News Around the World

Every night at 6:30 p.m., I, like many other Americans, sit down and watch the national nightly news. For me, it is a way to make sure I didn’t miss anything important during the day. For others, it may be the only news source they use, or it’s only on in the background while they make dinner. But have you ever thought about how news is portrayed in other countries?

I sat down and decided to compare the U.S. news outlets to the U.K. news outlets. For this little experiment, I focused on two news outlets. My personal nightly news source, NBC’s Nightly News with Lester Holt, and then BBC News.

With a global pandemic still on a rampage, both news outlets cover this topic in depth. Both talked about vaccine updates, the variants of COVID-19, and how people are handling the pandemic, whether it be good or bad.

Both news outlets also covered issues that were dependent on their location. NBC’s Nightly News with Lester Holt covered the tragic shootings targeting Asian-Americans that have recently happened in Atlanta, Georgia, and the ongoing sexual harassment allegations that Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo is facing. In contrast, BBC News covered events such as fireworks being thrown in ‘unprecedented’ violence in Bristol. They both also include what one may call “happy fluff” pieces too. My personal favorite was a piece on a British woman rescuing stolen dogs.

Before I watched BBC News, I had wondered if the U.K. news followed the notorious brash and opinionated format that British print media tends to follow. However, I found that BBC News was more neutral when talking about topics. It is extremely well known that the news in the U.S. tends to lean to one side on the political spectrum. NBC’s Nightly News with Lester Holt can be considered on the more liberal side of the spectrum, especially compared to new outlets like Fox News.

I also noticed that the presenters for NBC’s Nightly News with Lester Holt were also a little more vivid with their use of words and tones when delivering the news. The presenter for BBC News tended to be more direct and straight to the point.

Though many of the stories are very similar when looking at both news broadcasts, each show had its own cultural norms to follow. I think more people should try this out for their own; you may find that you like a different countries’ world news to be more of your cup of tea than what you are currently watching.