It's late, and I am struggling to find something worth writing about (this is actually the second topic I tried to develop into a post; I'm not sure if the other idea that I was working on will make the cut this month). I am watching BBC World News. I don't know if any of you ever watch this news program, but I encourage you to give it a shot if you haven't. On BBC America, they show BBC World News in the morning starting at 6:00 a.m. Recently, they've started showing it at night too at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. The thing that I like about this presentation of the news is the reluctance to sensationalize. There is enough inherent drama in what goes on around the world that the news shows don't need to resort to hyperbole. I think the English penchant for understatement helps. The program also benefits from the BBC's sheer size as a news organization. The BBC has reporters everywhere in the world. And the reporters do a great job of reporting world events by considering how these events shape the average citizen of these countries. It's not a broad brush look at an issue in a foreign land as if you're reading from a seventh grade social studies text. It's a family in a foreign land (or in America) dealing with the repercussions of the event itself. And when the BBC interviews a political leader, they don't edit the interview down into a series of sound bites. They let you see and hear lengthy Q&A.
Then when the news is over, you can catch an episode of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares -- which is great television. (Not the new FOX version of that show -- which is enjoyable -- but the original BBC version.)
The Office quote of the night: "It's better to be hurt accidentally by someone you know than hurt on purpose by someone you don't know."
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