People living outside America find it difficult to get a clear picture of the issues and candidates in the US presidential election 2008 as a majority of the US media and the blogs seem to have become rather emotive (and partisan?), and the verbiage in the news reports and commentary is not of much help to non-Americans.
Perhaps this is understandable owing to the unenviable situation the USA finds itself today…but isn’t the media supposed to uphold the basic tenets of journalism by providing fair, objective and understandable news/commentary, whoever the audience?
I also wonder whether this emotive/sensational/partisan approach to presidential election is leading to an increasingly garbled reporting and commentary, which may, in turn, also creates a degree of confusion among the American voters. It is a known fact that in the US elections the voter participation varies between moderate and low (not a good commentary on the state of democracy in one of the world’s leading democracies).
Maybe I don’t have the correct information. But I, and many others worldwide, would be delighted to know which magazine/newspaper/blog/site/journalist offers the most objective/fair election information with a degree of clarity and simplicity. It will be a good exercise to conduct a poll to this effect. We in the media love to quote from polls on different personalities/issues but seldom turn the searchlight inwards.
In this context, I found extremly useful information on issues and candidates relating to the US election 2008 at the BBC website (please click here…).
Another useful site for non-Americans to understand the American presidential election is this one…
Any more suggestions please…??? After all this election promises to be unlike any other US presidential election in the recent memory!
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.