Television programs have started to report U.S. political stories without prefacing the news as foreign. Reports on world news are generally introduced, "In Argentina..." or "The elections to form government in Afghanistan.." etc. I imagine this is the case in most countries. Apparently this is not so in Australia, even in "serious journalism" when the Unites States is the subject. Even on SBS World News, the recent story on the U.S. mid-terms began "In the State of (insert US State here).."!
This mentality is ingratiating itself into the Australian public psyche. Progressively, each week, I have to prepare myself for the inevitable cringe as questioners, on the otherwise excellent ABC political interview panel program Q&A, feign political sophistication in the only way they know how - asking the panel to discuss distinctly American cultural phenomena like the Tea Party with reference to Australian politics.
The comparison is fatuous, but more than that, the presumption is indicative of a disturbing trend. The deification of American culture. Can you imagine an American news organization introducing story on Australian politics with "In Victoria, incumbent premiere John Brumby is..."?
