I spend a great deal of
time in Japan. The Japanese, like most others in the world get a large
part of their image of America from a very distorted lens. The ones who
can read English are disproportionately exposed to CNN, BBC, the New
York Times and the Herald Tribune. They have no awareness of how biased
their American news delivery service is. Such observers of America
were certain that Al Gore and John Kerry would be elected. They are
equally certain that Obama has already won the presidency.
I usually start by pointing out that in the U.S., CNN is watched by far fewer people than FOX news. FOX is more popular because it has a very different slant, definitely not biased in favor of Obama. I also point out that a whole array of radio personalities with audiences double and triple any left wing radio types, hate Obama and rail against him daily.
It is unfortunate that the change in media available to Americans, that opened up our dialog is not available to the many English readers around the world.