Through Their Eyes: Foreign Correspondents in the United States

In America: It's not like being in any other country

Ithink one of the extraordinary things about being here is periodically getting these feelings of déjà vu as you see streetscapes or squares, and you suddenly think, ‘I’ve been here before,’ and you realize that it was in a movie,” said Patrick Smyth, Washington correspondent for the Irish Times.1 “Growing up in South Africa, coming here,” said Pierre Steyn, also in Washington, “it was like there was nothing strange about this place, ’cause you can see it on television.”2 No one comes to the United States without preconceptions. Of course, many respondents to our survey had already spent time in America before returning as foreign correspondents. A third of the non-Americans had studied in the United States, some as high school exchange students, several even as pupils in elementary school.3 (See figure 1, page 57.) “I lived here and went to school here from when I was seven ’til I was twelve,” said the Economist’s John Parker.4 “I was thirteen years old when my parents sent me to this country to study and learn English,” said Jacobo Goldstein from Honduras.5 “I didn’t come here the first time as a correspondent,” said Tom Buhrow, Washington bureau chief of ARD, German Television . “I went to high school for two years in Wisconsin. You know [after I attended high school in America], some of my deepest friendships are with Americans.”6 Shinichiro Sakikawa, of Hokkaidu Shimbun, went to high school in Washington and then spent his first university year at MIT.7 Masao Hosoda, Kyodo News Service, was an exchange student for a year at the University of Missouri, Columbia .8 B. J. Yang, Korea Economic Daily, earned a Ph.D. in finance at In America It’s not like being in any other country 56 “ the University of Kansas.9 Sridhar Krishnaswami, the Hindu, earned his Ph.D. in political science from Miami University, in Ohio.10 One of the distinguishing characteristics of correspondents who work around the world for American news organizations is that they too have spent extended periods of their youth abroad.1 1 Becoming a foreign correspondent is part of a self-selection process. “I fought my way to this place,” said Adnan Aljadi, of the Kuwait News Agency in Washington.12 These are people who are open to the experience of mixing with people of other cultures. Yet our foreign correspondents arrived in the United States with a collection of stereotypes that they said were cherished by the people in their countries. When they described those images of America, nearly half (49 percent) of them fit in the superpower category: “hegemonic ,” “imperialistic,” “haughty,” “arrogant,” “selfish.” There were some countries, however, such as Taiwan, where calling the United States “the world’s policeman” was not a slur. Western hero, the nextlargest category, was mentioned by 24 percent of respondents; it included such characterizations as “individualistic,” “competitive,” “materialistic,” “brash,” and “aggressive.” Seventeen percent of the correspondents mentioned variations on provincial: “lacking knowledge of the rest of the world,” “uneducated,” “ignorant,” “naïve.” Twelve percent described the ugly American—fat, loud, and rude—while 11 percent said that Americans were viewed as flag-wavers who stressed patriotism, freedom, and democracy. “The land of golden opportunity” was the stereotype of America in Poland, according to Pawel Burdzy.13 It’s not like any other country 57 FIGURE 1. Correspondents Who Studied in the United Statesa Full-Time Irregular Yes 44% Yes 30% No 56% No 70% a. Number of respondents: full-time = 287; irregular = 55. Respondents who were American citizens were excluded. Many of the impressions were sharpened by disagreements with various U.S. government policies.14 To Vima correspondent Dimitris Apokis spoke of the “animosity from the Greek military junta in 1974” as well as “the Cyprus issue.”15 “As you know,” said Dubravka Savic, Belgrade Daily, “Yugoslavia was attacked by NATO in 1999, and it was seen as an American intervention.”16 In the words of Mohammed Said, of Egypt’s Al-Ahram: In the case of a Palestinian who sees his people so brutally victimized by the Israelis, who are totally unleashed by the Americans—there is no doubt about it, systematically destroyed—that normally a person with good sense [will not change his opinion]. It’s like, if you hate me that much, then why [should I like you?]”17 (Our survey was conducted...