Gordon Community informed by variety of news sources

By Stuart Knechtle

Wenham MA- When Gordon College student, Alyssa Baker, was sitting in class one day; she saw one of her classmates on BBCNews.com. Ever since her early teens, Baker had received her news from news sources that were nationally focused. It was rare for her to even see news articles that approached topics in other counties. In astonishment, she watched her classmate browse stories that were all based in many countries around the world. Baker’s next move reshaped the way she would receive her news for years and years to come.

           From that day on, Baker began getting her news from BBCNews.com. Even when she searched the news on television Baker would always turn to the BBC News Channel.

        Baker said, “I had always felt a kind of guilt over the kind of news I received. When I would get my news from other news sources, I would only be updated on news that was occurring in the U.S. But, fortunately BBC News helped me get news outside of my own country.”

         Dan Castelline of Concord, Mass. was another student who had this similar feeling before he had made the switch to BBC News. “I used to watch my local news channel for all my news. If I didn’t get my news that way, I would just use whatever site popped up on my homepage to get my news. I drew a much wider knowledge of news once I read BBC. Not only is it well organized, but it allows you to be internationally literate and understand culture outside of your own.”

         Baker and Castelline strum a similar tune as they both have now changed from old news sources that were nationally focused, to BBC News, which is internationally focused. They both appealed to a similar feeling of knowledge that was circumscribed to only their own countries. Baker even went as far as to say that she felt a type of guilt over this. This guilt was formed by her previous news sources that built up an ethnocentric attitude that she formed over the years. Now that she is getting international news and updates though, she feels well cultured and guilt free. Both Castelline and Baxter both feel well updated and in tuned to not only their own cultures, but also the entire world around them.