by Dylan Campos ’24
On Friday, September 30, 2022, the International News Group held its inaugural meeting at the Fries Center for Global Studies common room. In conjunction with the FCGS and the Shapiro Writing Center, students, faculty, and staff met to share their interests in current global affairs, international media messaging, and multicultural learning in the 21st century. Not to mention, we had delicious baked goods (fresh caramel brownies, chocolate chip cookies) and hot chocolate. So, all in all, a great first meeting.
After everyone introduced themselves, members shared their ideas for what the group could focus on in the future. Conversations during the meeting seemed to come back to one common issue: the lack of comprehensive international news in mainstream American media. Most often, mainstream media outlets in the United States tend to write about global events connected to U.S. relations, ties, or stakes. Of course, that makes sense when the purpose centers on writing about the U.S.’s active global interests. But that’s the point: the reporting is for the U.S.’s interests.
Many American media outlets cannot cover comprehensive global news; another challenge is moving beyond American-centric viewpoints. Many members expressed their efforts to seek comprehensive global news outlets like BBC World News, Al Jazeera, and PBS NewsHour. But, these outlets aren’t as accessible for daily news as the New York Times or the Washington Post, both being more present across social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). A truly global and unbiased news outlet may never be attainable, but there are organizations making strides. Take, for example, DailyChatter.
Most of us had no idea what DailyChatter was before the meeting began. But, we learned more about this valuable resource provided by Wesleyan to the community for free. DailyChatter is a subscription-based international daily newsletter whose sole mission, in their words, “is to help people know the world better.” The newsletter is “non-partisan, privately owned, and completely independent of all other media,” according to their website. They use their staff of experienced journalists from Europe, Asia, and the U.S. to cover stories from a global context. Besides its comprehensive coverage of news worldwide, its most considerable appeal is its accessibility to readers. DailyChatter sends a daily newsletter to its subscribers every weekday morning! More information on how to sign up is available here.
Attendants of the International News Group’s inaugural meeting. Pictured from left to right: Julia Augustyn ’25, Dylan Campos ’24, Beth Hepford, Lyla Normand ’25, Anita Deeg-Carlin, and Avner Shavit. Not pictured: Cyndi Le, our incredible Shapiro Fellow (and now group photographer)
After talking about the role that DailyChatter could have in our work, we proposed new goals and action items to structure the group’s efforts. Some items include researching countries/regions’ news and media frameworks, creating multicultural dialogues about recent global events, and inviting guest speakers to share their knowledge on international studies/media studies. In addition, we plan to expand more towards the Wesleyan community through public events and collaborations.
If you’re interested in the International News Group, join us at our next biweekly meeting on October 26 at 5 pm in FISK 201 (FCGS common room). We’re still building and growing as a group, so we’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas—student leadership positions are available!
For questions or comments, please reach out to our Associate Director of Intercultural Learning, Anita Deeg-Carlin at adeegcarlin@wesleyan.edu.