “you know, where they had the great fireworks explosion, where many people got killed.” I had to admit, I never heard of the incident. He looked at me funny. I suspect that I validated his theory that Americans do not know much news outside of their country.

Also, note that our media goes to bullshit stories when the news doesn’t meet their view of the world.

Recently, there has been good news out of Iraq, George Bush has frustrated the Democrats as they have failed 40 times to stop the war, and Hillary Clinton’s election campaign has ran over some speed bumps. What does the U.S. media do? They report about the cop with dead and missing 3rd and 4th wives, and they bring O.J. Simpson off the shelf.

[Phil]

Face it fellows, America is becoming like the Soviet Union or the Third Reich in its final stage: The only thing it is still good at is the military. I admit your F-22s are great. Great at killing people. You have become the world bully. You can nuke any country and are using that capability to shut up the rest of the world. Nothing good is coming from your country except threats of violence. Basically like the Roman Empire in its final stages, just before it collapsed. But threats of violence can only go so far. Increasingly people are fed up with your dollars backed by nukes, those dollars are losing in value.

[amiexpat]

really Phil?

wow, where are the Concentration Camps? Where are the Gulags?
oh that is right, Gitmo is "the gulag of our time" - AMnesty Intl.
and all those critics of George Bush, just like critics of Hitler and Stalin, end up missing, dead or in prison..
you know, like Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, etc.

have a little perspective, would you? Geez, I have my problems with what is going on, but Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia = USA?

Lass mal die Kirche im Dorf.

and what would your solution to the problem of ISlamofascism be, I wonder?

BTW, are you German? did you know Merkel said "Auschwitz was not freed with diplomacy?" my axiom builds on that..
Auschwitz could not have been freed with diplomacy.

[Don Miguel]

"I admit your F-22s are great. Great at killing people."

The F-22 is an air superiority fighter -- it's great at killing aircraft. But why let facts get in the way of your ideology and diatribes?

[Doug]

Now, Don, don't be so mean. Phil's rancor may be all that he has, and if you banish his ignorance then he might not even have that.

[WhatDoIKnow]

Someone around here needs a new prescription. The old one isn't working anymore.

[Phil]

"wow, where are the Concentration Camps? Where are the Gulags?"

May I remind the gentlemen and ladies here that America has by far the largest prison population in the world. Moreover in US jails beatings and anal rape are widely condoned. These are our modern-day concentration camps and gulags. Now Americans are seeking to spread these prisons globally, e.g. Abu Ghraib and the secret CIA prisons in Western Europe.

[Phil]

Even human rights organisations like "Human Rights Watch" are reporting on the depravity of the American Gulag system.

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/01/08/usint16108.htm

[Mehaara]

Presenting my credentials first: German, married to US American, Expat. Spent large chunks of my youth in Turkey, have been living abroad with my husband and three kids for over six years now in Serbia, Romania and currently Armenia. Lived in the US in 1988 (Florida) and intermittently in 1997-2001 (New Haven, DC).

Now, it would be nice to have a decent discussion about this post and not have everybody frothing and throwing spittle around.

Can we agree that ignorance is a human trait? Therefore, both USians and Germans have their share of ignorance amongst them. I have heard outrageous comments about either country from the respectively opposite side of the family. I've heard staggeringly stupid comments from Germans about the US, and vice versa.

But that is not the point here, is it?

We are talking about MEDIENKRITIK (sorry for yelling). We are discussing (or ought to, anyway) the anti-American bias in German media. At the moment, it sounds more like a one-two punching game -- "You are more prejudiced than we", "but you have really bad prisons", "and really nobody likes the Germans anyway".

The Spiegel has always been very leftish and has always been anti-American. I find it very troublesome that this attitude has spread all over the German media landscape. Naturally, there is more attention paid to US affairs in Germany than the other way around (sorry but we are just not that important). Is this the problem?

I am stepping out on a whim here and say that deep down, we Germans really just want to be loved. The fact that our biggest ally simply doesn't love us, hurts. Everybody thinks of pasta and Latin lovers when they hear "Italy", everybody thinks that Danes are blonde and cute, everybody thinks of sunshine when they hear "Spain"... and Germany is full of sourpusses, has bad weather, and everybody eats Sauerkraut.

One factor, yes, no?

[icarus]

Now I remember: Phil once said he's from Lichtenstein. Obviously not a bad "choice" to identify with a nation that's practically invisible.

So, I'm gonna call bullshit on Phil as a blatant flame-bait troll.

Funny thing though, my German teacher in high school said the ruling prince of Lichtenstein owned a bit of land in Texas. Supposedly if there was ever another war in the area, he had some sort of arrangement whereby the entire population of Lichtenstein would be airlifted to Texas.

[icarus]

Claudia: Hayastan? I found an interesting blog recently: http://www.cilicia.com/armo_life-log.html

Never been there but I've been close. (i.e. lived in Glendale, CA- had Armo girlfriend, interesting culture to say the least)

[garydausz]

@Claudia

"Therefore, both USians and Germans have their share of ignorance amongst them. I have heard outrageous comments about either country from the respectively opposite side of the family. I've heard staggeringly stupid comments from Germans about the US, and vice versa."

I do agree basically with your statement. The difference is that an american would not try to lecture a german about how his country really is and tell him that his view of his own country is incorrect whereas there are too many germans that feel justified to do this to an american.

"The fact that our biggest ally simply doesn't love us, hurts."
If you do refer here to the american attitude towards germans I think you are completely wrong. I have always found the americans very much in favour of germans and germany. I have never witnessed any anti-german remarks whenever I had been to the US.

[Mehaara]

Garydausz,

"The difference is that an american would not try to lecture a german about how his country really is and tell him that his view of his own country is incorrect whereas there are too many germans that feel justified to do this to an american."

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you mean. Can you give me an example?

""The fact that our biggest ally simply doesn't love us, hurts."
If you do refer here to the american attitude towards germans I think you are completely wrong. I have always found the americans very much in favour of germans and germany. I have never witnessed any anti-german remarks whenever I had been to the US."

I was being only a little bit facetious here... but if you've never encountered anti-German remarks in the US, then you are very lucky. Have you been in the US after 9/11 and the time leading up to the Iraq invasion? Man, I've taken some heat in that time. And before. And after. Yes, many Americans react positively to my being German but on the whole, would you say we as a nation are loved, generally? Even by our European partners? Grudgingly admired, maybe. But actually really liked?

I don't actually believe that this lack of admiration is the sole reason for German anti-Americanism. There are many reasons, some stemming back to the Cold War (see Peace Movement, the feeling that Americans were "occupying" Germany), some more recent (Iraq), some are more general (environment, death penalty), some are very specific (Bush).

Oh, well.

@icarus: Yes, Hayastan. Yerevan, to be precise. Come visit! ;-)

[icarus]

@ Claudia: ah Yerevan, shat lav'a. Oh the places I would see if I could afford it.

Also, I cannot speak for Garydausz, but I would guess that a good example of German lecturing would likely be something that starts out like: "May I remind the gentlemen and ladies here that America..."

If you'll notice, I took this directly from one of Phil's posts from above. Many times on this site you can find instances of Germans "reminding" us Americans about our country.

[Phil]

Well, as I wrote before:

I'm praying every day that the Chinese government dumps those 1.4+ Trillion Dollar reserves on the world market, OPEC will follow, just so you guys can experience what it was like to be German in the 1920s. Afterwards I will buy a holiday house in Florida for 20 Euros.

[John A]

"... the American media pays far too little attention to foreign issues - and it is the lack of attention to Germany and Europe that is far more troubling."
Agreed. And I am not too quick to defend the bulk of US media. Still, how often does German news report on the doings of, for example, the Finnish government in relation to the E.U. or Greece? We do average at least one front-page per week (and two or more smaller pieces daily) from each of France, Germany, and the UK in print media, with a few from the likes of Switzerland or Luxembourg. Broadcast media, maybe two per week total - which is disgraceful, as is that the hour-long "news" on television is usually fifteen minutes of news, twenty of sports, ten of weather, nine of adverts, and six miscellany...

[garydausz]

@Phil

I now it is futile to talk to a troll but ...
1. If you don't have the slightest idea about how the monetary system works you should better shut up.
2. I don't know how often in the last 50 years it has been predicted that the US will go broke, be bought up by another yountry or whatever doomsday prediction else and nothing has happened. Instead the US economy has become stronger and stronger through all those years.
3. If the US would indeed go economically down the tube the rest of the world would follow suit, especially germany.

[George M]

"... the American media pays far too little attention to foreign issues - and it is the lack of attention to Germany and Europe that is far more troubling."

Granted, Germany and Europe do not get much attention in the U.S. I think this has more to do with the decline of big newspapers and network news.

But on the other hand, what has been newsworthy from Germany and Europe for the last 20 years?

I can only think of two stories: The fall of the Berlin Wall and the gay cannibal, Armin Meiwes. I think that Meiwes did not get any U.S. media coverage because there is an extreme bias within the media not to cover any events that may damage the Gay marriage movement. A recent example of this is the recent desecration of a San Francisco church by gay men dressed as nuns. This story was only reported by Fox News.

As far as Europe is concerned, other than the events mentioned above, I can only think of several stories that deserved coverage in the U.S.: Princess Dianna, the terror attacks in England and Spain, the 2003 heat wave and the 2005 Paris "car-beque." With the exception of Princess Dianna, the U.S. media adequately covered these events. In Dianna's case, the coverage in the U.S. rivaled coverage for O.J.

I would challenge Germany to make some real news. Maybe you can do something worthwhile to merit attention: such as putting a speed limit on the Autobahn, or standing up to Putin.

[Pamela]

@Phil
just so you guys can experience what it was like to be German in the 1920s.

THIS is an interesting point of view. Phil, if you know what it was like to be a German in the 1920's, you are in your 80's. Maybe your parents or grandparents?

And I take it 'you guys' means 'Americans'.

Given that premise, let us begin.

If you or your ancestors know/knew what it was like in Germany in the '20s, why do you want Americans to know the same?

Americans didn't cause the conditions in Germany in the '20s. Germans did. Germany started a war and lost. The United States came into it rather late. Why not wish this on France or Britain? They were much more your adversary than the U.S. in terms of time, men and material.

Neither France nor Britain made the commitment after World War II to rebuild Germany that the U.S. did.

I don't think France was part of the Berlin airlift.

Phil, nothing anyone here can say or do will help you see the United States with anything approaching clarity. But more importantly, I think there is little that can be done to see in a clear light that no one holds Germany today accountable for Germany in the 20th Century.

I think you are of the ilk "Germany will never forgive the Jews for the Holocaust" - and Germany will never forgive Americans for the 'liberation' - from the Nazis of course.

My advice is to suck up to Russia, who never confronted you with defeat but granted the illusion of the triumph of the proletariat over the capitalist pigs, a triumph protected and succored by Stasi.

Let me know when you get the bill from Gazprom. Check the return address where you are to send payment. Cross check that address with whatever Gerhard Schroder is using at the moment.

[Pamela]

My
My advice is to suck up to Russia, who never confronted you with defeat

Oh. Forgot about the rapes. And Stalingrad, come to think of it.

My bad.