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From: jsq@ut-sally.UUCP (John Quarterman)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: NYT Liberal (?)
Message-ID: <364@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-Nov-83 01:08:20 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.364
Posted: Thu Nov 10 01:08:20 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Nov-83 09:17:58 EST
References: <60@tpvax.fluke.UUCP> <690@ulysses.UUCP>
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 35

If you want a paper that covers a wider area of news than possibly any other
in the West, is scrupulously honest, and gives sufficient space to stories
to make them comprehensible (including frequent supplements), try Le Monde.
Yes, it's in French, and it's bloody expensive to get in the States
(less so in Canada, I hear).  However, there's a weekly version of stories
selected for international consumption (less about French politics) that's
more reasonably priced.  It would be a useful tonic for all you who think
that because a paper is *gasp* >>liberal<< it must be unreliable.

For a really radical rag, try Afrique-Asie.  Once again, in French.
Subscriptions aren't too outrageous for a monthly news magazine.
You would have a good chance of understanding the war in Tchad
and why the U.S. should keep the hell out if you'd been reading this.
For coverage of events in Africa and the Moslem world it beats anything
you will find in English (and most everything in French, too).
The slant is obvious, usually clearly labelled, and can be allowed for.
Those who think that the U.S. is the only opposition to the U.S.S.R.,
i.e., that the whole world is polarized into two camps, don't know the
first thing about the Third World.  This might help.

Both of these publications are used as primary sources for international
news by many major U.S. newspapers, including the Good Grey NYT.  You
will find a great amount of the third world coverage in U.S. papers
originated with one of the above two periodicals.  There's a lot more
that never gets printed here.  Not because of some conspiracy of censorship,
but because a) so many U.S. news people have the same class, educational, and
even geographical background and thus are uninterested in the same things
b) the American people are simply not interested in places like Chad until
they hear we may be fighting there.  If you want to understand this world
and our (U.S., the West) place in it, you can't stop with that.

(Just be glad I didn't go on about conservative rags.  Anybody read SOF?)
-- 
John Quarterman, CS Dept., University of Texas, Austin, Texas
{ihnp4,seismo,kpno,ctvax}!ut-sally!jsq, jsq@ut-sally.{ARPA,UUCP}