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One thing I could not help but notice when visiting America was the amazing narrowness of its media. When you search through the different news channels, there is very little reporting on world affairs, and what IS reported is very narrow, and very American-centered. And, of course, when you turn to a virtual propaganda network like Fox News, you find something even worse: almost no news of non-American topics, and a ridiculous pro-American bias on anything that IS reported.
If America is indeed to start listening to the world and understanding it -- and I don't mean just the spy agency's kind of listening (ha ha) -- it needs to get BETTER MEDIA. I don't know how exactly this could happen (thank you again, Their America, for doing your small part!), but I am pleased to see that AlJazeera, at least, is now being broadcast to (some) Americans and is therefore making the world known to it in some ways.
What do others think about this? How could better media be encouraged?

There already is (sort of) one--though much more along the lines of grassroots American 'public broadcasting' than some billionaire patron's gift to anybody: http://www.democracynow.org, hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. It's completely funded by contributions from viewers and foundations, and accepts no advertisers, corporate underwriting or government funding.
It has a pretty heavy left-wing take on things, but in its constant inclusion of non-American voices on America, it seems a fair approximation to Kim's idea--and a nice complement to this site!

Hear, hear, Aminah!
The question then becomes: How does such an infernally noisy nation win silence?
Or rather, how does such a nation, in the almost total absence of any deep (I want to say religious) discipline capable of resisting the purveyors and profiteers of noise, win silence?
Got me.
In such a culture, silence feels like a vacuum, and the only thing that abhors a vacuum more than nature is a corporation.
Add to this, that America as a nation is, in most respects, still firmly mired in adolescence; and we all know how easy and useful it is to take things away from adolescents.
So maybe, add something that induces silence, the silence of observation, reflection, meditation, and perhaps resolution...for more silence!
A government-mandated daily dose of DemocracyNow! in school classrooms, like we used to sing God Save the Queen each morning here in Canada--with, of course, some right-wing vehicle to soothe the Lindbecks--broadening the scope of the notorious American 'civics' to include civic responsibility to the world?
This much at least seems certain: as long as the grassroots of America are mostly weeds and opiates, there will be no grassroots solution to this most fundamental problem.

I can't say I agree that "the American media is essentially no different than Pravda": Fox News, for sure, is clearly a propaganda network, pushing a pre-determined interpretation of every story, but CNN, for instance, at least makes an effort to sponsor debate and give marginal voices some airtime (though obviously there are some things -- capitalism, American exceptionalism, etc.-- that aren't open for debate). But I agree that the mainstream media are (and, because of their intended audience, have to be) narrow. I don't have any hope for the broadening of that media's interests on any grand scale, but I am encouraged by the rise of small, independent outlets which offer genuine alternatives to "slave songs rising from the fields at night." One example is Indian Country Today (http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/), which not only provides what Amineh calls the "means" to listen to non-mainstream perspectives, but also encourages, because of the quality of its content, the "will" to listen better. Check it out!

I just came across a huge and already existing version of Mike's idea: New American Media, a combination of 2,000 ethnic media organizations, bringing the (other) world to America and America to the world.
The Voice of (Their) America!
http://newamericamedia.org/

So the primary complaint here is that domestic news reports primarily on domestic news? Am I understanding that right? That's the entire point of a domestic news operation. Institutions large enough, and flush with enough cash, have bureau chiefs around the globe, but those are only the top of the top tier, like The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, NBC News, or CBS News. In presentation, those institutions are still going to focus on domestic news because that's their mandate. Their purpose is to report on events at home. If news-worthiness warrants, they'll lead with global news coverage, but otherwise reporting on the US is what they're there to do.

Although I am not American, it's very easy to view American news in Canada. Even when many news outlets do report on world issues, it can appear to be american propaganda. Even somewhere like CNN, a news outlet I think we all believed we could trust has proven over the last few years to be biased and even slightly ignorant. This is especially true when they report on the "War on Terror". Commonly when reporting on middle eastern countries, it ends up acting as propaganda on the "war on terror". About a month ago CNN was Reza Aslan was asked to comment on the nature of Islam and ISIS and pointed out much of the bias in the CNN and America's biased view of Islam. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzusSqcotDw

Aminah made an excellent point when stating that Americans lacked not the means, but the will to seek out accurate and non-sensationalized news. Television networks are slaves to their ratings and as such will conform to the lowest common denominator, picking and choosing stories that have been twisted for the purposes of entertainment. This is not so different in Canada. It is simply a matter of taking an interest in the world around you and searching for non-biased sources of news. Oftentimes people simply do not know what to look for since they are rarely exposed to the issues underlying modern conflicts. Despite all this I think there is a promising trend towards seeking information through third party sources such as the personal blogs of reporters or using foreign news outlets such as RT.

I must agree that the American Media is somewhat narrow sighted and tends to focus only on its own issues. I would add that it is often very one-sided and only provides the argument that it wants to make with no other possibilities. In other words, American Media tells the stories it wants to tell, through the view point that best propagates its own values and beliefs. While it is not only the American Media that is guilty of this, it is one of the most serious offenders. As numerous previous comments on this topic have pointed out, the American Media appears to be unconcerned with issues that affect other cultures, as it apparently does not pertain to them. This is unfortunate because it reduces the sense of global community that is already so hard to achieve. American news is reported in various countries around the world, yet they receive very little news from anywhere else in the world. In my opinion this odd binary is a serious oversight. In order to a world leader one must actually know what is going on in the world. Furthermore, one must be given all the information so that they can create their own unbiased opinions, instead of simply repeating the (often heavily biased) version of the story that they have been told. Frankly, the lack of global information present in the American Media is a little disconcerting, especially given their role as a leading influence on the global world.

Let me just say:

Although the mainstream media does provide repetitive, condensed, exaggerated, flashy, stories to the viewers, that is-to a degree-their job. Mainstream media is intended to inform the public on popular headlines in a concise fashion. They add the flash elements in efforts to get people's attention. As a result, mainstream media is often ridiculed for not providing substantial, intriguing information. However, it is the choice of the viewer to repetitively rely on these mainstream media outlets. If we truly desired to be informed with significant information, shouldn't we make the effort to seek out reliable sources and engaging stories? Shouldn't we make the choice to only use the mainstream media as a starting guide (for the insightful stories they would, on occasion, cover-depending on then popularity of it)?The media is not to blame, we have the choice of channeling them out if we truly want to.

M.T. Anderson's novel, Feed sheds light on this issue with Violet's choices. In a futuristic world, Violet attempts to avoid the meretricious, mainstream information. When she reaches her demise, her ex-boyfriend, realizes the harm of a superficial, negligent world. Hopefully we won't find ourselves in such an ironic situation-but that is our choice.

The media in itself, as portrayed on television, and especially by Fox News is definitely narrow. But this "narrowness" is not unique to American media and culture, it features in many countries. Canadian media outlets too have a tendency to focus on their own issues, though lately we are being treated to an overexposure of Trump. However, we can all choose to broaden our exposure. We do not need to tune in to American outlets or American-focused sources exclusively. The internet has almost made our range of vision limitless. Of course there is a bias to almost everything we read, but there is barely a limit to the different sources we can now access. I completely agree with Aminah-Hayek,

Quote from Aminah Hayek on January 15, 2014, 11:59
In other words, what America lacks is not the means to listen, but the will. And this may best be encouraged not through more media but less, not more sound but silence.

This is definitely what needs to change. Not only in Americans, but in the Western world as whole. Trump is a prime example of this. We narrow our vision to Trump because he is loud, flashy, horrible, and certainly successful at drawing the world's attention. Turning your back on media outlets that would overexpose you to this horror will certainly help you in escaping the "narrowness" of the media. We need merely find the will to do this, and explore our other options. Turning off Fox News would be a great start.