By Marie Haaland STAFF WRITER

As a part of Globalization Day on Tuesday, March 15, well- known journalists Bob Hennelly and Phyllis Bennis participated in a discussion of how international issues are covered by the media in a time of excess political campaign coverage.

Hennelly, an investigative reporter, works for CBS News MoneyWatch and is a contributing writer for Salon.

Bennis is a writer on Middle Eastern issues, directs the New Internationalism Project and helped found the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

She also gave a separate lecture for Globalization Day on the chaos in Syria and the detriment of ongoing war.

Hennelly and Bennis, along with two communication students, made up the panel, while Mario A. Murillo, professor and chair of the RTVF department, was the moderator.

Bennis spoke about how war has become much more convoluted in recent years, comparing current conflicts to those of the past, such as the Vietnam War.

“Who we’re fighting against and what we’re fighting for is complicated,” she said. Bennis also spoke about how military activities have become more secluded from the public eye. She cited lesser known facts such as President Obama’s use of airstrikes and drones against seven countries that the majority of the American population would not even be able to name.

“We have become disconnected from the extermination of other people,” Hennelly said in regard to drone strikes.

Speaking on international issues, Hennelly said that it is important for citizens to understand their own nation and its missteps so they are capable of handling global issues.

Part of the reason people in the U.S. are unaware of aspects of our current involvement overseas, the panel discussed, is the way international news is being covered in the mainstream media.

The focus on the presidential campaign overshadows coverage of pressing issues, even when important to national security.

“Priorities of the commercial, mainstream news media right now have shifted so much to entertainment, that major issues that affect us, that in the past would have gotten some kind of attention, some kind of coverage, have completely disappeared,” Murillo said. “And it’s ironic that the shift of the attention has been on the elections, the campaign, which is totally relevant to be paying attention to, but the issues of major national importance,

like the wars, are nowhere to be found in a discussion.”

Regarding how issues are being covered, Bennis said
that we have to work to change the news. She said that the mainstream news is entirely focused on what sells, instead of what is important, and therefore people should turn to other forms of news. Social media, Bennis said, has allowed more information to be shared, and while it does undoubtedly have issues, it’s one place to start. She also proposed that citizens monitor newspapers, saying
that people should put pressure on them by writing letters to the editor and organizing protests to demand that outlets write about the issues that matter.

Kimberly Donahue, a freshman journalism major and one of the student panelists said, “Although [being on the panel] was a little

daunting, I really enjoyed doing it, and I feel a lot more well informed about what’s going on in the world, aside from the election. I knew there were other things, but just doing some research on both Phyllis and Bob, I became more excited to learn about what they were going to say.”

As a student, Donahue related with the other panelists points. “It was comforting to know that [Hennelly and Bennis] also felt it is kind of ridiculous how much coverage the election is getting, and it gives a sense that they’re just like us, and even though the election is so important – especially this election – it’s good to know that the higher up people feel like there’s more to talk about in the world, and that we need to talk about more,” Donahue said.

Bennis, after talking about the predispositions that all journalists have, especially when writing about other countries or cultures, gave a valuable piece of advice in overcoming this bias. She offered an example to the audience, saying, “First by recognizing it, and working with organizations, for example, if you’re being sent to be the Middle East correspondent for the New York Times, and you grew up Jewish and pro-Israeli – which has been true for many of the New York Times reporters – before you go, spend some time with Palestinian organizations. Ask them, what should I be looking for?”