Читать книгу Livin' la Vida Barroca. American Culture in an Age of Imperial Orthodoxies онлайн

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So the inevitable question arises. Why do the great majority of people who seek to explain foreign “realities” to the American people in the media (journalists and so-called experts) have profiles that are much closer to those of informant number one than informant number two?

When it comes to journalists, the argument is made that there are few people with the skill set of the second person currently available within the profession. This may be true. But if it is so, whose fault is that?

After all, isn’t this the same press corps that has, over the last three decades, dutifully passed on to us the business community’s message that we all must ready to adapt to the changing world, even if that process of adjustment involves saying goodbye to established older employees and replacing them with cheaper, younger people of greater ability?

There are many places to find people possessing the type of strong linguistic and cultural skills outlined above. Graduate humanities programs in the US and elsewhere—to name just one possible pool of talent—are filled with them. Recruiting these people and turning them into practicing journalists would be a rather rapid and straightforward process.