Mason ’77: Global News Needs Global Voices

Award-winning TV news producer and documentarian Paul Mason ’77 was appointed president and CEO of Link TV, the U.S.-based global-affairs independent broadcaster. Mason, a 28-year veteran of ABC News, says his plan for Link TV includes digital news platforms in combination with independent global journalism.

In a video interview, Mason explains: “In some ways global news is covered like a sporting event, as opposed to actual lives that are lived…And I also ask: Since the earthquake in Japan, how often has an American news audience actually seen follow-up coverage about what has happened in Japan, and about of how lives are being lived…and about what people are doing  to mitigate that disaster. Since the Arab Spring, how much have we seen about the nascent democracy in Egypt and hiccups that are coming along the way. The truth is, we actually don’t see that much of it. When something goes wrong, that coverage will pick up.  That’s not good enough in our world. That’s not good enough information to help us make decisions in our own lives..Because the world has gotten smaller, news, information, little ripples that may happen far, far away—they have impact on our world.

“LinkTV provides a platform for voices around the world to actually explain their world in their own voice. In mainstream media, those voices are filtered.”

See this link for a video interview with him.