News: Australia (MAS)

The News: Australia

Above is the TV room with air con.

Above is the place where Uni Hall would receive newspapers.  Sadly those are not sent to campus, but you can occasionally find James Cook University news posted here.

Here at Uni Hall in Australia there is one public TV which happens to be located in one of the three rooms with air con.  Needless to say that room is usually occupied with people watching rubgy games so I was not able to watch the news there at all in the last week.  So I checked in with the dining hall to see if they have the newspapers but I had no luck there either.  But no worries mate, I live with Australians and they gave me the names of the most popular news channels available on the internet.  I have spent this second to last week of March watching live streams of the Australian news from ABC News and scrolling through the feed of The Project to get my fill on all things Aussie news-related.  And just for comparison's sake, I have also been checking into the Fox News and The Warren Times Observer (my hometown's paper).

       The main thing over each news source has been the bombing in Brussels.  This type of global coverage is exactly what I would have expected from such an event.  Both the States and Australia present their news in a fairly similar manner: the topics covered have reporters stationed around the world to give the firsthand account.  ABC news is most similar to the channels I have seen at home as it is more serious and covers a wide array of topics.  However, I have enjoyed watching The Project more because it gives the news in a light-hearted manner with a bit of banter.  Watching the news here is not nearly as depressing as it as at home.

       In general, I would say that Australian news is more global than American news.  There does not seem to be a whole lot going on within Australia so it virtually has no choice but to report about other countries.  Even the local paper covers more global topics than my local paper in the States.  But the Townsville Bulletin does still cover stories about things such as dogs biting intruders and crocodile attacks on humans.  These types of stories are similar to what I would see at home, but with a bear instead of a croc.  For example, the main headline on my town's paper was about the dwindling number of brick roads left in the city.  

Personally, I find the local news to be more interesting because it is more pertinent to my stay here in Australia.  I like knowing which rivers to avoid because of crocs and when the various markets are to be held.  However, I think it is wise for Australians to be educated about news from all over the world.  I feel as though they know just as much about Americans news and way more about the rest of the world than I do.  My mates and I have had several dinner conversations that have opened my eyes to either how little I am aware of everything going on in the world, or how well informed they are about global issues.  I have learned about much more than just Australia in my time abroad.